Maximizing Your SEO Results

February 14, 2013

Welcome!

Agenda

• Introductions and Overview

• How SEO Can help your business

• History of SEO

• Keyword Research & On-Page

• Link Building

• SEO Tools

• Review of Web Analysis

Introductio

ns

A Brief Introduction to Top Floor Technologies

Top Floor Technologies

• Website Design & Development

• Search Engine Marketing

• Web Analytics & Conversion Improvement

• Marketing & Branding Strategy

Maximizing Online Marketing Resultsfor Hundreds of Businesses Since 1999

Getting the MostFrom Today’s Workshop

Write down 2-3 learning points that you will begin putting into

action within the next two weeks. Then – follow through.

When you search for something online, where do you start?

When your prospects & customers search for vendors online,where do you thinkthey start?

Overall Share of Searches

Source: ComScore

Google66%

Yahoo14%

Microsoft15%

Ask3%

AOL2%

B2B Preferred Search Engines

Source: Enquiro Business to Business Survey

Google77%

Yahoo14%

Microsoft7%

Others2%

The Power of Search

• Over 100 billion global searches each month.

• Inbound leads cost 61% less than outbound leads.

• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads have a 1.7% close rate.

Source: searchenginejournal.com

Being found on

Google

SEO – Organic Results

Over 80% of activity on the first results page (top 10 results)

Keys to success: Keyword

analysis Content

development Linking

strategy Monitoring &

updating

History of Search Engine Optimization

Yahoo Launches its Web Directory in 1995

Black Hat Tactics – Hidden Text

Source: smartcompany.com.au

Black Hat Tactics – Hidden Text

Source: smartcompany.com.au

Black Hat Tactics – Cloaking

Black Hat Tactics – Meta Keyword Stuffing

Google Re-invents Search with PageRank

Major Google Algorithm Updates

• Caffeine• Google aims to deliver fresh content. Faster crawl

speeds, larger index.

• Panda• Cracked down on sites with thin content, content

farms and high ad-to-content ratio sites

• Penguin• Over optimization penalty – keyword stuffing and

spammy backlinks

Penguin Penalty - Impact on Visits

Google Analytics From March through May

Impacted Site Non-Impacted Site

Maximizing Your SEO Efforts

• Keyword Research

• On-Page Optimization

• Link Building

• SEO/Data Analysis Tools

• With hundreds of ranking factors considered in a search engine’s algorithm, along with an array of technical issues that can impede your site’s performance, we feel these tactics are the best way to have an immediate impact.

Assumptions

Search Engines Can Index Your Content – Common Mistakes

Sites focus on flashy design elements which either hide content or search engines have difficulty crawling

• Flash-based site

• iFrames

• Javascript/jQuery

Search Engines Can Index Your Content – Common Mistakes

Pages include meta robots tag with noindex and/or nofollow attributes inappropriately or links within the page include nofollow attributes.

Search Engines Can Index Your Content – Common Mistakes

Robots.txt file disallows all or portions of the site you want indexed

Example Site

Keyword Research

Importance of Keywords

Your keywords

Your SEO

Speaking the Right Language

Is this person having a heart attack or is he experiencing acute myocardial infarction?

Keyword Research – The Process

WordsPhrasesSEOSearch

SEO KeywordsKeyword for SEO

Keyword Research - Start Small: Brainstorm

Get Larger – Visit Your Own Site

Get Larger: Visit Competitor Sites

Get Larger: Competitor Sites – View Source

Go to any page and hit ctrl + u (Chrome and Firefox)

Get Larger: Google Analytics

How to Choose the Keyword That’s Right For You

Three Questions to Answer:

• Are people searching for this term?

• Can my site rank for this term?

• Is it relevant to your product/service?

Keyword Tool

Keyword Tool

Refining your keywords – Test in SERP

Desired keyword:2 dozen roses

On Page Optimization

Keyword Mapping

• Keyword mapping is the process of assigning target keywords to specific landings pages.– Helps focus optimization efforts.

• One keyword idea per page.– Target synonyms and variations of keywords on one page.

• Avoid keyword cannibalization.

On-Page Ranking Factors• URLs

• Title Tags

• HTML Headings (H1, H2, H3)

• Keyword Usage in Copy

• Image Optimization

• Internal Linking

• Meta Descriptions*

*Does not impact rank but is important for SEO

URLTitle Tag

Headings

Keyword Usage in

CopyImage

Optimization

Internal Linking

URL Optimization

The URL is the address of a page on the World Wide Web

VSStatic Dynamic

• Static URLs are easier for search engines to read.

• It can be hard to manage the length of dynamic URLs.

