Amazee Metrics AG / Förrlibuckstr. 30 / 8005 Zürich / evelyn.thar@amazeemetrics.com

Search Engine Optimization & Social Media

1.10.2014, School of Management Fribourg Evelyn Thar, CEO Amazee Metrics

Agenda

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What Is Search Engine Optimization?

How Does Social Media Influence Search Engine Optimization?

How Does Search Engine Optimization Work?

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Why Search Engine Optimization?

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http://www.brightedge.com/blog/how-brands-use-organic-search-content-to-drive-traffic-and-revenue/

Organic Revenue

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August 2014, B2B, US Market:

http://www.brightedge.com/blog/how-brands-use-organic-search-content-to-drive-traffic-and-revenue/

Organic vs Paid Search Results

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Paid Search Results: AdWords

Paid Search Results: AdWords

Organic Search Results:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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SEO helps you to rank well within the organic results for the relevant keywords.

Search Engine Result Pages (SERP)

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Title URL Meta Description

Too long

Perfect

Replaced by Google

Meta Description:

Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) 2

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Sitelinks Knowledge Graph / Google My Business

Search Engine Market Share Switzerland

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h"p://www.blog360.ch/marktanteile-­‐von-­‐suchmaschinen_396  

How Does a Search Engine Work?

1.  Crawling 2.  Indexing 3.  Ranking

Crawling

•  Spiders/Bots looking for content.

•  Goal: Find all websites in the world.

Indexing

•  After crawling search engines index the websites and their content.

•  Websites and their content are indexed and rated based on keywords.

Ranking

•  Search engines compare websites and rank them based on topic and relevance.

Target Market and Language

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Search Query Target Market: google.ch

German

French

Italian

English

Search Query Target Market: google.de German

How Does Search Engine Optimization Work?

SEO: Previous and Current Process Previous Process: •  Meta Tags

•  Links schemes, link farms •  Article spinning •  Comment spamming •  Keyword stuffing

Current Process: •  On-Site Audit:

Technical audit, mobile audit, indexing audit, usability quick check

•  Link building strategy •  Blogs, news •  Social media strategy (SEO perspective) •  Well written website content

Content Marketing and Link Building Black Hat SEO

Optimized for Machines Optimized for Humans

SEO Process

1. Step: Off-Site Analysis

2. Step: On-Site Audit

3. Step: Continuous

Optimizations

1. Off-Site Analysis

•  Keyword analysis (Content SEO Check)

•  Competitive analysis

•  Link analysis

•  Social media strategy

•  International/multilingual SEO strategy

1. Step: Off-Site Analysis

2. Step: On-Site Audit

3. Step: Continuous

Optimizations

Goal: •  Relevant SEO Keywords

•  Definition SEO Strategy

Content SEO Check

2. On-Site Audit

1. Step: Off-Site Analysis

2. Step: On-Site Audit

3. Step: Continuous

Optimizations

•  Technical Audit

•  Mobile Audit

•  Indexing Audit

•  Usability Quick Check

Goal: Analysis and recommendations for technical SEO implementation

Presentation of the SEO Audits

1. Step: Off-Site Analysis

2. Step: On-Site Audit

3. Step: Continuous

Optimizations

Presentation SEO Results •  SEO Issues

•  SEO Recommendations

3. Continuous Optimizations

•  Link-Building

•  Technical Improvements

•  Content Improvements

1. Step: Off-Site Analysis

2. Step: On-Site Audit

3. Step: Continuous

Optimizations

Goal:

Increase Ranking Positions: •  Sustainable SEO efforts need at least 4 - 6 months.

•  The more effort invested, the faster the visible results.

How Does Social Media Influence SEO?

Are Social Media Signals a Ranking Factor?

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•  Google officially denies that Social Media signals are a ranking factor.

•  Nevertheless Social Media activity influences traffic volume, brand awareness and online visibility of a domain.

•  Fresh and new content is shared mostly on social media – Google also wants to show new content to the users.

What is a Ranking Factor?

Criteria to rate the topic and relevance of a website and use this to perform a ranking among the websites.

