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Search Engine Optimization and Analytics presented to the CSEPP Advanced Training Course on November 21, 2013.
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Search Engine Optimization and Analytics
Bryan CampbellORAU Communications & Marketing
Where We’re Going
• What is SEO?• How do you do it?• How do you measure it?
What is SEO?
SEO Definitions
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the science of increasing traffic to your Website by improving the internal and external factors influencing ranking in search results. --Bruce Clay
SEO Definitions
It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have such results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users.--Search Engine Land
SEO Definitions
82% of all the clicks on search results in engines like Google & Bing go to the unpaid, organic results. Only 18% go to paid listings. SEO is the practice of attracting traffic from those unpaid results and involves a massive array of strategies and tactics.--Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOMoz
Search Engine Popularity
• 18.7 billion explicit core searches were conducted in the U.S. in September 2013
• Google Sites ranked first with 12.5 billion• Microsoft Sites ranked second with 3.4 billion• Yahoo! Sites with 2.1 billion• Ask Network with 474 million • AOL, Inc. with 249 million
Data from ComScore
The 900-lb Gorilla
• Google’s ownership of the search market is well known…but underreported?
• FTC investigated and determined that Google does not have “search bias” (Jan. 2013)
• ComScore Data – 66%?• What percentages are you seeing?
Google 88.5%Bing 6.3%
Google 88.9%Bing 7.3%
The Process – Behind the Scenes
• Website is created• Googlebots crawl the site
– Sitemap.xml– Robots.txt
• Google adds site’s contents to their Index and Archive
The Process - Searching
• Searchers enter keywords into Google – How many ways do people search??
• Google returns search engine result pages (SERPs) based on 200 algorithm criteria
The Process – Clicking (tapping)
• SERP attention spans– Formerly Page 1 (first 10 results) was the goal
• Now it’s top 3 or you’re out*– Top organic link gets 36% of clicks– Number 2 gets 12.5%– Number 3 gets 9.5%
• Web page attention spans < 10 seconds
*CTR data courtesy of Bruce Clay, Inc.
What You Can’t Control(but you need to know)
• Page Rank• Inbound Links• Competition• Algorithm Changes• SERP Evolution
What is Page Rank?
• Named after Larry Page, Google founder and current CEO
• Mathematical formula comparing all the elements in a set (all the known pages on the Web)
• 10-point scale• Do your know your site’s PR?
Page Rank “Page Rank is the
number and
importance of links pointing to you.”
–Matt Cutts
Why is Page Rank important?
• Google crawls (roughly) in order of Page Rank• The Higher your page rank:
– the faster you’re likely to be found– the deeper they’ll crawl on your site– the more often they’ll visit your pages to see if
they’ve been refreshed
Inbound Links
• Alexa• Google Webmasters• Majestic SEO
Competition
• Who is least imperfect?• You, me and the bear• SEO tools to compare
Constant Change
• Google’s Algorithm changes automatically every 14 hours
• Much larger manual changes:– Panda – Quality Content– Penguin – Quality Links– Hummingbird - Looks at context and intent of
search
Google SERP Evolution
• Google Changes– Organic vs. Paid– Multimedia results– Autocomplete (still manipulable?)– Knowledge Graph– Personalized/Localized Results– Google+
Google SERPs over time
How do you do it?
Do what Google tells you to do
1. Speed up your site 2. Make sure you’re mobile/social friendly3. Fix your pages4. Have good content
1. Speed up your site
• Combine CSS and Javascript files• Minify• Image optimize
2. Be Mobile/Social Friendly
• Responsive Design– Google Recommends
• Shareable content on your site• Presence on the social platforms• Social presence allows for “buzz”• “We’re everywhere you want to be”
Smart Phone Growth
3. Fix Your Pages
• Keywords• Title Tag• Meta Tags• Headlines• Image Alt Tags• Links• Content
Keywords
• 58% of all queries are 3 or more words• 87% of all clicks are organic• 100% of all statistics are debatable
Exercises…
http://flic.kr/p/83dMSW
…or exercises
http://flic.kr/p/6Vt94T
Keywords
• Research and decide which words to use BEFORE– You write your news release– You write your Web copy– You write your blog post
Keywords
• Think like a searcher, not yourself• Who do you want to find your site?• Why would they want to find you?
Title Tag
• Every page • Unique• Use keywords (but none more than twice)• 60-72 Characters
Meta Tags
• Meta Description– 12 to 24 words– Include keywords– Should read like a sentence
• Meta Keywords– No benefit from using– Google claims to ignore it– BUT it is included in the Google Archive
Headlines
• H1– Have one on every page– Should read like a newspaper headline– Use Keywords
Headlines
• H2– Should read like a sentence– Should always appear below H1 and above H3
Headlines
• H3, H4, H5…– Use them where necessary for organization– No SEO benefit past H3
Images
• Alt attribute should be on every image• SEO benefit for important images• Section 508 requirement for all images
Links
• Links should use keywords or helpful words– Not “Click Here” or “More”
4. Have Good Content
• Quality Content– Gets Shared– Gets Linked– Gets Crawled– Gets Ranked
Content
• Have keywords throughout– But don’t “keyword stuff”– Distribute widely on the page– Multiple forms of keywords
• Be Interesting• Be Relevant
A Word about Word Count
• Let the content dictate the length, not a formula.
