modern seo: it takes a village

#ModernSEO @Ethology

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Agenda

• Introduction to Modern SEO

• Integrated Program Design• Technical Search

• UX Design

• Content Strategy

• Local

• Media

• Social

• Program Planning Tips

• Q&A

Mike Corak

EVP of Strategy

@mikecorak

Mike Archer

Director of Search

@ArcherMktg

Nolan Alexander

Local Search Manager

@LocalSearchGuru

Jen Walsh

UX Manager

@jendub

Dustin Diehl

Sr. Content Strategist

@DRJedi

Anthony Nichols

Sr. Paid Media Specialist

@hashtagAnthony


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Modern SEO


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Search in its Simplest Form

Research

Measuring

Performance

Tactical

Execution


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Search was

Keyword Research Keyword Usage

Page elements:

Titles, headings, meta,

body copy, links including

anchor

Keyword Rankings

*Keyword data via

analytics

Research

Measuring

Performance

Tactical

Execution


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Search is

• Biz objectives

• Social listening

• User personas

• Analytic insights

• Keyword research by THEME

• All of which feeds content

strategy

• Search

• Content planning

• Site hierarchy

• Social posting

• Display messaging

• Email messaging

• Local messaging

• PPC AdGroups

• Content focused media (Native)

• Standard KPIs

(real world)

• Thematic performance

(segmentation, attribution)

Research

Measuring

Performance

Tactical

Execution


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The Future of SEO

Ingredients:

• 1 Part technical consultation

• 1 Part content strategy and planning

• An overpowering amount of

integration and coordinated

execution across channels


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Integrated SEO Programs


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Modern SEO: Technical Search


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As an SEO...


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A Lot...Actually

Roles, skills, responsibilities, disciplines, topics to understand or follow…

Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions associated with the job.


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Modern SEO = Data Analyst?

Volume of Data

Past

Data Sources:

Keyword Rankings

Backlinks

Pageviews

PageRank

Data Sources:

More Robust Analytics Data

Conversion Data

Attribution Modeling

Engagement Data

Competitive Insights

Content Demand

Social Data

Webmaster Tools Data

SERP Data

Future


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Where to Look For Opportunity

1. Ensure your site is free of technical issues• Monitor GWT to keep an eye on any crawl issues

• Audit and re-audit your site on a regular basis

• Monitor GA for anomalies in analytic data

2. Focus on Themes, not Keywords

3. Focus on analytic metrics that matter• Conversions

• Engagement

• Attribution

4. Understand what the competitors are doing• Share of Voice in organic and paid search

• Social Reach (mentions, engagement, etc)

• What tactics are they using (social hub? blog?)


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How do you deal with all of these new tasks?

PRIORITIZATION!


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Examples of Prioritization

1. Ensure your site is free of technical issuesa. Determine what’s most important by associating impact and value to each

item.i. Example: 30% of the site’s pages are inaccessible to search engines. Calculate

possible demand those pages are losing to determine importance.

2. Focus on Themes, not Keywordsa. Example: Widgets and doodads categories both have similar demand and

both need optimization attention. Widget sales would have a better value

per visitor.

3. Focus on analytic metrics that mattera. Example: Which pages have the highest conversion rate?

b. Example: Which pages have had their bounce rates skyrocket since

implementing the newsletter sign up form?

4. Understand what the competitors are doinga. Example: 3 of your 4 competitors have content around an important topic to

your industry. Analyze content demand and address with content strategy.


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Modern SEO: Content Strategy

It was the best of times,

it was the blurst of times.


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Content Strategy as the Filter


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You Gotta Know the Sweet Spot


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Creating Content Based on Themes


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Keyword Stuffing = Not Made for Users


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Creating Content Based on Themes


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Content Strategy vs. Content Marketing


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Modern SEO: UX Design


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Google Cares About User Experience

“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of

mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This

change will affect mobile searches in all

languages worldwide and will have a significant

impact in our search results. Consequently, users

will find it easier to get relevant, high quality

search results that are optimized for their

devices.”

‘s


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You have them there. Now what?

Google cares about

the user’s

experience, not just

mobile sites.


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Plan Early.

Collaborate Early.

Be a Winner.


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SEO + Content Strategy + UX: The Sitemap

Brings together early Content Strat,

SEO, and UX collaboration

• All of the pages in the site

• 301 Redirects


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SEO + Content Strategy + UX: The Wireframes

Further implements elements from

early planning sessions:

• H1s, H2s

• SEO friendly copy


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Modern SEO: Local Search


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Local Search, SEO and Paid Search

should always work together

Would you rather be great in 1

channel…

Or be visible in 3?

3 > 1

@LocalSearchGuru


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Don’t Put Local Search in a Silo!

Essential Listings Paid Search Integration

Location Page /

SEO IntegrationAggregators

Secondary ListingsSocial Integration


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Local listings are a reflection of your website


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Modern SEO: Paid Search


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SEO and PPC Integration

When Paid Search works with Organic, an incremental lift in

total visits and conversions is seen


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Keyword Efficiency and Opportunities

Paid and Organic Reports via Google AdWords allow marketers greater

insight into how both media channels perform individually and together.

• Click Through Rate for Organic only: 2.32%

• Click Through Rate for Paid and Organic: 11.76%


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SEO and PPC Integration

Paid Search is typically the largest

assistor of Organic Search.

Organic as an assistor however only

represents 2.74% of all PPC

conversions.

Tip: Link Webmaster Tools to AdWords

so each tactic can gain insights into

keyword data, measure incremental lift

of Paid and Organic, and prevent

cannibalization.


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Common PPC and SEO Integration Points

• Use PPC keyword data to inform the organic content and optimization

strategy

• Use organic referral data to inform the creation and optimization of new PPC

ad groups

• Leverage PPC ad copy in organic snippet text to optimize click-through

rates. It is much easier to test what’s working in paid campaigns

• Use PPC to test landing page variations to help inform overall UX Design

and organic experiences

• Use PPC to test potential organic keywords to determine their effectiveness

• Integrate schema and other rich snippet data from your website into your

ads

• Adjust position bidding based on organic ranking movement to achieve the

best ROI possible


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Modern SEO: Social


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Whether for Rankings, or Traffic, Praying for Links


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Local Social Integration


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Modern SEO: Program Planning Tips


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Top Impediment to Program Integration


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Cultural Shifts That Break Down Silos

• Educate

• Gain senior buy-off

• Reimagine your organizational structure, processes and ops design

• Rally teams and partners around integrated programs

• Assign common success KPIs across teams

• Create senior level Content position

• Include cross-channel teamwork in performance reviews

• Celebrate group successes


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Questions

SEO

Content

UX

Social

Local

PPC


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Thank You!


modern seo: it takes a village

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