• Static URLs experience greater click through rates in search results (dynamic URLs look “spammy”).

• Dynamic URLs can create duplicate content.

• Dynamic URLs are sometimes necessary for large websites with a lot of content.

URL Best Practices

• Incorporate target keywords in your URLs.

– Do not “stuff” keywords in URL.

• Separate words in with hyphens.

– Spaces and Strange characters can break URLs.

• URLs are case sensitive, do not use capital letters.

– Can create duplicate content issues.

• Shorter URLs are better than long URLs.

– Limit page and subfolder names to 4-5 words.

URL

Old URL

New URL

URL Optimization Example

301 redirect old URL to new URL!

Title Tag OptimizationThe title tag, or title element, defines the title of a document and is

required for all HTML/XHTML documents.

Title Tag SEO Practices

• Keep URLs under 70 characters.

– Only 70 characters displayed in a search result.

• Use Keywords near the front of the title tag.

– Do not over use keywords.

• Brand your title tags.

– Place your company name last in your URLs

• Use hyphens or pipes ( | ) to separate keyword phrases.

Title Tag

Title Tag Optimization ExampleOld Title Tag

New Title Tag

HTML Heading Optimization

• Headings provide a hierarchical structure to the content of an HTML document.

• A way to divide content into subcategories.

• Tags range from H1 to H6 with H1 signifying top of the hierarchical structure.

• Use CSS to style headings appropriately.

HTML Heading Best Practices

• While title tags are the title of your document, the H1 tag is the title of your content.

• Only one H1 tag per page.

– Heading tags are for structure not design.

– Can use multiple H2 – H6 tags.

• Use keywords naturally in H1 tags.

– In H2 and H3 tags where it makes sense.

Headings

HTML Heading Optimization Example

Old H1 Heading

New H1 Heading

Keyword Usage in Content

• Use keywords in the copy of the page.

• No magic formula for keyword usage.

– Keyword density?

• Synonyms can count.

• Diminishing returns on keyword usage.

• Write for users, not search engines!

Keyword Usage in

Copy

Keyword Usage Example

Old Keyword Usage

New Keyword Usage

Image Optimization

• Search engines cannot see images.

• Use descriptive image alt text.

• Use keywords in the file name of the image.

• Be mindful of file size.

– Large files slow down page load times.

– PNG of GIF

– Compress image files, save for web.

Image Optimization

Image Optimization

Image Optimization Example

Old Image Details

New Image Details

• Anchor Text is the word or phrase highlighted when creating a link

• This text is an indicator to what the destination page is about for both users and search engines

• Use targeted keyword in your anchor text

Internal Linking Optimization

Internal Linking

Old Navigation

New Navigation

Internal Linking Example

Meta Descriptions – Don’t Be Afraid to Advertise!

155 Character Limit

Meta Descriptions – Don’t Be Afraid to Advertise!

Old Meta Description

New Meta Description

Meta Description Example

Final Product

It’s time for acoffee break.

Link Building

Your Website

• Authority

• Trust

• Higher Rankings

High Quality Link Building Builds…

How Link Building helps SEO

Back Link Anchor Text – Example

Back Link Anchor Text

Generic Anchor Text Better Anchor Text

view website Web Design Company

homeInternet Marketing

Services

Click hereSEO Seminars in

Milwaukee

websiteIndustrial Marketing

Company

• Local Directories

• Industry Related Directories

• Distributor/Partner Websites

How do I Obtain Links to my Website?

Anyone who you can offer value to is a good link source

Local Directories

Industry Directories

Trade Associations

View Links to Competitor Sites

Tools

Open Site Explorer – Link Research Tool

Google Analytics – Web Traffic Analysis Tool

• Website Traffic

• Keyword Research

• Bounce Rate

• Goal Completions

View Keywords from Organic Traffic

Goal Completions

Bounce Rate

Google Adwords – Keyword Discovery Tool

Site Crawlers

Site crawlers go through your site very much like the search engine robots do and are very useful tools for diagnosing technical issues:

• Discovering crawl issues/errors

• Gathering useful information from your site (Title tag, Meta Description etc…)

• Create an up-to-date XML sitemap

Resources

• opensiteexplorer.org

• google.com/analytics

• adwords.google.com

• home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html

• www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

Q & A

Google Sponsored Digital Marketing SeminarTuesday, March 5, 2013 – 1:30 to 4:30 PM

Visit www.topfloortech.com/seminars for details or to register

Learn directly from experts at Google:

• Keeping up with the evolving digital landscape

• Reaching customers when it matters

Thank You!Please leave your comments on the

seminar feedback forms.