seo & large websites - search university 2012
DESCRIPTION
A presentation I gave @ Search University 2012. Rock solid tips & takeaways on how to improve your overall SEO strategy for large websites. Topics covered, such as: - SIte architecture - Internal linking - Microformats - XML sitemaps - Site speedTRANSCRIPT
1
SEO & large websitesSven De Meyere
10h20 – 10h40
SEO & large websitesAbout me...
4
5
Over there...
SEO & large websitesIntroduction...
‣ Been there, done that
‣ Lot’s of misconceptions
‣ Large is the new ‘normal’
Why this topic?
‣ Key factors & quickwins
‣ Optimize the workflow
‣ Which tools to use
‣ How to measure
‣ 8 rock solid takeways
Topics
SEO & large websitesKey factors & quickwins...
Site architecture & internal linking
Image source: https://seogadget.co.uk/solving-site-architecture-issues/
Site architecture & internal linking
Image source: https://seogadget.co.uk/solving-site-architecture-issues/
Site architecture & internal linking
Image source: https://seogadget.co.uk/solving-site-architecture-issues/
‣ Horizontal & vertical linking
‣ Navigation
‣ Breadcrumbs
‣ Footer links
‣ Header logo
‣ Impact increases with number of pages
Site architecture & internal linking
‣ Standard XML sitemaps = band-aid solution
‣ Site architecture > Sitemaps
‣ Index sitemaps
‣ Image sitemaps
‣ Video sitemaps
‣ News sitemaps
Smart use of XML sitemaps
Smart use of XML sitemaps
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> <sitemap> <loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap1.xml.gz</loc> <lastmod>2004-10-01T18:23:17+00:00</lastmod></sitemap>
<sitemap> <loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap2.xml.gz</loc> <lastmod>2005-01-01</lastmod> </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>
Index XML sitemaps
Microformats
Resource to check: http://schema.org
‣ Improvement in CTR
‣ Small (development) cost
‣ Template -> scalable impact
‣ Semantic data markup
Microformats
Resource to check: http://schema.org
Microformats
Resource to check: http://schema.org
‣ Crawl rate & indexation
‣ Server costs
‣ User experience
‣ Amazon research: 0,1s loading time = -1% sales
Site speed
SEO & large websitesLet’s get to work...
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there..
Get the basics right
Get the basics right
Image source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-the-seo-fundamentals-pyramid
‣ Use the power of templates
‣ <title> template
‣ Meta description template
‣ <h1> template
First you automate...
<title>$productname - Buy now, only $price! | $brandname</title>
<meta name="description" content="Looking for $productname? Available in our
webshop at $price. Fast delivery and money back guarantee.">
<h1>$productname</h1>
First you automate...
‣ Top organic landing pages
‣ Top converting pages
Then you analyze...
‣ Manual re-optimization of key pages
‣ More specific <title>’s (longtails?)
‣ More specific meta descriptions (advantage?)
Then you digg for gold...
‣ Everyone can help (PR / HR / Marcom / ...)
‣ People like to be involved
‣ Provide training
‣ Share data
Get everyone on board
‣ Get inhouse people to write content / blogposts
‣ Track author through custom vars in GA‣ _setCustomVar(1, Author, Sven De Meyere)
‣ Declare winner each month:‣ Most organic visits / leads / sales / revenue
Some competition, maybe?
SEO & large websitesThe large website SEO toolkit
Large website SEO toolsetOn-site & off-site monitoring
• Google Webmaster Tools
• Bing Webmaster Tools (seriously!)
• SeoMoz campaigns
Rankings
• Webceo
Link analysis
• MajesticSEO
• Open Site Explorer
Use the available API’s• SeoMoz link metrics
• MajesticSEO
• Webceo online
And build your own tools
SEO & large websitesMeasuring your failure success...
Different sets of metrics• Business metrics
• SEO metrics
• Link metrics
Business metrics• Organic (non) branded revenue!!!
• ROI
SEO metrics• (non) Branded keyword rankings
• # organic (non) branded conversions
• # organic (non) branded visits
• # unique organic landing pages
• Top X organic (non) branded landing pages
• # unique organic keywords
• Top X organic (non) branded keywords
Link metrics• On domain level
• Domain authority
• # external links
• # referring root domains
• % follow vs nofollowed links
• % anchor text VS branded links
• On page level
• Page authority
• # external links
• # external referring root domains
• % follow vs nofollowed links
• % anchor text VS branded links
• # internal links
Benchmark your progress
• Short term
• Compare with previous month
• Careful: trends & seasonality?
• Long term
• Compare with same month last year
• Careful: changes on-site or in Analytics config?
SEO & large websites8 rock solid takeaways...
8 key takeaways...
1. Horizontal & vertical internal linking
2. Use index XML sitemaps to discover weak spots
3. Microformats: boost your organic CTR
4. First things first: get the basics right
5. Automate when possible, adjust when necessary
6. Get everyone on board
7. API’s: use them!
8. Larger websites -> different metrics for success