Optimizing  Your  Content:  The  10  Most  Common  

SEO  MistakesQuinn  Whissen,  Marketing  Manager,  Vertical  Measures

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

About  Me@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

● Vertical  Measures  is  a  50  person  search,  social  &  content  marketing  agency  in  Phoenix,  AZ

● Marketing  Manager  for  Vertical  Measures

● Columnist  for  Marketing  Land,  Content  Marketing  Institute  

What  I’ll  Cover

1. Most  common  mistakes  we  see

2. How  to  optimize  specific  types  of  content  like  

video  and  images

3. Optimization  for  the  future

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Most  Common  Problems  We  Find?

1. Unintentional   duplicate  content2. Bad  backlinks

3. Over  optimization  and  cannibalization  of  target  keywords4. Bad  and  duplicate  title  tags5. Bad  and  duplicate  meta  descriptions

6. Poorly  optimized  images  and  videos7. Page-­load   time

8. Poor  or  thin  content9. Keyword  misfocus (not  aligned  on  the  same  page)

10. Blocked  pages  or  entire  site  (indexability issues)

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@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

An  example…

What  we  found…

After  5  months  of  intense  content  marketing  and  no  results….

● Identified  a  penalty back  in  August  of  2012

● Duplicate  content   issue:  same  text  snippet  shows  up  on  259  pages

● Wide  use  of  duplicate  or  near-­duplicate  content  in  titles/page  content

● A  big  issue:  100%  of  their  image  content  and  45%  of  their  HTML/text  content  is  

hosted  externally  (not  under  the  domain).

● Lots  of  spammy anchor  text  in  their  backlink  profile

Within  60  Days  – Traffic  Doubled…now  400-­500%  up!

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You  wouldn’t  build  your  house  

without  laying  a  strong  foundation.

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Don’t  buildcontent  on  a  foundation  

of  shoddy  SEO.

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@ArnieK#SMX

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Core  Elements  to  Optimization@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Web  Pages1. Links  pointing  to  your  content  (Internal  too)2. Titles  &  title  tags  (viewed  in  results)3. Description  meta  tag  (viewed  in  results)4. H1  Tag  (headline  tag  – only  one!)5. Images  optimized6. Page  load  times7. Freshness  of  content8. Mobile-­friendly

Mobile-­friendly  updateRELEASEDApril  21  2015

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

“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.”

Mobile-­Friendly  Update@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-­friendly/

Mobile-­Friendly  Test@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Mobile-­Friendly  Test  Results@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Title  Tag

An  important  on-­page  element  (~55  characters).<title>Your  Keywords  Need  be  Here</title>

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Meta  Description

● Mainly  for  conversions

● First  time  a  visitor  is  understanding  who  you  are

● ~115  characters<meta  name="description"content=“On  this  site  we  talk  all  about  everything  you  just  searched  for!">

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H1  Tags@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

● Should  be  similar  to  page  title● Tell  the  bots  what  to  expect  on  the  page● Hard  coded  into  the  CSS  (H1,  H2,  H3,  etc.)● Only  one  H1  tag  per  page

<h1>My  Post  is  About  SEO</h1>

<h2>SEO  is  Awesome</h2>

<h2>What  is  Google</h2>

<h2>People  Love  SEO</h2>

<h3>Matt  Cutts  Loves  SEO</h3>

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How  To  Optimize  Images

● Reduce  file  size.  Image   files  should  be  compressed.  Smaller   files  mean   faster  site  load  speeds.

● Use  relevant  keywords  in  image   filenames.  DONT: "DL000031.jpg",   DO: "red-­sports-­car.jpg"

● Make  sure  <img>  tags  have  their  "alt"  and  "title"  attributes  defined   with  descriptive,  concise,  keyword-­related   text.  Do  not  stuff  <img>  attributes.

● Context  matters.  Google   looks  at  content  placed  around  the  image,  like  titles  and  captions.

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How  to  Optimize  Videos

● Specific,  Compelling  Title  –Would  you  click  on  “XYZ  Company”  or  “V00023.mov?”  

● Tags –This  is  where  you  can  help  your  video  appear  in  the  “Suggested”  or  “Similar”  videos  section.

● Description -­ Say  as  much  as  you  can  in  the  first  sentence  or  two,  so  the  rest  won’t  be  hidden.  Include  a  link  placed  at  the  beginning  – with  http://

● Video  Quality   /  Resolution  – Shoot,  edit  and  export  the  video  in  the  highest  quality  available.

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Penalized?@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

How  to  Tell  if  You’ve  Been  Affected@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Webmaster  Tools  -­ Message@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Recovery  is  possible@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

The  Google  Penalty  Recovery  KitDownload:  VerticalMeasures.com/recovery

How  do  you  position  yourself  for  SEO’s  future?

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

What  are  People  Searching  For  

90%+  of  buyers  click  on  organic  links  vs.  the  sponsored  ads

90%

86%  of  searchers  conduct  non-­branded  queries

86%86%

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93%  of  all  consumers  use  search  prior   to  making  a  purchase

93%

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Buyers  are  searching  for  information  that  helps  them  make  an  informed  decision.

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Businesses  that  provide  that  information  -­ will  win.

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@QuinnCW#DSDET15The  Odds  of  Hitting  a  Grand  Slam @QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Because  most  of  us  are  not  the  New  York  Yankees,  we  strongly  suggest  playing  MONEYBALL1  in  4  at  bats  =  hit  (a  success)1  in  36  at  bats  =  home  run  (a  big  success)1  in  1,691  at  bats  =  grand  slam  (viral  success)

@QuinnCW#DSDET15

In  order  to  play  content  MONEYBALL,  you  need  to  come  up  with  hundreds  of  ideas  so  you  can  create  fresh,  USEFUL  content  on  a  frequent  basis.

Here’s  how  we  do  it…

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Research  Tools@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Google  Keyword  Suggest

RelatedSearches

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

KeywordTool.io

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

More  than  110  questions  about

“napa  valley  wedding”(exact  match)  

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List  All  Content  Ideas  in  a  Spreadsheet@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Put  Together  An  Editorial  Calendar@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Content  Editorial  Calendar  Spreadsheet  TemplateDownload:  VerticalMeasures.com/calendar

What  It  Comes  Down  To

1. Optimization  can  be  simple,  but  it’s  essential.

2. Don’t  confuse  Google!

3. Build  your  content  on  a  strong  SEO  foundation.

4. Be  the  best  answer  on  the  end  of  someone’s  search.

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15

Tweet:  @ArnieK’s NEW  Content  Marketing  book  is  FREE  at  

http://vert.ms/cmworks #DDSUM15

Thank  You!@ArnieK#DSP15

@QuinnCW#DDSUM15