Making the right decisions about search, PR & content

Sarah Johnsonsarah@whitespacers.com

What we’ll be chatting through…

In every space

An introduction to SEO

Link building earning!

Content marketing

Question time

In every space

Twitter: @whitespacers

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An introduction to SEO

What is SEO?

“Search Engine Optimisation is the process of

configuring a site or digital platform to improve its

natural rankings with the search engine results”

Difference between PPC & SEO

•PPC & SEO are both methods of marketing your site on search engines

•PPC - you pay to appear within search results in the form of ads

•SEO - you do not pay for your place (no cost per click)

- search engines decide rankings based on relevance

- your site must be of a high quality and relevance

•SEO has a higher traffic driving potential

•SEO is a long term strategy

★ Google Adgrants for non-profit organisations up to $10,000/month

How search engines work

•‘Match-making’ service – match a query to the most relevant files on the

web

•SEs crawl and index billions of files by using web crawlers known as

‘spiders’

•Spiders use links to access these files and the source code to interpret

and analyse the content

•SEs use incredibly complex algorithms to rate and rank all of these

billions of files

•Huge number of ranking factors to evaluate the relevance and

importance of each file

Key SEO ranking factors – on page

•Quality and depth of site content

•Fresh content

•Use of keywords within copy, site structure and urls

•Layout of content (headings, bullet points, paragraphs)

•Rich and engaging elements

•Site accessibility and architecture (and speed)

•Quality of HTML build of site

•HTML SEO elements (page titles, meta descriptions, <h> tags, image alt

text)

•Technical SEO elements (robots.txt, sitemap.xml, etc)

•Internal links

Key SEO ranking factors – off page

•Trust Google has in the domain

•Quality and relevance of inbound links to the site

•Anchor text of inbound links

•Personal relevance (such as country, locality, history of each user)

•Social reputation and shares

SEO – basic rules of thumb

To be ranked number one…. you have to be number one

If you want to rank for a given keyword, you’ll need at least a page on the

site dedicated to it

…if not a site section

…if not a site!

SEO step by step

Step 1. Keyword research

•Identifying the most appropriate keywords to target is key to success

•Target both ‘long’ and ‘short’ tail keywords

Step 1. Keyword research

1.Brainstorm an initial keyword list

2.Run these keywords through a keyword research tool

3.Structure initial keyword research into ‘themes’, then run each ‘theme’

through the tool to mine ‘longer tail’

4.Review competitive landscape of main keyword themes

5.Select most appropriate keywords

6.Create a keyword sitemap for your site

Step 1. Keyword research

• List primary phrases to be targeted on each page of the site, along with

secondary and related terms

Step 2. Optimise site structure

•Clean HTML build

•Optimise site navigation

– Keywords in page labels

– Site sections for main keyword themes

– Content pages within relevant site section

•Optimise URLs

– Keywords in url

– Page hierarchy within the site

– Don’t bury key content too far down site www.site.com/xxx/xxx/x.php

•Avoid Duplicate Content

•301 redirect any duplicate pages (www. version and non-www.)

Step 3. On-page optimisation

•Add primary keywords to start of Page titles – unique per page

•Add descriptive meta descriptions to prompt click-through

•Add keyword to H1 headings

•Write naturally and add keywords to copy where relevant

•Use bulleted lists where possible

•Add rich elements to the page, such as infographics, videos, tools, etc

•Link to relevant pages within copy

•Add alt attributes to images

•Use text based pdfs and add keywords to title property and filename

Step 5. Webmaster tools & SEO add ons

•Upload Sitemap.xml and robots.txt to Webmaster tools

•Download browser extensions for SEO – in particular Mozbar, ‘SEO site

tools’ and SEO Quake

Link building earning!

•‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Penguin’ updates changes the link landscape

•The practice of actively seeking links for link’s sake is largely outdated

•Natural link behaviour patterns are very specific

•Instead of link-building the focus should be placed on ‘link-earning’

“ Earning natural links through creating high quality, relevant and

engaging content”

Content Marketing

Content marketing

‘Content Marketing’ is the practice of creating and

sharing high quality, engaging and relevant content

in order to attract and engage visitors

Step 1. Create quality, shareable content

1. Review existing site stats – what is working now?

2. Profile your target audience – why are they coming to the site?

3. Plan what the content needs to achieve – what are your goals?

4. Identify your ‘converting content’

5.Create content that will entertain, inspire, educate or convince

Step 1. Create quality content

1. Review existing site stats – what is working now?

2. Profile your target audience – why are they coming to the site?

3. Plan what the content needs to achieve – what are your goals?

4. Identify your ‘converting content’

5.Create content that will entertain, inspire, educate or convinceChurch groups

Make a difference Fundraising

Fundraising pack

‘Your funds’ video

Volunteers

Be part of something

Applications Volunteer case studies

List of Volunteering opportunities

Step 2. Create a content plan

1.Develop a topline plan for the next 12 months

2.Incorporate seasonal trends and themes

3.Map out what content you already have, what you need to provide and

what the audience are looking for

4.Theme your year as appropriate (monthly, quarterly, campaign based,

etc)

5.Allocate resource within the content plan to ensure timelines are met

6.Allow plenty of time for content gen and upload for seasonally critical

pieces

7.Excel is a great tool for this, as is Google docs

Step 3. Push out content

1.Place content on all of your owned platforms

2.Reach out to prominent bloggers, journalists and site owners

3.Community management to maximise your social following and impact

4.Seek out guest article opportunities on related sites

5.Invite guest bloggers/articles on your site

6.Seek out relevant in-bound links from closely related or partner sites

7.Invite reviews and case studies

Step 4. Drive traffic to your content

• Consider the best marketing mix for your content against your goals and

audience needs

• Marketing mix must fit budget, goals and target audience

• SEO is a critical element of traffic driving

• Also consider PPC – Google Adgrants for non-profits can provide free

advertising

• Facebook ads can be cost effective and build facebook community

• Display is typically expensive but can drive huge volumes

Donations

Ongoing process

Thank YouQuestions?