SEO v SEMin a Google-mediated world

Digital Communications Strategies

Amber Burton aburton@bournemouth.ac.uk

20.02.12

Do what?

Today, we are looking at the consequences of an online world defined by search engines, & what this means for digital communicators (that’s you). By the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

• Explore some ideas about the social-cultural impact of living in a Google-mediated world

• Understand search engine optimisation (SEO)

• Understand search engine marketing (SEM)

• Know the difference between the 2

• Figure out how to acquire some of these skills as they are crucial to a future career in digital communications

What is Google doing to us?

Is Google good for us?

Carr’s book suggests that Google has a reverse effect on our cognitive function. Being able to ‘google it’ means we don’t have to retain memory, & we learn to ‘skip’ or ‘skim’ read. Nothing is digested in depth. Do you agree?

Other studies suggest that searching online helps cognitive function, providing new neurological pathways and problem solving skills.

What do you think? (google it?)

Google fail

And sometimes even Google gets it wrong …

What is Google doing to us?

Some questions to think about:

•How often do you use search engines and typically what for? 5.3% of the people in this room have search for porn in the past 24 hours

•When do you get frustrated with the results?pages 1 to 3, after that do you refine your search or keep clicking?

•Can you imagine studying/researching without Google?

•Do search engines determine the way we now work and study? technological determinism is the theory that technology such as the internet determines the way we work; has the www made a difference to the way we live our lives?

The stats

63% of people normally find websites via a search engine.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

The stats

Researching products and services is the second most popular online activity among Brits with 3 out of 4 UK internet users doing so.Office of National Statistics (ONS) as cited by eMarketer, September 2010

The stats

27% of people rarely or never look at more than one page of search engine results.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

The stats

58% of purchase decisions begin on search enginesGroupM, February 2011

The stats

51% of people expect leading brands to be on top of the search results page.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

The stats

Online display advertising has grown by 34% over the past year in the UK in terms of ad impressions. ComScore Ad Metrix, November 2010

UK Online Ad Spend estimates:2009: £3.01bn2010: £3.31bn2011: £3.57bn2012: £3.87bn MAGNAGLOBAL as cited by eMarketer, September 2010

UK Search Ad Spend estimates:2009: £1.83bn2010: £2.06bn2011: £2.25bn2012: £2.48bn MAGNAGLOBAL as cited by eMarketer, September 2010

The stats

Experian Hitwise Report, August 2011

SEO vs SEM

2: sponsored links (SEM and SEO combined)3: organic/natural search results5: paid-for ads

• Read the sponsored links at the top of the page.

• Read just 2-3 of the organic results beneath those. • Focus on the titles of the results; scan the summaries. • Ignore everything else, including the paid results in the right column.

Google Search Results

Research on ‘Eye-Tracking’ of Google Results tends to confirm that people:

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

search engine optimisation (SEO): The process of making a site and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers. SEO includes technical tasks to make it easier for search engines to find and index a site for the appropriate keywords, as well as marketing-focused tasks to make a site more appealing to users. Successful search marketing helps a site gain top positioning for relevant words and phrases.

Source: searchenginewatch 2012

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

In other words …

search engine optimisation (SEO):

making a site ‘findable’ using the most likely keywords and key words, plus a few other tactics, to get good organic search results

(optimisation = organic/natural)

Source: amber burton 2012

Search Engine Optimisation: benefits

• natural (organic) search engine results are perceived to be non-biased

• search engine optimisation gives a better ROI than any other online marketing media

• there are no ‘bidding wars’ (as with Google AdWords) in search engine optimisation

• search engine optimisation is useful if you are trying to create an online brand

What is Search Engine Marketing?

search engine marketing (SEM): The process of building and marketing a site with the goal of improving its position in search engine results. SEM includes both search engine optimisation (SEO) and search advertising, or paid search.

Source: searchenginewatch 2012

What is Search Engine Marketing?

In other words …

search engine marketing (SEM):

The paid route to jumping the queue and getting your site noticed immediately, and usually on the first page. Includes Google AdWords and Google AdSense.

(marketing= money/paid-for)

Source: amber burton 2012

Search Engine Marketing: benefits

• SEM gives pretty much instant results – a campaign can be up and running within hours: great for testing or a launch

• SEM can work really well in niche or ‘long tail’ markets, where there is less competition & lower bid prices

• ‘Quality’ SEM campaigns will boost SEO results, protecting your rankings from competitors.

