nten seo 040710
TRANSCRIPT
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engine Performance
And We Ain’t Just Talkin’ Keywords...
#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
2
#10ntc.seo
Who Are We?
Who Are You?- Webmasters?- Online Marketing Folks?- NPO Program Staff?- NPO Leadership?- Consultants/Vendors?
Introductions#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
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#10ntc.seo
SEO Strategic Components
Introduction
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After we get done you'll be able to…
SEO Strategic Components#10ntc.seo
If You Don’t Optimize Your Site:
• Your boss will continue to torture you with: “Why don’t I see our site when I type in ‘x’?”
• Your brand and your online growth will stagnate and die
• Qualified visitors will go to another Web site to find info and services
SEO Strategic Components#10ntc.seo
Forrester Marketing Interactive Forecast, 2009-2014
• Increased spend on SEO. Investments in SEO were on the rise before the recession. But now, marketers looking for clicks at a cost much lower than paid search are joining those who return to SEO after mastering paid search programs.
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What SEO is:
• Modifying elements of your Web pages for a specific search engine
• A long-term, ongoing process
• Dependent on knowledge of current algorithms and indexing obstacles
What SEO is NOT:
• Paying for listings (that’s PPC)
• A one-time, quick project
• Dependent on “tricks” (invisible type, redirects, doorway pages, etc.)
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Search Engine “Friendly” or “Optimized”?
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“Friendly”
• No technical issues that prevent or hinder spidering
• Logical link architecture• Unique content and title tags on every page• User-friendly naming conventions
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“Optimized”
• Copy & IA driven by well-researched keyword strategy
• Design and architecture decisions based on how to best drive conversions
• Every page optimized for specific keyword phrases
• Strong internal linking beyond navigation elements
• Content updated regularly• Ability to attract links from other sources
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3 Must-Haves for SEO Success
• Gotta identify your SEO goals (SEO Strategy)
• Gotta understand how a search engine “thinks”
• Gotta research how your audience searches for your information and services
SEO Strategic Components#10ntc.seo
SEO Strategy & Goals
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“I want…”
• Awareness and authority on our contento American Diabetes Association, Children’s
Defense Fund • Grow my email or advocacy list • Increase online registrants• Generate donations, sales, leads
- Unicef, Save the Children, Dell, Zappos
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Put Your Marketing Head On
• Current ranked pages• New pages
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What Search Engine?
• Google or Bing?
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Understand How a Search Engine “Thinks”
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Get Inside Your User’s Head• Understand what they will see on a SERP• Accurate, compelling, competitive• Manage what they will see:
Page title
Relevant text pulled from page
or description
meta tag
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Understand How Users Are Searching
for Your Info
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What Keywords?• Marketing head back on for keyword
research o Conversions, competition
• Wrong keywords = poor quality traffic or little traffic
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• Beware too broad keywords
• Type in keywords and see what comes up – does it relate to what you do?
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Keywords By Goals• For donors: donation or issue keywords --
“Haiti donations,” “childrens charity”• For activists: issue/news terms – “health
care reform diabetes”, “death penalty”• For buyers/members: product terms –
“kids magazine”
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Where to Find Keyword Ideas• Your own existing content, of course!• Your Analytics program
o Are there high-quality terms driving small amounts of traffic despite not being optimized? That’s low-hanging fruit!
• Your competitors’ pageso Analyze their copy and meta tags to figure out
what competitors are actively targeting• Your PPC data
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Where to Find Keyword Ideas• Keyword Research Tools:
o Google Keyword Toolo Compete.com Search Analyticso Trelliano SpyFu.como SEM Rush
• Search Engines’ Related Searches Suggestions
SEO Strategic Components#10ntc.seo
Tips• Your brain is the most powerful keyword
research tool … don’t over-rely on softwareo Before you rush to a tool, do a lot of brainstorming the
old-fashioned way• Think like a user. Don’t use jargon.• Choose terms with appropriate levels of
competition for your site• Target clusters of related keyword phrases
o What words can you put before and after your “Head” terms to create new search terms?
SEO Strategic Components#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
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Create Your Architecture with SEO in Mind
• Who are your visitors? o Human o Computers (spiders)
• When you build your sites for humans to find, it also makes it easy for computers to find. o First - set up your site architecture so
that it's organized for humanso Then - label it so that you
incorporate keywords that people use search engines to look for.
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Keywords in Your Labels
Labels Matter ... • Use keywords when possible• BUT ... don't make it awkward
Navigation is key • One of first things search engines search • Incorporate keywords at all levels
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Keywords in the Navigation
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Keywords in the Navigation
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Human versus Computer Factors
• Remember ... Search engines are a means for human visitors to find you
• Most important part of pages for search engines aren't always the same for peopleo Page Title
People don't often noticeVERY important for search engines
o Keywords - What people are looking forUse in navigation, titles, headings will help human visitors scan and find what they are looking for
Building the Right Architecture#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
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#10ntc.seo
On Page Factors Simplified
TitleH1ContentLinksImages
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
Off Page Factors Simplified
Authority PageRank LinksTrust
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
When Good Pages Go Away
If You Were A SpiderWhat Would You Think?
A) Must Be ImportantB) I Wonder If It Moved?C) Disregard
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
Canonical Pages
Search Engines HATE Duplicate Content
•Preferred Solution: 301 Redirect
<script runat="server">private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e){Response.Status = "301 Moved Permanently";Response.AddHeader("Location","/new-page.asp");}</script>
•Alternate Solution: Canonical Tag
<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.example.org" />
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
Preserving Value
•Passes some but not all of link equity
•Preserves some but not all of search engine rankings
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
SEO & SPEEDMatt Cutts of Google confirmed that they will be looking at load times and taking a site's speed into account with their ranking algorithms
Keep track by using Google Webmaster Tools
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
SEO & SPEED
Tactical and Technical Components#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
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#10ntc.seo
• Who is your team?• What to tell them?• How to measure?
Keep it Going: After the Consultant Leaves
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Who manages your web content?
Keep It Going - Your Team
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - Your Team
Who writes your press releases?
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - Your Team
Who blogs?
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - But Your Team's Busy!!
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - What to Tell Them1. FOCUS on key terms.
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - What to Tell Them2. FOCUS on headlines.
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - What to Tell Them3. FOCUS on links
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - MeasureThink about timing.
photo: flickr user carbon nyc
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - MeasureThink big.
photo: nasa.gov
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Keep It Going - MeasureThink strategically.
photo: flickr user [martin]
SEO Caring and Feeding#10ntc.seo
Intros: :05Dottie Hodges, Northridge Interactive
SEO Strategic Components: :15Liz Murphy, RedEngine Digital
SEO Building the Right Architecture :10JoMarie Hoholik, Balance Interactive
Tactical and Technical Components: :25Eric Werner, Northridge Interactive
SEO Caring and Feeding: :20Kira Marchenese, Environmental Defense Fund
Q&A: :15All
Session Agenda
57
#10ntc.seo
Dottie HodgesNorthridge [email protected]
Liz Murphy RedEngine [email protected]
JoMarie HoholikBalance [email protected]
Eric WernerNorthridge [email protected]
Kira MarcheneseEnvironmental Defense [email protected]
Session Agenda
58
#10ntc.seo
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