© 2007 ibm corporation search engine marketing coe july 2007 search engine optimization: organic...

© 2007 IBM Corporation

Search Engine Marketing COE

July 2007

Search engine optimization:

Organic search authoring basics

Content Quality Council: Schema and terminology work group

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© 2007 IBM Corporation2

SEM COE

How to use this course

This course is best used in slideshow mode.

Throughout the course, there arelink icons at the bottom of slides that enable you to move around the course.

The table of contents at right is interactive. Click the

links to jump to the sections you want to learn about.

The keyword usage and writing techniques sections are also interactive. Click the guidance statements to access more information. Click the link back icons to go back to the guidance list.

At the end of the course, you can take a pop quiz to see how well you have done.

In the pop quiz, wait for the questions and use the down arrow to display the answers.

Interactive table of contents

Search COE mission and goals

Course purpose and scope

Why take this course?

What is your missed opportunity?

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

How users view search engine results pages

How search engines work

How to improve rankings: Keyword usage

Improve search results: Writing techniques

Writing techniques for title tags

Optimizing abstracts and short descriptions

Examples

Tools for researching optimal keywords

Pop quiz on SEO

Search resources and checklists

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SEM COE

The Search COE consists of four pillars

Audience Programs

program support

SEM Methodology

WW Community

Measurement Standards

& Infrastructure

infrastructureprogram support

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SEM COE

This course is part of the SEM Methodology pillar

Audience Programs

program support

SEM Methodology

WW Community

Measurement Standards

& Infrastructure

infrastructure

Previous slide Next slide


SEM COE

SEM Methodology activities

Defined SEM process Defined and delivered the SEM Roadmap for IBM

Scoped and created leading-edge workshops and best practices “Resolving keyword conflicts” (July 15, 2007) “Understanding paid search ad copy” (May 23, 2007) “Beating click fraud” (June 6, 2007) “Organic search authoring basics” (July 18, 2007) Six more workshops by the end of 2007, including:

PR & Search MM & Search (product/solution naming etc.) “Advanced organic search authoring” Others

Evaluate and scope supporting tools

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SEM COE

Course purpose and scope

This course helps authors, editors, terminologists, and folks who are not writers by trade improve the visibility of their content for search engines.

This course focuses on organic search—how external search engines find content on ibm.com pages. It does not address paid search—how ibm.com pays for position on external search engines.

Organic search results Paid search results

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SEM COE

Why take this course?

84% of technology buyers begin looking for information on products and services through search engines.

70% of buyers click organic results before they click paid results.

IBM pays by the click for paid search placement. Organic search results cost nothing but author awareness and education.

Source: KnowledgeStorm survey, May 2007

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SEM COE

What is your missed opportunity?

keywordEst. Searches

per MonthSE Visits (Organic)

Share of Clicks

Current Rank at Google

Share of Clicks Visits

Share of

Clicks Visits

DB2 Information on Demand:

db2 18,618 7,164 38.48% 1 40% 283 - -database software 214,760 7 0.00% Not in top 30 3% 6,436 8% 17,174 database management 113,939 5 0.00% Not in top 30 3% 3,413 8% 9,110 document management 1,618,298 72 0.00% Not in top 30 3% 48,477 8% 129,392 Lotus:Lotus Notes 93,419 17,238 18.45% Not in top 30 40% 20,130 - -collaboration software 34,132 12 0.04% Not in top 30 3% 1,012 8% 2,719 instant messaging 1,893,706 12 0.00% Not in top 30 3% 56,799 8% 151,484 portal software 9,527 17 0.18% 25 3% 269 8% 745 Rational:Rational Unified Process 5,230 2,349 44.91% 1 - - - -portfolio management 1,047,160 31 0.00% 12 3% 31,384 8% 83,742 software testing 210,720 5 0.00% Not in top 30 3% 6,317 8% 16,853 rapid application development 5,294 3 0.06% Not in top 30 3% 156 8% 421 Tivoli:Tivoli Storage Manager 2,093 1,041 49.74% 1 - - - -service level management 1,477 5 0.34% 29 3% 39 8% 113 identity management 2,708 6 0.22% Not in top 30 3% 75 8% 211 infrastructure management 1,791 4 0.22% Not in top 30 3% 50 8% 139 WebSphere:WebSphere Application Server 2,265 736 32.49% 1 - - - -soa 12,188 2,253 18.49% 15 20% 185 - -application server 75,596 81 0.11% 9 3% 2,187 8% 5,967 information integration 354 43 12.15% 1 20% 28 - -

- Total 5,363,275 31,084 0.58% Monthly 177,238 418,069

2,126,861 5,016,824

Incremental Monthy Visits

Annual Incremental

Source: Lee Moore, Search and syndication program manager, ibm.com

Software Group (SWG) search data shows that organic search effectiveness is a key traffic driver to its brand sites.

