SEO Explained

SEO ExplainedA beginner’s guide to understanding natural search

Danielle Westbatgirl13uk@yahoo.com

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimisation The process which aims to get websites listed prominently within search engine’s organic / natural search results. Organic search results have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using bots / spiders & algorithms) according to relevancy to the term/s entered.

Organic search results

How are Organic Results Generated?

Bots are software applications that run automated tasks over the Internet. The largest use of bots is in web spidering, in which an automated script fetches, analyses and files information from web servers at many times the speed of a human.

• You!• Bots

• Crawlers

• Spiders

All web robots or “bots”

This Process can be Broken into 3 Steps:

crawling

serving

indexing

Crawling

• Billions of sites– New sites– Site changes– Redirected sites– Dead links

• Multiple factors– Site type– Layout– Code language

Indexing

• Semantics• Content• Meta data• Relevance• Location• Language

Serving

• Google SERPS relevance is determined by over 200 factors

• Content• Keyword relevance • New content• Site activity & clicks• Link popularity• Site age• PageRank

Humans versus Robots

what humans see what robots see

Page Title & Description

<title>Virgin Media; The Mother of all Broadband</title>

<meta name="description" Content="The future of broadband is fast, fibre optic and half price from £4.50 a month when you take our £11 a month phone line. It's the mother of all broadband.">

Positive Factors in Organic Search

• Content• Page Titles• Meta data, title, image & header

tags• URL• Google authority• Site historical popularity/ activity• Site age• Quality/relevance• Global, internal & topical link

popularity• Site structure, architecture & flow• Anchor text• Local and Google Webmaster Tools

sitemap• Content update frequency• Text over flash and images• Bot accessibility

Negative Factors in Organic Search

• Duplicate content• Keyword stuffing &

overuse of keywords• Duplicate title tags &

meta data• Slow server response

time• Link associations with

Spam sites, link schemes & link farms

• Bot blocking• Flash-based sites*

*Flash version 9 is Search Engine friendly though text will always beat Flash & images in ranking.

Black Hat or White hat?

• White Hat• Ethical • Relevant• Content focused• Transparent• Quality not quantity• Gradual but enduring

results

• Black Hat• Unethical• “Instant Results”• Deceptive techniques• Secret tricks• Quantity not quality• Immediate but temporary

results

SEO Strategy

• Audit site• Research• Identify objectives & KPIs • Marketing activity• Analysis & measurement• Testing• SEO specific activity• Maintenance

Perform Site Audit

• URLs• Site architecture• Navigation• Content • Images• Titles• Anchor text• Inbound & outbound links• Pages indexed

Research

• Competition• Industry• Market saturation • Potential crossovers• Historic traffic• Benchmark ranking• Identify seasonal &

industry trends

Identify Objectives & KPIs

• Traffic• Visits • Impressions• Leads • Conversions• Branding• Keywords• Brand terms• Rank

Marketing Activity

• PPC• OLM• eMail marketing• eNewsletters• DM• Display• Print• Radio • TV• PR

Analysis & Measurement

• Check historic & current• Traffic sources• Popular keywords for visit

& conversion• Time on site & Page depth• Overall conversion by

source

• Return on investment• Immediate ROI• Lifetime value• New v returns

• Ranking• Brand keywords• Long tail keywords• High volume keywords

Testing

• PPC provides immediate insight

• A/B testing• Multi-variant testing• User journey • Wildcard keyword

pages

SEO-Specific Activity• Blogs; include links with keyword

rich anchor text• Optimised landing pages usually

as product description or CRM provide keyword-rich content & good content for users as well

• Optimise campaign micro-sites & pages with tag lines or relevant keywords

• Link audits • Link building campaigns• Ensure your content can be

shared on social networking sites easily

• Encourage engagement• Encourage UGC• Micro-sites & websites focused on

key areas

Maintenance• Unavailable_after tags• Update XML sitemap• Update web sitemap• Audit & clean links• Quarterly site audit• Regular reviews & analysis• Stay current with structure• Competitor analysis• Fresh content• Look for trends & patterns• Learn & prepare for campaigns • Staff training• Conferences• Newsletters

Tips

• Be relevant not fancy or clever• Pay attention to internal search terms• Learn from competitors• Slow and steady wins the race• Keep record of all changes & the subsequent impact

it has on traffic, behaviour and rank.

Recommended Reading

• www.seomoz.org• googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com• www.mattcutts.com/blog/type/googleseo/• searchengineland.com/• delicious.com/batgirl13uk/seo

Thanks

Danielle West

batgirl13uk@yahoo.com