• Short pages can rank well.
159 Words
Case Study
Volkswagen Internships
• ORAU manages Volkswagen Distinguished Scholars Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Microsite to support the program did not rank at all for months after launch
• Made subtle changes
Volkswagen cont’d
• Turned paragraph heads into H1 and H2• Added better titles and meta description• Added links from the accompanying YouTube
video and from 1 other popular site
Engagement Objects™
• Multimedia content– Videos– Podcasts– Images– Graphs/Charts– Maps– Polls
Engagement Objects
• Create links back to your site• Create “buzz”• Increase reputation
Engagement Objects
• SEO Periodic Table• Search Engine Relationship Chart
YouTube
• Second most popular search engine• Tagged content• Link back to your site• Stats!• Channel pages• Playlists• Closed Captioning
SlideShare
• "SlideShare’s mission is to build the world’s largest social content network”
• Fully Owned Subsidiary of LinkedIn• Allows sharing of presentations and
documents• Everyone can view presentations• Logged in users can download files
SlideShare
• Benefits– Take payload off your server– Content Discovery– SEO– Analytics
WordPress
• “WordPress takes care of 80-90% of SEO” --Matt Cutts
• But don’t leave money on the table
WordPress
• Meta Tag Plugins– Simple Meta Tags
WordPress Posts and Pages
• Text vs. Tags
WordPress Authorship
• Requires a plug-in• Connect WordPress to Google+ Account• SERPS show you as author of results with your
Google+ Profile pic displayed
WordPress Categories
• These work like keywords• Can be part of a page/post even where there
is not another mention in the text• Allow dynamic pages where all your content
in a category is grouped for you
SEO Lab
• Sample Web page• Find the areas to improve• Code Warriors can open HTML in a text editor
and mark it up• Wordsmiths can mark it up with a pen
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><meta name="keywords" content="Exercise, Monday, Fairgrounds" /><title>Untitled Document</title></head>
<body><p><strong><em>Upcoming Exercise</em></strong></p><p>The Smith County Division of Emergency Management will be conducting an emergency response drill this Friday, Nov. 29, at the Smith County Fairgrounds, which could impact your morning commute.</p>
<p>Agencies involved in the drill will include the Smith County Sheriff’s Department (<a href="http://www.scsd.smithco.tn.us/">website</a>), Smithville EMS Services, Smithville Fire Department, the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.</p>
<p>SCSD spokesperson Olivia Jones said that the event will impact traffic flow around the Fairgrounds and drivers should choose alternate routes for their morning drive if their destination is on the west side of the Fairgrounds.</p>
<div style="float:right"> <img src="drill.jpg" width="300" height="178" alt=" " /><p>Pretend “victims” will stand in for actual disaster victims during Friday’s drill. </p></div>
“We will have a brief period where streets will be closed to allow emergency vehicles to access the Fairgrounds,” Jones said. “Drivers may experience delays of 15 minutes or more during these closures, so alternate routes should be used when possible.”</p>
<p>Jones said the drill will allow the first responders and emergency management personnel to practice how they will coordinate their efforts in the event of a disaster in the Smith County area.
<p>“In the past 10 years, our state has experienced catastrophic floods and tornados, which thankfully did not impact our area,” Jones said. “But in the event that another of these disasters should impact Smith County, this drill helps us know how to coordinate efforts to get emergency services to local citizens as efficiently as possible.”
<p>Jones added that sounds of helicopters and sirens will be heard in the area during the drill which should not alarm residents in the area.<p>“We try to simulate our response to a disaster as closely as possible so it may seem real to those who aren’t aware of what’s happening,” Jones said. “That is why we want to get out the word early so that no is alarmed or frightened by the sounds and activity at the Fairgrounds."<p>To see a map of the traffic closures click <a href="map.pdf">here</a>.<p></body></html>
How do You Measure it?
Google Analytics
• Pros– Free!– One line of code on every page
• Build into templates or CMS
– Live data– See user paths through site– Bounce Rate data– Annotate events
Google Analytics
• Cons– Format/Features Change FREQUENTLY– (Not Provided)– Oriented toward marketing sites
Google Webmasters
• Connect it to Google Analytics• See actual keyword searches• Submit sitemaps• Find crawl errors
Ranking Reports
• Increasingly devalued
YOURLS
• Your Own URL Shortener• You pick your own domain
– Many .us domains available– Inexpensive but not free
• Shorten your own site links or anyone else’s• Basic stats available• You own it unlike goo.gl, bit.ly, etc.
Social Media Statistics
• Facebook Admin Panel
Social Media Metrics
• Twitter Analytics http://analytics.twitter.com
Social Media Metrics
• Pinterest Web Analytics http://business.pinterest.com/analytics/
Discussion