There is a strong correlation between search ranking and traffic to SWG Web pages.

When the visits, share of clicks, and the ranking are low, it means the content is not well optimized for organic search.

There are 5.33 million missed opportunities in this month alone.



SEM COE

What is search engine optimization?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of guiding the development or redevelopment of Web content so that it naturally attracts visitors by winning top ranking on the major search engines.

SEO increases traffic to content containing selected search terms and phrases. It includes the following practices:

Ensuring that your site enables spiders to visit and index the content on your site

Ensuring that the pages on your site are as compliant as possible with the search engine scoring algorithms

Ensuring that your pages do not resort to keyword or metadata spamming or other tricks to entice spiders to come to your site

Ensuring that your pages include the keyword phrases actually used by searchers

Ensuring that your site’s pages are shown in the top three in organic search results

Ensuring compelling and action-oriented abstracts or descriptions that encourage visits



SEM COE

How users view search engine results pages (SERP)



SEM COE

Searchers mainly focus on the title or snippet

SERP Result - Where Searchers Look

Title30%

Snippet44%

URL21%

Other5%


Note: Search Engines highlight the keyword phrase used by the searcher when found in the title and snippet (also known as the abstract or short description). This draws the attention of the searcher to those places.


SEM COE

Users scan search engine results in this pattern

Aggregate heat map: All consumer-search activity

Red is most-viewed; black is not viewed.

X indicates user clicksSource: Enquiro

Aggregate heat map: All consumer-search activity

Red is most-viewed; black is not viewed.

X indicates user clicksSource: Enquiro



SEM COE

Get in the top three if you want users to click through

Visitors view their results for an average of 6.3 seconds before clicking on a link.

6.3 seconds is just enough time to scan the first three results and the top two ads.

Visitors view their results for an average of 6.3 seconds before clicking on a link.

6.3 seconds is just enough time to scan the first three results and the top two ads.



SEM COE

Technology buyers are particular in how they search

Technology buyers conduct sophisticated, patient searches.

56% of technology buyers using a major search engine typically use complex phrases of three or more words when they look for technology information.

More than 53% will scan three to five pages (30-50 results) before finding a result that interests them, redefining, or abandoning their search.

Marketers can reflect the more complex search terms used by technology buyers when they optimize their pages for search.

47% of technology buyers click on one of the top five organic results.

Source: KnowledgeStorm survey, May 2007



SEM COE

How search engines work



SEM COE

How does a typical search algorithm work?

Spam and inflation detection Verifying that no unethical tricks are being used Verifying that the page honestly reflects its content and its relationship to other

pages on the site

Keyword phrase inclusion or content relevancy How are the keywords located on the page and relative to each other? What is the relationship of the keyword to the content?

Internet relevancy How many other sites and pages are linked to this site and page? How “relevant” are the pages and sites linking to the page? How are the other links referenced that point to the page?



SEM COE

Leverage keyword placement to increase relevance


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SEM COE

Only the acronym is used. The full term product lifecycle management searched 100 times more frequently.

The keyword phrase is in a graphic that is invisible to search engines.

Content is not very compelling to a searcher nor does it help relevance. And there isn’t enough content on the page.

There are no contextual cues for these links.

Before optimization, this page ranked #175 on Google


Source: Bill Hunt


SEM COE

After optimization, the page ranked #1 or #2 on Google and Yahoo in all countries

Used the full search term

Converted image to text so search engine can read and score with prominence

Linked to SWG PLM page, which helped push it to #2

Content is more relevant and compelling

Site updated to 2006 ibm.com design template

74% of all traffic to page is from search engines


Source: Bill Hunt


SEM COE

Use your keyword frequently and spread it throughout the page.

Structure your content to include your keyword.

Bolded text increases click-through rates.

If your keyword is more than one word, keep the words adjacent.

Use terms related to your keyword.

Stem your keyword and use its plural when possible. Use synonyms and the complete forms of acronyms with any acrony

m based keywords.

Marketing writers: Check with your business unit search leader

to ensure that you are using the right words.

Improve search rankings: Keyword usage



SEM COE

For content heavy pages, use inline links and anchors to different parts of the

page and include the keyword.

