Search Engine Optimisation

Assumptions

• Tag optimisation <H1>, <H2>, <B>, <TITLE>• Content is King• Inbound links• Anchor Text• Keyword Density• Keyword Frequency• Expert / Authority Sites• Parental Documents• On-Page SEO / Off-Page SEO

SEO resource vs PPC resource

Why SEO is more important

• Q4 is coming; PPC ROI goes down, bids up, competition everywhere.• Direct-To-Merchant deals more difficult to land.• Google disabling “routing/jump” pages.

Return of the Portal

• Still use PPC, but reinvest spend on your brand.• Build portal, do it properly.• Free natural traffic is extra revenue.• Add to favourites, email capture.• Campaign deals, CPM/CPC hybrids.• Tangible asset.

Writing for Search Engines – On Page SEO

Well crafted content is good for:

• Human beings• Accessibility

AND

• Search Engines

You don’t need to compromise.

RELEVANCY RELEVANCY RELEVANCY

Body Text

• The initial content, the first 2-3 paragraphs, is the MOST IMPORTANT. Especially the first 150-200 characters.

• Keyword Phrases (used by your target user/market) presented consistently and logically throughout body text will boost rankings.

• When possible, Keyword Phrases should be used at the start, or near to the start of paragraphs.

• Ideal target is 200 – 300 words per page.

Things you may not know.

• The Title tag has a stronger weight with regards to Googles ranking – BUT – Google will try to match keywords and phrases in the Title tag with links and text in the page.

• Title tag should be varied to reflect each page. First 60 characters are the most important, title tag should be no longer than 15 words.

• Keyword density of around 2-7% is recommended (won’t trip filters). KD = “Keyword Count” divided by “Total Words” x “100”.

• Keyword frequency (repetition) of around 3-7 times per 100 words is recommended.

• Keyword prominence – words at the beginning of a page, paragraph, header are assigned a greater value than those at middle or end.

• Keyword proximity – the distance between 2 related terms, the shorter the difference the better the page will rank for that phrase.

Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO

• Links are your currency on the web and are your net worth.

• Not all links are equal, a reciprocated PR4 guest book link is not the same as an on topic PR4 link from an authority site.

• Focusing on one aspect of a link (PR, anchor text, placement) neglects the understanding each link can have on your rankings.

Copywright Greenlight

The Link Exchange

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party

AuthorityParental Authority

Honesty / Integrity

Total score for this link = 48 out of 60

Copywright Greenlight

The Link Exchange

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party

AuthorityParental Authority

Honesty / Integrity

Guest book link = 16 out of 60

Copywright Greenlight

The Link Exchange

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party

AuthorityParental Authority

Honesty / Integrity

Guest book link = 9 out of 60

Google decides not to value anchor text so heavily in its next update and cranks up its honesty filter.

What if 3rd Party Authority is considered the ‘new black’?

The value that you had accrued in Anchor text is devalued, and you have little value in the currency that is flavor of the month.

If Anchor text is your only currency, then a devaluation of your key link currency WILL hurt your rankings.

Copywright Greenlight

Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO

• Links have different qualities, weightings and attributes.

• The weightings change making links worth more or less each update.

• If you drop in rankings you may not have been penalised, just have less of the “in-currency”.

• Important as you need to know what links to go after as they right links can take a long time.

Copywright Greenlight

Search Engine Optimisation – Best Practice

Keyword Rich Title Description

Spider Friendly URL

Keywords in URL

<h1> For Page Heading

Search Engine Friendly Keyword Rich Text

Text Based Menu Links

Where is a good example of SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation – Kelkoo Rewarded

433,000 UK Pages indexed by

Google

Clear, keyword rich pagedescriptions invite click

throughs

Precise Page Titles

Dynamic URLs and Solutions

• Spiders *can* be put off from crawling your site by heavily dynamic URLs

http://www.domain.co.uk/session.php?=F38cmdu03/product.aspx?ID=7563&CID=100

• Eliminate sessionIDs for spiders.• Re-write the URL as:

http://www.domain.co.uk/7563/100

Shorter, cleaner and spider friendly! One for your technical team.

• MOD_REWRITE for Unix/Linux based systems.• ISAPI_REWRITE for Windows based systems.

Check with your host if you are able to install these modules, if not, you will need tochange hosts.

Robots.txt

Robots.txtRobots.txt – A text file that you place on your server whichinstructs search engines spiders to NOT crawl a page on your site.

Always use on the following pages: Pages under construction, CGI-BIN, Redundant information.

Always use a robots.txt file even if its empty.

Here is an example:User-agent: *

Questions?