30 seo tips 2013

@JaspalX

30 SEO tips in 30 minutesMostly basics, some advanced tips, followed by Q&A

Jaspal [email protected]

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ABSOLUTE BASICS

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Basics

SEO is mostly Google - know the rules!

Search engines have very clear guidelines: Don’t buy links and then try to hide that you’ve

bought those links

If in doubt, think ‘what would be best for visitors to my site’ rather than ‘what would be best for Google’

Check out Google’s webmaster guidelines (see the links in http://bit.ly/30seotips)

If an offer sounds to good to be true…especially in SEO land…it probably is

Image credit: ehsweb.wordpress.com


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Basics

Google Webmaster Tools

Sign up for this at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools

Alerts you to problems with your site, gives basic SEO info


https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools

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Basics

Make it easy for Google to crawl your pages

Site structure, get the foundations right Try to keep all content within three clicks of home page

Google is not great at finding links and content insides Flash and JavaScript

Test using text browser like seo-browser.com

Simpler is usually better!

Image credit: www.civilengineergroup.com

Flash


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Basics

Why do website pages rank well?

These factors account for around 70% of why a page ranks

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Social promotion

Content(on page & site)

Links(to page & site)


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CONTENT & KEYWORDS

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Basics

Quality content…or at the very least unique content

You have expert knowledge and insight into your industry and customers….share it! Survey 25 customers – think of a set of questions Explain a complex process simply (e.g. pictures

are good for this) Create a history of a product or industry

If you don’t have the time to do this, get some help.

Google wants to rank the ‘best’ pages, make sure your content is relevant and valuable to your audience


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Basics

Content: map your keywords to pages

E.g. say you’re selling washing m/c parts Home page: ‘washing machine parts’ Bosch page:

– ‘bosch washing machine motors’– ‘bosch washing machine parts’

Try to limit yourself to one, two or three phrases per page


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Basics

Make each page relevant to the keywords you’ve targeted

If you want Google to recognise that your page is about ‘blue widgets’ make sure you mention blue widgets are few times on the page!

Good page titles are essential! Include your keywords and variations in the

text An image and/or video about your keyword is

a very good idea

www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization


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Basics

Use a blog or news pages to target extra keywords

Most websites tend to be fairly static. Use a blog or news announcements for: Time-sensitive content (Valentine’s day, Christmas,

etc.) To highlight your top sellers Answer questions customers often ask

Write blog posts about subsets of products or special items e.g. ‘socks with cats on’


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Create keyword variations and build content for them

Seed phrases:Short phrases relevantto your searcher personas

PizzaPizza delivery

Pizza take awaypizza restaurant

Create variations: use adjectives, adverbs, plurals, locations

Fast pizza deliveryFast pizza delivery in Solihull

Pizza delivery in KnowlePizza delivery in Dorridge

Pizza for parties

Personas:A handful of written‘sketches’ of people you want visiting your site

Dad of young kidsMum of young kids

Teenagers with money(TV) sports fans

Intermediate


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LINKS

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Basics

Links: they’re like votes – more are usually better

Anchor text – tells Google what your links are about. Anchor text is the bit of text you click on.

Rule of thumb: two brand links for every keyword link

Prefer links from high quality sites and sites that are about your industry


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Intermediate

Links: spy on learn from your competitors

Use tools to look at competitor links: www.OpenSiteExplorer.org www.majesticseo.com Learn what kinds of links they’re getting and think about doing the same/better.

Note, those are paid tools, but do offer some free data too.

Not all competitor links may be valuable…prefer quality


http://www.OpenSiteExplorer.org/

http://www.majesticseo.com/

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Basics

What is a ‘quality’ page?

Would you trust this site or page with your credit card details? No:

– It probably isn’t worth getting a link from Yes, then look at other factors, e.g.:

– Does the content look unique?– Does it link to other good content? – Would you be happy if your customers

saw your site mentioned on the page?

Links from ‘dodgy’ sites are at best useless and at worst harmful

Image credit: wikipedia


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Basics

Getting links: the press can be great for links

Don’t expect to get links if you just… Send a press release to your industry press or the

papersDo Think about what you read in the media you’re

trying to get covered in…is your story good enough?(Moving office is usually not newsworthy!)

Pick up the phone

Do mention your website or the page on your site that will support the story…don’t just ask for a link!


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Basics

Getting links: directories

Generally directories are not very valuable, particularly the SEO-oriented large ‘free for all’ directories.

Usually, but not always, paid-for directories are best.

On-topic, curated lists are usually best. If you sell buttons and someone manages a list of online button resources, that’s a valuable site!

Think about whether your prospects might actually use the directory before thinking about its SEO value


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Intermediate

Getting links: outreach

Make lists of bloggers or news organisations that cover your industry, then: Review their site(s) Make sure they link out from articles/news etc. Work out what content you can give them Pitch your content, learn from rejections and

refine your future pitches Make sure you meet any deadlines for providing

articles/news/comment

Good content earns links, but only if people know about it!