Use descriptive link text rather than generic text.

Use direct and simple language to complement the searcher’s mindset to get information quickly.

Include problem statements, not just solution names.

Include at least 300 words per page.

Improve search results: Writing techniques



SEM COE

Writing techniques for title tags



SEM COE

Where is the title tag?

The page title is not the title tag

The title tag displays in this field



SEM COE

Generic writing techniques for title tags

The copy you use in the title tag is one of the most important factors in how search engines rank your site.

The title tag is also what appears in the search engine result pages as the clickable heading describing what your site is all about.

It’s very important to get the balance right in optimizing the title tag with keywords relevant to the Web page.

Also, make it stand out in a way that people are more likely to click your listing instead of your competitor’s.

Think of the title tag as the title of a movie, book, or magazine; it is the first experience most users and customers have with your Web site. It helps them find the content in your site that responds to their need.

Follow the tips below to optimize the title tag:

Use primary, unique keywords in the <title tag>. Title tag could be up to 65 characters that count. Place the primary keyword towards the beginning of the title.

There should only be one title tag per page which should include the "Primary Keyword" identified for the page. Each title tag should be unique and relevant to the content of the page. Avoid repeating keywords within a title tag. Remove stop words (for example a or the) from title tags where possible.

IBM should be the first word but the keyword should be second if possible. Title tags must be compliant with 3.3.0 standards. If you use acronyms in Title tags, they should be spelled out as well. http://w3-03.ibm.com/transform/sas/as-web.nsf/ContentDocsByTitle/HTML+Authoring

Format: <IBM – Primary Keyword – Additional Keywords – Country> For example, “IBM Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions for Small and Medium Business – Canada”

Include call to action words in title tag such as benefits right within the title tag.



SEM COE

Writing title tags that humans can scan

Titles should be easy to scan for the human user and the search engine.

The title should make sense to the user who will see the title in the search results; it should also contain keywords that will make the page rank well.

• For example this title…

<title>IBM WebSphere - e-business on demand, middleware, application server, portal, business integration, infrastructure software</title>

might rank well in a search engine for a search on those terms, but it does not tell the human reader what the page is about and would not encourage the user to click on the link and the page.

Instead, a title such as this…

<title>IBM Websphere Application Server Software</title>

This is more user-friendly and has the specific keyword most relevant to the page.

Source: Jennette Banks: developerWorks External search and community lead



SEM COE

Writing ever more detailed title tags in a hierarchy

The more detailed the page, the more focused the title tag keywords should be.

For example, rather than giving the title WebSphere Portal Server for a page focused on software, use a title such as WebSphere Portal Server Software.

Also, top level overview pages (those closer to the top of the directory) need to be labeled with just a short keyword description of the individual content. As you drill-down deeper into the directory, you can elaborate further within the title tags and add more keywords.

Example of hierarchy:

Top page: IBM Software

Landing page : IBM Rational Software

Leaf page (Article): IBM Rational Application developer


Source: Jennette Banks: developerWorks External search and community lead


SEM COE

Title tag optimization matrix

Source: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company’s Web Site, Mike Moran and Bill Hunt



SEM COE

Optimizing abstracts and short descriptions



SEM COE

Structure the first three sentences as follows:

In addition to the keyword phrase, clearly explain the problem and how IBM solves the problem.

Eliminate any unnecessary words.

Keep your information at the highest level. You can always fill in the details lower on the page.

Avoid jargon, brand names or technical terms.

This abstract is often pulled into search results as the description for the page. Ensure that it gives enough relevant information to encourage the user to click the link.

Techniques to help ensure clear and concise abstracts in search results



SEM COE

Techniques to improve abstracts for PDFs

Before you save your PDF, set the document properties by clicking File > Document Properties

Google scans the Title field first before reviewing the content within the PDF. If you don’t fill it in, some authoring tools will fill it with gibberish, and Google will display that gibberish in its abstracts.

It helps to have the same subject in the document properties file as the metadata you tag the content with.

Don’t spam the keyword field, but a few keywords can help.

PartnerWorld improved search placement on selected PDFs on average from 20th to 1st using this method alone.



SEM COE

Examples



SEM COE

Have some links above the fold– search engines assume information above the fold is most relevant

Include keywords within links: Replace all “Learn More \ Next Steps” links with “Learn more about drug development”.

Have some context to the links on the page: Ask are they linked to relevant content?

Have links to related content and other Life Science solutions, it’s effective marketing and increases the number of relevant links on the page.