• Really good SEM campaigns can result in ‘sponsored links’ at the top of the results page – greater trust and click-through rates.

Google Search Results

• If you pay for search results, either pay premium and get the ones at the top, or don’t bother.

• If you’re not in the top 3 results of organic searches, consider paid search results until you can improve your ranking. • Make sure the title and description of your home page (or your paid result) are absolutely perfect.

SEO: how to do it

Step One: ‘Keyword’ Research

SEO: how to do it

Ascertain the amount of ‘difficulty’ you will have in achieving a high rank with your chosen keywords (this tool is from www.seochat.com) – the calculation is relative, but broadly, the higher the percentage of competition, the lower the chance of keywords being successful

SEO: how to do it

Step Two: Research ‘The Opposition’

• find all ‘related’ websites

• find out how important these are

• find their link popularity (this will influence their search engine ranking)

• find the number of ‘indexed’ pages they have (i.e. how many separate pages will appear on a search engine)

SEO: how to do it

Step Three: On-page Optimisation

Meta title

SEO: how to do it

Step Three: On-page optimisation

Header Tags (not ‘big text’)

SEO: how to do it

Step Three: On-page optimisation

Use <alt> tags for images – especially logos or brand emblems

SEO: how to do it

Step Three: On-page optimisation

<html>

<head>

<title>Interactive Media Strategies</title>

<body>

<img src=“IMSlogo.jpg" width="150" height="150“ alt=“Interactive Media Strategies” />

<h1>Welcome to Interactive Media</h1>

<p>text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text</p>

<h2>What this Page has to do with Interactive Media</h2>

SEO: how to do it

Step Four: Keyword Density

Keywords are recognised in the text and the title

SEO: how to do it

Step Four: Keyword Density

Use of Keywords are prominent in the text and the title

SEO: how to do it

Step Five: Site Map

Most search engines will also benefit from the creation of an (unseen) XML sitemap

SEO: how to do it

Step Six: Off-page optimisation

• one of the keys to getting your page ranking improved is to appear more ‘relevant’ – this is partly achieved by the number of other web pages that link to your website

• the first element is to submit your website to online directories:

SEO: how to do it

Step Six: Off-page optimisation: Link Development Campaign

Site A

Site A

Site A

Site B

Site B

Site B Site C

One-way link

Two-way link

SEO: how to do it

Engine optimisationStep Seven: Article Submission

• designed with ‘keyword’ terms

• link back to your website

• same principle applies to blogs, online press releases and rss feeds

Search Engine optimisation

Don’t upset Google

• Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.

• Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.

• Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

• Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.

• Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images.

Search Engine optimisation

Don’t upset Google

• Avoid hidden text or hidden links.

• Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects.

• Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords.

• Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.

• Don't create pages with malicious behavior, such as phishing or installing viruses, trojans.

• Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.

Search Engine optimisation

Finally…

• think about whether search engine optimisation really matters to your strategy

• there are a limited number of people who will ever make it into the ‘hotspot’ for some of the more generic keyword searches – does your

strategy mean that you must?

• consider alternative means of driving traffic to your website

• consider how you construct your online copy to avoid being misconstrued…

Search Engine optimisation

Bournemouth University Degree CoursesDegree courses at Bournemouth are easy to find using our course locator…www.bournemouth.ac.uk/ - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

Other tactics to think about:

and…

• social media is becoming very relevant in SEO and SEM – LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, etc all help to boost rankings (make sure for the right reasons though): this is an excellent reason for brands/companies to use social media

• reciprocal links (mentioned) are very important, as traffic quality & quantity will make a difference

• study Google analytics for rich information on who, what and where your traffic is coming from & going to. Use landing pages & content specific sections.

• Jargon busting; don’t be fooled by SEO ‘specialists’ claiming to short-cut the SEO process, with ‘cookie cutter’ sites & other dodgy practices

In summary

In summary

A very useful infographic for small/medium business using SMO, SEO and SEM to build local online presence.

Explanation, and source material/ownership here:http://blumenthals.com/index.php?web-equity-infographic

Getting skilled-up

It follows that anyone working in communications needs at least a basic understanding of SEO and SEM … so what can you do?

1.Get involved in the Google Online Marketing Challenge (AdWords and Google+), more info here and/or email Amber at aburto@bournemouth.ac.uk

2.Monitor your own Google Reputation. You must have an up-to-date professional profile on LinkedIn, in time for your placement applications.

3.Attend the ‘Leap into Digital’ event on 29th Feb, register on the FaceBook page