TOP TO BOTTOM SEO

Sue Polinsky, President TechTriad.com ConvergeSouth 2012 – Nonprofit Websites

WHAT IS SEO AND WHY DO I CARE?

OWN THESE WORDS Search Engine Optimization Organic Search Search Result Site Ranking Pay Per Click SEM, SMM

THE TOP-TO-BOTTOM Page Titles Heading Tags Content ,Content, Content! Link Titles Meta Keywords Meta Descriptions Pictures

IF YOU CAN EDIT YOUR WEBSITE

Increase your SEO Get found more easily on organic searches Get “better Google” Increase Bing search hits

START AT THE TOP – PAGE TITLE!

Page Title Your tagline in the title Page Name

shows up in the browser

Make it EASY to find donations

USING ADOBE CONTRIBUTE Change the page

title in “Page Properties”

USING WORDPRESS Easy way to

edit your page title

USING WORDPRESS EXTRAS

Find your SEO under the page text box.

Make a custom title.

If you don’t see any SEO options, tell your website designer that you want that tool. It’s free and fairly easy.

Nice Google preview

CHECKUP

Checklist for page titles 1. Make every page title unique 2. Make sure it matches the page

content 3. See your Analytics for keyword

searches 4. Use your tagline 5. Be sure your content has the title

words throughout – repeat them!

HEADING TAGS ARE YOUR FRIENDS

“H” tags are read by browsers Put important words in <h> tags Put important words in <h> tags Use common tags, like <h1>, <h2>, and <h3> First words on page – use an <h> tag Sub-headings should be in <h> tag format Want to see what that looks like?

HEADING TAGS IN WORDPRESS Drop down the list when you’re clicked in the paragraph.

Now the search engines find “volunteer TEDxGreensboro” more quickly and it will be a “hit” on a search.

Use “h” tags judiciously. Only headings, sub-headings and VERY important section dividers should be in “h” tags.

More is NOT better. Quality rules.

HEADING TAGS IN CONTRIBUTE

You think people are interested in “granting programs?” So do I!

CHECKUP

Checklist for heading tags 1. Use heading tags for titles &

sections 2. Use h1, h2, and h3 tags 3. Be judicious – don’t over-use 4. Use important keywords in H tags

Poor, sad <h3> tag! • What WHO does? • What you do about what? • Who do you do it to?

<h3>Helping Guilford County Nonprofits</h3>

HOMEPAGE – CONTENT RULES!

Spend an inordinate amount of time writing the best text possible for your homepage.

This is a place to call in a favor from a PR bud or board member.

Homepage text matters. Treat it well. After all of that, change it on occasion!

(Like you don’t have enough to do, right?)

HOMEPAGE TEXT IN CONTRIBUTE

Use your keywords!

You’d know these words if you lived in Danville or the Dan

River Region!

HOMEPAGE TEXT IN WORDPRESS

WordPress treats homepage text differently

It’s often found in a widget or on a special page

Take ownership! Be sure you know how to update your homepage text.

Be sure you have some homepage text and not just a slideshow.

CHECKUP

Checklist for homepage text 1. Be sure there is editable homepage text 2. Edit the text from time to time 3. Use “h” tags for a descriptive homepage

title and sub-titles 4. Put a lot of thought (and keywords) into

homepage text (get the keywords from your Analytics!)

5. Spend a LOT of time on all your page content, but focus first on your homepage and DONATE page

LINK TEXT – EASY SEO

Link text is so abused: see “Click here” Use keywords in links. Sue’s rule.

Write quality links Low quality link:

<a href="myPage.html">My Link Text</a>

Let’s look at some high quality links

HIGH QUALITY LINKS

Quality link: <a href="/support-ymca-greensboro/support-ymca-greensboro.html">See the healthy living programs for boys and girls in Greensboro</a>

The link text appears on the page like this: Read more about the YMCA’s programs for youth and see the healthy living programs for boys & girls in Greensboro

CHECKUP

Checklist for quality link text 1. Easily done in every web editing program 2. Use keywords in the link text that support your page 3. Write readable links that duplicate your message 4. Never use “click here” as your entire link 5. Which takes us to website structure…

FILE AND FOLDER NAMES

You really can’t control the structure of your site after it’s built, but you can optimize for future pages and folders.

Good folder name: “about-after-gateway” Eh… folder name: “about-us”

META TAGS: KEYWORDS & DESCRIPTIONS

Keywords Not a big deal anymore You can use them anyway Customize per page Use keywords (one more

time) Don’t use too many!

Description More important to Bing Must match your page’s

content (So, rewrite your content!) 1-2 sentences that you

want to see on a search result

META KEYWORDS IN WORDPRESS

WordPress isn’t fond of meta keywords Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking. Some search engines don't use the meta tag information any more because many people abused it. In fact, meta tags may not represent the content of your site, but, it still doesn't hurt your status with search engines if you make use of these little bits of information, and do so truthfully. Without a doubt, content is the biggest contributor to search engine page ranking, so if you want to raise your rankings, make sure you have quality content. Bottom line: get a WordPress SEO plugin.

META KEYWORDS IN CONTRIBUTE

In editing mode, “Format/Keywords & Description”

A different page; how it appears to your browser

SEO WITH PICTURES & MEDIA

Video and pictures are good. Use them. TAG them. Use ALT text

Because it’s the right thing to do Because it gets SEO Be sure your images are legal!

IMAGE PROPERTIES IN CONTRIBUTE

Set or change image properties in Contribute

Use ALT text – it can be picked up by search engines

Example:

Photo of peer counseling session at Win-Win Resolutions, character building and conflict resolution in Greensboro, NC

FIND ME ONLINE

Dr. Sue Polinsky President, TechTriad, Inc. Phone: 336-852-4321 Email: sue@techtriad.com

Twitter: @suepolinsky, techtriad Facebook: facebook.com/suepolinsky

facebook.com/techtriad Google+: spolinsky@gmail.com LinkedIn: suepolinsky 4Square: suepolinsky