Organize content using headings, bold and ordered lists, on page anchor links.

Use terms related to your keyword. Stem keywords and use their plural

forms when possible. Use your keyword in the opening

sentence of the page. Include at least 300 words per page. Have the keyword occur at least 2-

10% of the total word count (e.g. for 300 words, primary keyword needs to show up 2-3 times at least!).

Is this relevant?

Where are the keywords?

Avoid keywords based on internal product names (IBM speak) or add the generic term as description.



SEM COE

Use terms based on keyword demand and what users actually search for – for example. “Drug Development” instead of “Drug discovery”.

Make use of breadcrumbs navigation trail to increase links with relevant keywords.

Replace graphic page titles with text.

Add secondary keywords in bold. Write compelling content; include

the primary keyword, ensure that it is easy to read, concise and free of IBM-speak.

Use keywords within page headings.

Include featured products, related services, spotlight, and special offer modules. (You increase cross-selling and search at the same time.)



SEM COE

Browser title: IBM – Drug Development & Life Science Solutions – United States

Breadcrumbs: Express Advantage for medium business > Industries > Life Science Solutions > Drug Development

Page title: <H1>Life sciences: Drug Development</H1>

Subtitle: Drug discovery solutions for midsize Life Science Businesses

Keywords within page headings: Benefits of IBM Drug Development Solutions

Include featured products, related services, spotlight, special offer modules



SEM COE

Create content that search engines will find and place in the top three results

Google scans the first 100 words of Web pages to help determine content relevance.


Keyword phrase:

Create, manage, and distribute digital media


SEM COE

Example: Title tag with keyword



SEM COE

Tools for researching optimal keywords



SEM COE

What are keywords?

Keywords are content elements that you want search engines to find relevant, and to highly rank your content on search engine results pages. Depending on your audience, your keywords can be one word, a combination of words, or an entire phrase.

Keywords are the emphasized words in the visible text of search results pages.

Optimizing your content for keywords means using keywords in ways that match user queries when they enter terms and phrases into search fields, and maximizing your rankings on the pages that result from user search queries.



SEM COE

Tools in selecting keyword phrases that work

Google AdWords: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

The site does help you choose keywords, but it doesn’t give you numbers.




SEM COE

Tools in selecting keyword phrases that work

Free Web sites tell you what people are searching on:Use the Digital Point Solutions “Keyword Suggestion Tool” (create an account first): http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/keywords/?action=create&lang=english

These tools give you numbers. But the results are based on information from Webcrawler, Dogpile, and Yahoo, so the numbers are not completely definitive.




SEM COE

Try the Overture Keyword Selector Tool: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

at no cost from Yahoo.

Yahoo uses the Google engine, so results reflect how the keywords would work on Google.

Keyword selector tool




SEM COE

Free tools for the Web copywriter

To check a Web page for keyword prominence and density use Ranks NL located at http://www.ranks.nl/tools/spider.html .

To check for synonyms you can use the Synonym Directory located at http://vancouver-webpages.com/synonyms.html

For related words and synonyms you can also use the Lexical Freenet located at http://www.lexfn.com/

The Acronym, Abbreviation, and Initialism Dictionary can be found at http://www.acronymfinder.com/

IBM Mulilingual Terminology located at http://w3-117.ibm.com/standards/terminology/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?user_group=corporate




SEM COE

Keyword usage in the body



SEM COE

Place keywords in the first 25 words in the visible text of the page to increase keyword prominence. The first sentence of the page should be a brief statement of a specific call to action or purpose of the page.

Engines such as Google create the description for the results page by displaying the first sentence on the page that encapsulates the keyword that was entered by the user in the search field.

If possible the keyword should be the first word of the string.

Your page will also be more relevant if your keyword appears at the end of the visible text. To do this, put your keyword in the last paragraph of your copy.

Keywords in the first sentence

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SEM COE

Your keyword should constitute between 2% and 10% of the total number of words on the page. This is referred to as keyword density.

Break the page into subgroups and use the keywords in headings, subheadings, bold statements, bulleted lists, and anywhere it captures a person's attention and tells them they are in the right place.

Use the keyword phrase often and do not switch exclusively to an acronym replacement.

Keyword density



SEM COE

Keyword orderingHow you order your keywords on a

page helps search engines determine how important that keyword is for search. If it is in the first sentence of every section or subsection within a page, the search engine will flag it as a primary keyword on that page.