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Intermediate

Links are valuable, two main types

No-follow links can bring valuable visitors(Links in JavaScript and Flash can behave like no-follow)

Followed No-followFacebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, some blog comments, most social media sites.

Good for SEO Less good for SEO


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LOCAL SEARCH

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Basics

Local: if you have a local business, consistency is key

Make sure your business name, address and phone number (NAP) is consistent anywhere it appears online.0121 222 4444 is not the same as (0)121 222 4444

More consistency means your site is more likely to appear in these maps results:


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Basics

Local: fill out your Google Places listing as possible

Claim your listing: www.google.com/placesforbusiness

Fill out your business description Use the categories Specify opening times Add images/video If you have a ‘service area business’ (as of

early 2013), do not migrate to a Google+ local page

Follow the Google quality guidelines (see the links)


http://www.google.com/placesforbusiness

http://www.google.com/placesforbusiness

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Basics

Reviews aren’t just good, they’re very good

If you have: Google Shopping feed (products) Google Places page (location)Then: Get customer reviews!

Be wary of: Creating a sudden spike in number and/or ratings of reviews Reviews all coming from the same location (IP address)

Product reviews: require changes to your website. Places reviews: you just need a Google Place listing


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Intermediate

Local: check how search results look in other towns

Google personalises results so different people may see different results

Coventry


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ANALYTICS

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Basics

Analytics can tell you…

Google Analytics is free

Where are visitors coming from?Where are sales coming from?

What do people who spend more than average look at?

How important is mobile?

What content should I be creating?


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Basics

Analytics: tracking visits…more important than rankings?

Strongly recommend installing Google Analytics Setup goals to monitor conversions:

– Admin / your site / goals

Filter out your visits:– Admin / your site / filters)

Find organic search visits:– Traffic Sources / Sources / Search / Organic

Remember to exclude your own computer/company (filters).Check out ‘advanced segments’ in Google Analytics


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Basics

Analytics: value of sponsorship/offers on other sites

Placed an offer on another site? Look at ‘referrals’ in Google Analytics, See how many referred visits are:

– Bounce rate (higher is worse)– Pages/visit and Avg. visit duration (higher

usually indicates engaged visitors)

You can use ‘advanced segments’ to zero in on specific kinds of traffic


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Intermediate

Analytics: use site search to identify what visitors want

Use the search box within your own site to work out what content visitors want…then build it or make it more prominent!

Find site search settings in GA under Admin / your site / profile settings


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ECOMMERCE

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Basics

Ecommerce & product sites: stand out

Make your pages stand out from the competition. Make your descriptions unique, don’t just

copy manufacturer text Use multiple images – your own if at all

possible Add customer reviews to your product

pages Build up your category pages, not just the

product pages

Build links to category pages…links help individual product pages


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Advanced

Ecommerce sites: use product markup

Ask your website developer to help you with the database: Create a product feed for google shopping Use schema.org markup to tell Google the

names, prices etc. of products Encourage follow-on sales at checkout with

social referrals, e.g. www.ownedit.com

Google shopping feeds can be very effective (though changes coming around March 2013)

Disclosure: Owned it is a Vitis PR clientImage credit: glenn-packer.net

Data feeds


http://www.ownedit.com/

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MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

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Advanced

How much should I invest in SEO? (I sell ‘blue widgets’)Rank Volume Visits Sales Conversion rate Value

10 1000 10 1 10% £100

Rank Volume Visits Sales Conversion rate Value

1 1000 ~180 ~18 10% £1,800

Source: Slingshot SEO study 2011 of 342 keywords


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Advanced

Got a problem? Don’t panic about rankings

If you’re rankings have suddenly dropped, and: Your site is still working fine You haven’t been engaging in any ‘suspect’ SEO You haven’t changed anything on the siteDo the following: Check SEO blogs/news for any info about Google

updates Just wait a week or three…it might recover

If things don’t get better after two/three weeks, get some professional help

Image credit: appleinsider


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Basics

Setup alerts to monitor the health of your site

http://www.google.co.uk/alerts?hl=en Create an alert like this:site:yoursite.com ("pharmacy"|"cialis"|"viagra"|”porn"|"levitra")

replacing yoursite.com with your own site's address.

You’ll get an email alert if any of those words appear on your website (e.g. if your site gets hacked)


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Basics

Read SEO blogs

If you want to do this yourself, you’ll need to spend some time studying it: www.seomoz.org/blog www.searchengineland.com www.searchenginejournal.com

Start here: http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

Google changes its algorithms hundreds of times each year SEO is always evolving


http://www.seomoz.org/blog

http://www.searchengineland.com/

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/

http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

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Thanks

Any questions about SEO, your or a competitor’s website?

If you’d like a free ‘SEO site clinic’ for your website today, please add your details to the list at the front to book a slot.

30 seo tips 2013

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