Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
John McPhee, Vice President of Formic Media, presents SEO best practices at the January 2013 SEMpdx event in Portland, OR. McPhee discusses on-site SEO, as well as off-site SEO, tactics to help increase organic rankings.
Citation preview
John McPhee
• Vice President, Formic Media• In charge of sales & partnership
development at Formic Media• Honed digital marketing chops at
Anvil Media• Focused on travel, hospitality &
B2B• Participate in local community
marketing organizations
Agenda – SEO 101
• SEO Basics• SEO Ranking Factors• Design & Development• Keyword Research• On-Site Optimization• Link Development• Local SEO
SEO 101
SEO Ranking Factors
SEO 101: SEO Ranking Factors
Design & Development
SEO 101: Design & Development
• Do• Use HTML text whenever possible• Use text navigation • Incorporate SEO elements• Use transcripts for audio/video
• Don’t• Use too many images• Use too much JavaScript• Use too many Flash files
SEO 101: Design & Development
• Why Flash sites aren’t ideal for SEO
This is what Google sees
This is what we see
SEO 101: Design & Development
• Build an internal link structure
SEO 101: Design & Development
• Utilize an XML sitemap to help Google
Keyword Research
SEO 101: Keyword Research
• Keywords are the building blocks of SEO• Google uses keywords to determine relevancy• It’s imperative to identify the right keywords
SEO 101: Keyword Research
• Which keywords do I choose?
SEO 101: Keyword Research
• Perform keyword research
SEO 101: Keyword Research
SEO 101: Keyword Research
SEO 101: Keyword Research
• Other keyword research tools…• Google Analytics• Google AdWords• KeywordSpy• Keyword Discovery• Ubersuggest• WordTracker
On-Site Optimization
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• URLs• Title Tag• Meta Description Tag• H1 Header Tag• ALT Image Tags
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• URLs• Include keywords in URLs• Static is better (than dynamic)• Use URL rewrites if possible
• Use hyphens (instead of underscores)• Avoid duplicate content issues• FormicMedia.com/index.html• FormicMedia.com/home.html• FormicMedia.com
• Use 301 redirects if you suffer from this
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• Title Tags
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• Meta Description Tag
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• H1 Header Tag
SEO 101: Tag Optimization
• ALT Image Tag
Link Development
SEO 101: Link Development
• Google uses link signals for ranking purposes:• Global popularity• Get links from popular/trusted sites
• Topic-specific• Get links from websites that focus on the
same/similar topics• Anchor text• Obtain links with targeted keywords
• Freshness• Links go stale, always be seeking new
• Social sharing• Becoming much more important
SEO 101: Link Development
• Where to get links?
SEO 101: Link Development
• Link Development Tools• Open Site Explorer (SEOmoz)• Link Diagnosis• Majestic SEO• Raven Tools
SEO 101: Link Development
• Open Site Explorer
What About Local SEO?
SEO 101: Local SEO
• Still need to focus on the on-site & off-site tactics you just saw
• Additionally….• Claim & verify local listings• Include NAP (name, address, phone) on site• Submit NAP to major data providers• Submit NAP to online directories• Use GetListed.org