If you build a logically structured page, with a hierarchy of terms and concepts, the spider will more easily rank the relative importance of keywords within the hierarchy.

HTML formatting, such as headings, bolded text, ordered lists, on-page anchor links, and organization, is critical to determining the page structure.



SEM COE

Keyword formatting

Keywords appearing as emphasized or bolded text stand out to search engine spiders by increasing the keyword prominence factor.

For example, spiders allocate more value to words found in the <h1> HTML tag, which creates the content page title or headline.

Include keywords in and around hyperlinks. Like emphasized text, if your keyword phrase appears in or near a hyperlink, search engines will determine that it is more relevant.



SEM COE

Keyword proximityKeep keyword phrases together. When search engines cannot find an exact match they will look for the individual keywords that are close to each other. This is called keyword proximity. This is an excellent way to integrate keyword variations on the page.



SEM COE

Keywords in contextSearch engines examine all of the

text in a document on a page to determine to what extent the words are relevant to each other, or to commonly used terminology.

For example, if your keyword phrase is PC hardware, and other terms such as RAM, CPU, and hard drive also appear on the page, the search engine will determine that the page has a higher relevance than a page that did not have as many related terms on it.



SEM COE

Keyword stemming Include other grammatical

variations of your keyword on the same page—called stemming. Users might enter your keyword in many different parts of speech. For this reason, search engines give pages with multiple variations of the same keyword a higher degree of relevance than pages with uniform keyword usage.

An example of stemming is diet, dietician and dietary. If a keyword is stemmed to its root form (for example financing and financial to finance) search engines will view anchor text, search queries, and the like containing that term as equivalent and interchangeable.



SEM COE

Include the spelled out form of your acronym in close proximity to the use of the acronym. IBM style dictates that you spell out your term on first reference and include the acronym in parentheses right after the term’s first use. This also helps search engine ranking.

Do not rely solely on the acronym after first reference. Use the spelled out version frequently, especially at the start of a major subsection and in link text.

For example, include Customer relationship management (CRM), CRM solution, and CRM solutions in the same page. Use keyword research to determine which is more popular – the phrase or acronym.

Keywords & acronyms



SEM COE

Search Team – Contact Leader List

AAudience

IBM PPaid

OOrganic

IBM Media Ogilvy Acct Ogilvy Media

Global Sher Taton

James Mathewson

Cynthia Fishel

Damian Haase

X X Dave Manzo John Anagnost Jason Clement

Addam Berger

Bill Hunt

LOB Terri Michigan X X Claudio Zibenberg Jen Rosen

Jennifer Regan

Jason Clement

David Rittenhouse

IT John Fredette

Julie Cohen

David Bruce

Judi Tennenbaum Molly Wagman Jason Clement

Addam Berger

MM Debbie Wildgoose

Donna Branca

Joanne Jackson Michael Maloney Jason Clement

Addam Berger

CIO Dave Bayuk X X Dave Manzo Becca Valle Jason Clement

David Rittenhouse

ITM Marco Pereira X X Dave Manzo Nedim Aruz Jason Clement

David Rittenhouse

AG Maria Hensel X Jason Clement

Addam Berger

Europe Sophie Davidson X X Michael Harp Mikhail Basman

AP Rowan Watts X X Vicky Argyrakis

Effective 7/16/07



SEM COE

Additional writing techniques



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Search engines use named anchor data, particularly in longer documents or those carrying a consistent structure (as with many Wikipedia entries) to help with classification and ranking.

Write descriptive anchor text



SEM COE

Link text is one of the essential areas engines scan to determine keyword rankings. Where practical, incorporate the keyword phrase, product name, or product category related to the content of the page to which you are linking.

Creates a contextual bond to the page that is it linking to making it more relevant.

Write descriptive link text



SEM COE

Write with industry-standard terms

Describe your topic with a primary keyword phrase this is understood by clients and the industry. Don’t use IBM jargon.

For example, IBM uses the term Information Management to describe what the industry typically calls database software. Though you’re required to use the term Information Management somewhere on the page describing DB2 or Informix offerings, the keyword phrase you place near the top should be database software.




SEM COE

Write solutions to problems

Searchers don’t necessarily use formal solution names, rather they use language to help them solve problems.

Action words such as improve, enhance, and reduce work just as well as improve productivity or consolidate resources.

Common industry problems include lowering total cost of ownership, increasing revenue, and increasing customer satisfaction.

Solutions that include an expected return on investment will rank higher than those that do not.