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Ranking Factors Study

•  Searchmetrics Study based on 10'000 information oriented keywords in Germany and the US.

•  Which factors distinguish high ranking websites from those with lower positions in Google search results?

•  Causality ≠ Correlation.

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Ranking Factors 2014 for Germany

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http://www.searchmetrics.com/de/knowledge-base/ranking-faktoren/

Most Important Ranking Factors 2014

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Differences between Germany and the US

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•  The most important factor is the Click-Through Rate, that is new this year. This factor is even more important in the U.S.

•  Google +1s are more important in the U.S. than in Germany. •  Proof Terms are less important in Germany than in the U.S. •  The Word Count in Anchor Texts has more significance in Germany. •  The Share of Backlinks from the same country has more weight in Germany. •  The Bounce Rate has more influence on the ranking in Germany. •  Pinterest is more important for the ranking in the U.S. •  Sitespeed has a greater impact in the U.S. •  While Keywords in H1 are beneficial in Germany, they are penalized in the

U.S.

Social Ranking Factors

•  Four social networks can be considered as ranking factors: Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest.

•  Social Signals have still the highest correlation. •  Slight decrease of social signals in 2014 for the first time after 2012 and 2013.

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Facebook as a Ranking Factor

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•  Facebook is for SEO the most important social network. •  Website on position 1 has the most Facebook shares, comments and likes. •  Websites ranking lower on Google have a lot less Facebook signals.

Google+ as a Ranking Factor

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•  Graph looks similar as the one for Facebook. •  In 2014 the +1s increased the most compared with all relevant social media

networks.

Twitter as a Ranking Factor

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•  Number of tweets is much lower than Facebook signals and slightly lower than Google +1s.

•  Graph looks similar as the one for Facebook and Google+.

Pinterest as a Ranking Factor

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•  The absolute number of social signals from Pinterest is very low. •  Graph looks similar as the one for the other social media networks.

SEO Recommendation for Social Media

•  Check your Social Media Spread. •  Include as many as possible of these four Social Media networks in your Content

Marketing Strategy.

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Social Media Spread for heg-fr.ch:

SEO Recommendations for

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1.  Facebook pages are indexed in Google.

2.  Optimize your URL to match your brand or company name (no extra keywords).

3.  Choose the correct category and up to 3 subcategories for your page.

4.  Optimize the About section with an informative description including relevant keywords and make sure your address is correct.

5.  Share high quality content there is a need for.

6.  Link to your Facebook page from your website to verify the Facebook page.

SEO Recommendations for 1.  Optimize your URL using custom Google+ page URL.

2.  Use relevant keywords in your business information.

3.  Use a headline for all posts: The headline will show up as title tag of your post in SERPs.

4.  Use targeted sharing option in addition to "public" (add "your circles and select individuals"). This triggers a notification for users the post was shared directly with.

5.  Use hashtags and invent new ones.

6.  Use the publisher tag to verify your website.

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SEO Recommendations for

1.  Optimize your username (max. 15 characters).

2.  Link to your real website and do not shorten the URL.

3.  Optimize your Twitter bio (max. 160 characters) using relevant keywords.

4.  Use a descriptive name for your Twitter profile photo.

5.  Tweets should contain keywords and hashtags.

6.  Use Twitter lists (make them public, use keywords, post them on the blog).

7.  Use pictures and videos.

8.  Link to your Twitter account from your website.

9.  Use the follow button on your website.

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SEO Recommendations for 1.  Optimize your username (max. 15 characters).

•  If your business name is already taken, use a memorable, easy-to-spell keyword related to your brand.

•  Use the same username as for the other social media accounts.

2.  Optimize the About section (max. 200 characters)

•  Use it for keyword rich description of who, what and where.

3.  Search Privacy in Settings

•  Make sure you activated the option to make it possible for search engines to show your Pinterest profile in search results.

4.  Make sure you have a strong Pin description (max. 500 characters, use hashtags).

5.  Use unique titles for your boards.

6.  Use descriptive image names and keywords in the alt text.

7.  Verify your profile: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-verify-pinterest/

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Questions?