green hectares rural tech workshop – search engine optimization

Search Engine Optimization

www.greenhectaresonline.cominfo@greenhectaresonline.com

www.zephyrtraining.cainfo@zephyrtraining.ca

THESE MATERIALS ARE COPYRIGHTED WITH ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. THIS DOCUMENT MAY NOT IN WHOLE OR IN PART BE COPIED, PHOTOCOPIED, REPRODUCED, OR REDUCED TO ANY ELECTRONIC MEDIUM OR MACHINE-READABLE FORM WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT, IN WRITING, FROM ZEPHYR SOFTWARE TRAINING LTD. AND GREEN HECTARES CORP.ANY SOFTWARE, COMPUTER, AND PRODUCT NAMES MENTIONED ARE MANUFACTURER AND PUBLISHER TRADEMARKS AND ARE USED ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF IDENTIFICATION.

Microsoft,  Explorer, Outlook, Windows , are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

What is SEO• Search Engine Optimization– Organic Optimization– Paid Optimization

Methods• Indexing– Crawlers– Spider to the Internet’s ‘web’– Search for key phrases and attributes

Methods• Preventing Crawling– Pages you don’t want crawled– Login pages– Shopping Cart pages– Newsletter sign up

• How?

Methods• Increasing Prominence– Cross Link– Content containing keywords– Title tags– Meta description

Head of the document• Hidden from sight• Important to search engines and browsers• Used to link other languages to the website

created in HTML

Head of the document• SEO and the head of the document– Meta tags– Key phrases such as “Online training in Alberta”

Text Content• Keywords and punctuation• Split text into paragraphs• Bulleted lists• Keyword specific pages• Testimonials

Keywords and Punctuation• Spiders do not recognize punctuation• Write content and have punctuation work for

you

Split content• Utilize various areas of the website• Place keywords in the following places– Headings– Paragraphs– Sidebars

Using Opposites• Search engines are not aware of context• Use opposite intentions to increase traffic

Example: Cheap software training

Bullets• Bullets are easy to read• Underused function• Beware of repetition

Keyword specific pages• Too many keywords on one page• Typical for E-Commerce sites• Create pages dedicated to one or two

keywords

Testimonials• Use keywords in testimonials• Request permission to replace keywords

Paragraph Headings• Break up paragraphs• Headings make pages less dark

Title• The line of text at the top of page• Put keywords first• Company name last

Unique Keywords• Establish keywords that are not your typical

keywords• Use traffic from less popular keywords to

slowly start taking traffic from competitors

Links• Internal Links• Link format• External Links

Internal Links• Home links should link to domain– Not index.html

Internal Links• Apply links to content• Use keywords within link• Avoid Images• Give links room to breathe

Rich Media• Images• Adobe Flash• Drop down menus

External Links• If content is king links are queen• Scratch backs and in turn have your back

scratched• Links can be better than submission• Quality not quantity

Site Link Structure• Consistency• Conventions• Links should stand out regardless of rollover• Links swept under the carpet• Use absolute links

Sitemap• List keywords as links• Great for both users and search engines• Can be created in bullet form• Use synonyms of your keywords

Site Submission• Submit sites to various search engines• Do not submit until you have completed

optimization

Pay Per Click• Select keyword or key phrases for listing• Bid to be listed• Constant competition• Instant gratification

Pros and Cons• No bearing on organic SEO• Many users do not click on paid results• Bad optimization still leads to poor listing• PPC are great indicators of which keywords to

address.