SEM COE

Write a minimum of 300 words per pageStudies show that a 300-word count for

each optimized page exactly balances reader needs and search engine requirements.

Search engines prefer pages with an overall word count of between 300 and 500 words.

Using more words does not dilute relevance as long as long as there is an adequate representation of the primary keyword phrase.

Pages should include the relevant information, especially the primary keyword phrase above the fold—that is on the first screen of the page. With strong design elements, 300 to 500 words will just fit above the fold.

Detailed feature and benefit statements are the golden nuggets that tempt prospects and create conversions.



SEM COE

Pop quiz on SEO



SEM COE

Describe your topic with a primary keyword phrase

Instant quiz:

Is “grow my profits” a good primary keyword phrase? (Decide on your answer — you’re on the honor system, now — and then press .)

Instant quiz:

Is “grow my profits” a good primary keyword phrase? (Decide on your answer — you’re on the honor system, now — and then press .)

Most clients will already have a sense of what these business tools are and whether they might help:

– Customer relationship management

– Enterprise resource management

– Product lifecycle management

– Service oriented architecture

– Supply chain management

X No.

A real need and widely desired, but 100% generic — and in no way specific to any single IBM offering.

X No.

A real need and widely desired, but 100% generic — and in no way specific to any single IBM offering.



SEM COE

Pop quiz:

Does this copy show good placement of the primary keyword phrase?

Pop quiz:

Does this copy show good placement of the primary keyword phrase?

Pop quiz: Use the primary keyword phrase near the top

X No.

The primary keyword phrase should be “service oriented architecture,” but it’s not in the headline or in the first few lines lof the body copy: zero for two.

X No.

The primary keyword phrase should be “service oriented architecture,” but it’s not in the headline or in the first few lines lof the body copy: zero for two.



SEM COE

X No.

1) Spelling out the primary keyword phrase several times will improve search engine rankings.

2) Readers skim to the section that seems most relevant to them. It’s important to spell out the keyword phrase near the top of each major section.

X No.

1) Spelling out the primary keyword phrase several times will improve search engine rankings.

2) Readers skim to the section that seems most relevant to them. It’s important to spell out the keyword phrase near the top of each major section.

Pop quiz: Using acronyms as keyword replacements

Pop quiz:

Once you’ve spelled out supply chain management (SCM) the first time, how about just using SCM from there on? That would save a lot of space.

Pop quiz:

Once you’ve spelled out supply chain management (SCM) the first time, how about just using SCM from there on? That would save a lot of space.



SEM COE

Pop quiz:

Will these statements enable search engines to rank them highly?

Pop quiz:

Will these statements enable search engines to rank them highly?

Pop quiz: provide a clear and concise content statement near the top

Yes.

All of these ranked #1 or #2 on searches within the ibm.com domain.

Yes.

All of these ranked #1 or #2 on searches within the ibm.com domain.



SEM COE

Pop quiz: Are these descriptions/title sufficient to rank highly in a Web search?Pop quiz: Are these descriptions/title sufficient to rank highly in a Web search?

Pop quiz: provide a clear and concise statement of content near the top

Yes. This ranked #1 on searches for the bolded keyword phrases.


X No. The keyword phrase of “service oriented architecture” is correct and in the top 10 results, but it is too broad and there is too much competition for this term. To rank higher, this term should be modified with keywords a searcher would use to refine the query.



X No. The keyword phrase of “service oriented architecture” is correct and in the top 10 results, but it is too broad and there is too much competition for this term. To rank higher, this term should be modified with keywords a searcher would use to refine the query.



SEM COE

Include problem statements, not just solution names

Instant quiz:

Is “improve productivity” a good problem statement?

Instant quiz:

Is “improve productivity” a good problem statement?

How many people will search for these exact phrases?

– Financial and accounting solution for media and entertainment from IBM – Private e-marketplace solutions for automotive from IBM

– Multichannel solution from IBM and Chordiant

– Rational or Tivoli or any product name without a description of the functionality of the product

( Hint: Not many.)

Yes.

Searchers will most likely use Boolean logic by adding terms such as: “+automotive,” “+banking,” “+consumer products,” So optimize for those terms as well.

Yes.

Searchers will most likely use Boolean logic by adding terms such as: “+automotive,” “+banking,” “+consumer products,” So optimize for those terms as well.



SEM COE

Thank you!

Great job!



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Search resources and checklists



SEM COE

Quick reference for using keywords

Title tag: up to 65 characters; put the primary keyword towards the beginning of the title; put the Title tag as

the first tag after the <head> tag generally helps improve the page ranking.

