seo; beyond the basics - nitb masterclass

Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2014 Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2014

SEO; Beyond the Basics Barry Adams NITB ICT Masterclass 30 January 2014

Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2014

Barry Adams

• Digital Services Director at Pierce Communications

• Built my first website in 1995, started my career in all

things online in 1997

• Specialisation in SEO

• Dutch (yes, really)

• Lecturer on SEO & Digital Strategy for UU, QUB, DMI


Agenda

SEO Basics

Google+Local

Schema.org Structured Data

Content Strategy for SEO

Linkbuilding

Google Webmaster Tools


SEO Basics


Definition of SEO:

Wikipedia: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

Getting more relevant traffic to websites via search engines' organic results.

Search Engine Optimisation


Why is SEO important?

Search Engine Usage

89% of all online purchases in the UK begin with a search

95% of all UK Internet users choose Google as their preferred search engine

Organic search results receive over 75% of all clicks

91% of users do not look past the first page of search results

Worldwide Internet Usage

Over 2 billion users online

150 billion searches a month (that’s more than 49,000 searches/second)

51.4 milion users (82.5% of the population)

In April 2010, Google received 4.1 billion search page views in the UK

The UK internet economy is worth £121 billion = 8.3% of UK gross domestic product

UK Internet Usage


http://www.nitb.com/businesssupport/growyourbusiness/onlinemarketing.aspx


SEO is about two things:

Relevance Authority


Relevance & Authority:

Keywords Links

Keywords match a search query to a webpage.

Links determine which webpage ranks highest.


The SEO process:

Keyword Research

On-Page Optimisation

Linkbuilding

Find the right keywords to optimise for

Implement those keywords on the website Make the website search-engine friendly

Build links to the website to increase its authority


The Long Tail of search words

Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/illustrating-the-long-tail

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/illustrating-the-long-tail








Google+Local


Google Hotel Finder


Local Results


Google Maps = Google Places = Google+

• Claim your Google+ page

• Ensure all information is correct

Incl opening hours, categorisation, contact details, etc

• Add/update photos

• Get reviews

• Get some more reviews

• Get lots & lots of reviews…


Outside of G+, you need ‘citations’

• Citations:

A mention of your business on a 3rd party website (ideally with address & contact details)

• Citation sources:

Local directories (Yelp, 192, Scoot, Hotfrog, etc)

Mentions in news articles / blog posts

Roundup lists are great for this (e.g. “Top 10 Maritime Themed Places to Visit in Belfast”)


Schema.org structured data


Structured data / microdata

“On-page markup enables search engines to understand the information on web pages and provide richer search results in order to make it easier for users to find relevant information on the web. Markup can also enable new tools and applications that make use of the structure.”

Quoted from schema.org


What does it do?

It turns this:

…in to this:


Google currently supports:

• Reviews

• People

• Products

• Businesses and organizations

• Recipes

• Events

• Music

• Videos


Content Strategy

“A content strategy for a website is a plan for the creation, publication, distribution, and management of content in various formats – text, video, images, interactive – that helps establish the online brand as a leader in its industry.”



• Optimised content will contain the right keywords in the right places, thus increasing the website’s relevance.

• Engaging content will be shared and linked to, thus increasing the website’s authority.


Aspects of a Content Strategy

1. Set Objectives

2. Define Your Audience

3. Create a Content Calendar

4. Plan Your Content Promotion

5. Engage With Your Readers

6. Measure & Refine


Linkbuilding


Linkbuilding

• Content alone is not enough to build authority.

• Approximately 60%-70% of Google’s ranking algorithms are link-based.


But… Google doesn’t like linkbuilding

“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.”

Source: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en


So what’s a SEO to do?

• We have to tread carefully and ensure that we acquire only ‘natural’ links.

• That means we have to earn them.

• Earned links are (or appear to be) entirely valid recommendations from one website to another.


Linkbait

• Content published on your own site that…

… is informative;

… is entertaining;

… is inspiring;

… has viral potential;

• So that it naturally attracts links.


Linkbait types

• Definitive guides / resources

• Top 10 lists

• Infographics

• Controversy

• Quirky angles on old topics


Outreach Linkbuilding

‘Outreach’ is basically PR for SEO purposes;

1. Research link prospects

2. Approach them with a personalised message

3. Offer to write guest content for their website/blog

4. Include a link in that guest article

It’s a lot of manual effort - exactly what Google intends.


Structured Data


Search Queries


Sitemaps


Crawl Errors


SEO; Beyond the Basics

Google+Local



Linkbuilding


Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2014 Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2014

Questions?

[email protected] http://www.piercecommunications.co.uk http://twitter.com/badams

seo; beyond the basics - nitb masterclass

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