Description\abstract Tag: up to 150 characters; the primary keyword should be in the description. Keep it

short, concise, and to-the-point, and create a unique description for each page. Use keyword near beginning

of text, show benefit and call to action.

Keywords: Ideally 20 to 25 keywords; do not repeat the same keyword more than two to three times and

only include keywords that reflect the content of the page. The keyword list should be unique to each page.

Put the primary keyword and the most relevant terms at the start of the list; use both single words, phrases,

acronyms or misspellings

Keyword density: Your keyword should constitute at least 2%, while with your page it is only 1.7%.

Increase the keyword weight so its value ranges within the boundaries of 2-10 percent. Keep in mind the

possibility of using different forms of keywords. While ranking, search engines consider not only direct

matches of keywords, but also their various alterations.

Keyword prominence: Ensure that the page title is within the <H1> tag with keyword in it; keyword should

also be high up in the body, so first paragraph of text on the page should have the primary keyword towards

the beginning of the text, since SE will often use this snippet within the search results; Using the <H1> tag or

using the bold face for the keyword increases its prominence.



SEM COE

SEO 101 - important termsBody copy The first sentence of the page should be a brief statement of a specific call to action or purpose of the page. This

sentence is like the opening sentence of an article and sets the theme for the page. Also, engines like Google create the description for the results page by displaying the first sentence on the page that encapsulates the keyword that was searched.

Search engines generally focus on the first 300 words of a given page, so these words should contain our targeted keywords in order to build a solid keyword density. Search engines prefer pages with an overall body word count of between 250 – 500 words. Having more words is not a problem as long as there is an adequate representation of the

primary keyword phrase.

Primary keyword A particular word or phrase that we expect searchers to frequently use as a query.

Keyword frequency The number of times a keyword appears within a Web page. If your page contains 12 occurrences of a keyword, its keyword frequency is 12.

Keyword prominence The placement and position of a term on a page indicates its relative value to a search engine. The most prominent keyword location is the first word of the page’s title, because the title is the best placement and the first word is the best position. We recommend placing important keywords at, or near, the start of a Web page, a sentence, or a TITLE or META tag.

Keyword density The ratio of a particular search query's terms to all terms on a page. For example, if you want your 200-word page to be found for a specific word and your page contains 12 occurrences of that word, the keyword density of your page is 6% for the given term (12/200).

Link popularity Google and Yahoo use links to the page as a secondary indicator or the quality of the information on the page and also to validate the context. The goal is to get as many high-quality, contextually relevant links from pages outside of your domain as possible. There is no magic number you just need to have more quality votes than those pages currently

ranking higher in the search results. Link text A word or short phrase on a Web page that provides the visual hypertext link to another page or to somewhere else on

that same page. Using keywords instead of “Learn More” adds context to a link and increases its relevance to a SE.

Page heading Search engines view <h1> to <h6> tags just like the headline of a newspaper article or a press release. Engines give the tags weight because the tags describe the content that follows. In a perfect scenario, a spider looks for a combination of title tag, <h1> tag, and the first and last 25 words on a page to contain a common theme, including specific keywords.

Preferred landing page (PLP) A preferred landing page is the optimal page that should be seen by the searcher for this specific keyword.

Stop words Words that occur with a very high frequency (such as and or the) are ignored by search engines when entered by searchers.



SEM COE

Quick reference worksheet

Keep these things in mind when writing your page content. Making sure each is addressed will improve your page’s visibility on search engines, both inside and outside IBM.

Keywords Reminder NotesPrimary What words are target audience using?

Use 2-3 words per page, esp. in page titlesand title tags.

Content Reminder NotesFirst paragraph of text Use direct, simple, relevant language.

140-150 characters. Develop inabstract and metatags.

Bulleted lists Use to help keep language simple.Links for more info, etc. Include keyword phrase in links,

don’t just say “learn more,” use descriptive text.

Titles Reminder Notes

Browser title Use primary keyword in titles.Page title Use <H1> tag instead of graphic.

Metadata Reminder NotesKeyword meta tag Page “indexing.” Include primary

keywords at start of list.

Description/abstract meta tag Use keywords towardbeginning of abstract, limit to150 characters.



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Keyword planning and selection checklist

Be able to answer these initial

questions What do your customers need? What problems are they trying to solve? What words do they use to describe their needs and problems?What Content do we have on our site that would satisfy someone's search? What words would you search for to find that Content?How would you describe your product to a novice?What words do industry magazines and industry analysts use to describe your products? Is there a product Category name that they use?What words are your competitors targeting? Where in the Learn – Shop – Buy cycle do the customers fall?

Don’t just focus on single words – multiple word phrases are often more effective and targeted. Consider noun + adjective.

For example, “fast server” rather than just “server.” Also use plurals, synonyms, and the complete forms of acronyms with any acronym based keywords. For examples, “crm solution,” “crm solutions,” “customer relationship management.”



SEM COE

Title tag checklist

Does the page have a title tag with the title tag’s character

limit met?

Also known as the browser title, example: <title>IBM Tivoli Software</title> where title tag can have up to 75 characters. It should be easy to read for human eyes while having the primary keyword to help the spiders, since this is what users will see as the heading of a search result.

Is the title tag unique to the page? The title tag should be the first tag after the <head> tag so search engines can locate it

quickly.

There should only be one title tag per page which should include the primary keyword identified for the url. Each title tag should be unique and relevant to the content of the page. Avoid repeating keywords within a title tag.

Is the primary keyword phrase used as the first word or near the beginning of the tag?

Primary keyword should be in the title tag. Remove stop words (for example, a or the) and hypens from title tags where possible.

Follow standards - Does the title tag include IBM as the first word?

IBM should be the first word but the keyword should be second if possible. Title tags must be compliant with 3.3.0 standards. If you use acronyms in Title tags, they should be spelled out as well.

Format: <IBM Primary Keyword Additional Keywords Country> For example, “IBM Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions for Small & Medium Business – Canada”

Does the title tag match the content described in the first paragraph of visible text?

Should help to continue the theme of the page/describe the content on the page.

If you use acronyms in Title tags, they should be spelled out as well.

Example: IBM Service Oriented Architecture - SOA


William Hunt

Deleted the "hypen" from the example so people don't use them when they do their page.


SEM COE

Page title checklist

Is the page title a graphic or

text? Important note: if the page title is an image, you lose valuable real estate for your search term. Change to Text and include the primary keyword.

Is the format for the page title

a <h1> tag or CSS? The h1 title should be in text and contain the keyword.

Is the primary keyword phrase used as the first word or near the beginning of the page title?

Page title and title tag should have similar keywords - graphic page titles do not count.

Does the title tag match the content described in the first paragraph of visible text?

Page should not lead with a set of bullets. There should be a brief value statement explaining what the user can find and do on the page.



SEM COE

Page content checklist

How many occurrences of the primary keyword are in visible

text?

Your keyword should constitute at least 2% of the words on the page (2 instances of the keyword per 100 words on the page) - Aim between the 2-10% range.

What is the keyword prominence?

Place keywords higher up in the page, in the first paragraph or first 100 words, are keywords used as bolded

text or links.

Are the keywords in the first 10-20 visible words on the

page?

Rewrite the description, make it concise and include the primary keyword within the first 20 words.

Is the primary keyword included within the ALT tag for images?

Use alternative text that strongly describes all of your images so that search engines and sight-impaired readers understand them.

Use a text version of "Why IBM“ rather than an image version for upper level page hero spots.

Make pages search friendly right from the start. Page titles and the first visible content is essential for engines to determine ranking and is also essential for maintaining relevant results in IBM's site search.

Update Images containing text into plain text

Where possible, rather than rendering text onto images, the text should be written as html text in a table with a background image. The same look can usually be achieved but using this technique the search engines will be able to read the text.



SEM COE

General search considerations

Additional places to consider for external links: business blogs, wikis, forums

The number of links you have to your site is called link popularity. In general the search engines weigh external links higher than internal because it is a measure of another's evaluation of your site.

Does your site have

competitors? Take a keyword, see who comes up in the top five and see who links to them. For example, take the keyword "Infrastructure security" and see who is in the top 5 sites. Then, check backlinks coming to them and compile a list of folks you would want to link to your site. Use "link:URL" in the search bar to find all the pages that are linking to your page.

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Anatomy of an organic search result

<title>WebSphere Business Integration software: model, integrate, connect, monitor and manage</title>

<meta name="description" content="IBM WebSphere Business Integration (WBI) software allows companies to realize the benefits of end-to-end integration through five core capabilities: model, integrate, connect, monitor and manage, IBM WebSphere Business Integration allows companies to realize the benefits of end-to-end integration through five core capabilities: model, integrate, connect, monitor and manage" />

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© 2007 ibm corporation search engine marketing coe july 2007 search engine optimization: organic...

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