Online & New Media

SNC-MKTG350October 14, 2013

Tonight’s Agenda: Search Engine Optimization• Quiz tonight• Class evaluation• Reading: Ch. 5, Analytics: Search Analytics• Discussion:

– Search engine optimization• Blog reviews:

– How in the world do you make money on Twitter?– How Google’s Keyword Tool Works

Class Evaluation

Sierra Nevada College would like your feedback on this class.

Please answer the questions on this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Kirkman_Lisa_MKTG_350

Reading Recap: Ch. 5, Analytics: Search Analytics1. Let’s save this for after tonight’s

discussion2. Bring in your top take-aways from

Chapter 53. Bring in how you might use these Search

Analysis tools in your digital marketing plan

Source: comScore’s Search Engine Ranking, July 2013

How big is search?

19,400,000,000 searches

in July 2013

Google Growth 1998-2012

Source: Google Official History, comScore

What is Search Engine Optimization?• Making your site

more attractive to search engines

• Making your site more relevant to readers

• ORGANIC results

What SEO is not…

• It is NOT:– Paying for position (that’s SEM)– Public relations/posting press releases on your site

(but that’s a piece)

• Bonus:“Getting to the top of Google!”– This is a fool’s errand: lots of work, minimal return on a moving target.

Just make a good site for your users, and the search results will come.

Kinds of Search Engines

• Crawler-based (robots find a list)• Directories (submit a site, human reviewed)• Mixed (automatically found, human reviewed)• Paid-Inclusion (bid for position)

• These structures can apply to different content: legal, jobs, academic, people, etc.

Let’s look at it from Google’s view

http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/

Are you SEO smarter yet?

Need some context?

Who do you do SEO for?• The search engine is a means for reaching

your customer• But customer’s response informs the engine

CustomerSearch Engine

How marketers use SEO

• Understand what customers WANT when they search and find your site Keywords

• Building relevance through linking Comments, reviews, articles, links back

• Organizing your own site so customers can see how relevant you are User experience

Keyword Thinking

• Unit 3457889-b?• 8 gallon all weather poly-

resin fluid displacement system, with timer?

• Outdoor water fountain?

THINK LIKE A USER…

Keyword Thinking

• A single word: “fountain”• Or a phrase: “outdoor fountain with lights and

timer”• Short terms

= high volume, high competition, more ambiguity• Longer phrases

= lower usage volume, more likely to connect

Keyword Thinking

Is “water fountain” enough?•Put your product into their context

– Write descriptive text about product

– Write descriptive text into the site’s page code: title, page title, image descriptions

Reviews/Content Thinking

• User content informs the engines• Engines good at cataloging info• Put it out there• Get it when it’s

out there

User Experience Thinking

• Simple navigation• Use breadcrumbs• Use page titles• Use “alt” tags for photos • If it’s logical to the

people, it is logical to the search robots Source: Blind Five-Year Old

SEO Key Ideas

• What’s a keyword?• Who are you optimizing for?• Where does SEO happen?

– On your site– On other sites ABOUT your site

• Do you pay for SEO?

Monitoring SEO

• Track your own site’s traffic over time• Track site traffic SOURCES

– Usually through Google Analytics or server-provided analytics tools

• Track social media and review comments about your site

• Track organic search rankings on YOUR business’ top 5-10 keywords

Blog Topic: How in the world do you make money on Twitter?• Blog criteria:

300-500 words Has 1-4 imagesHas links to other articlesTakes a position/opinionTagged the post with relevant categoriesUsed a systematic research process?What did you learn?

Blog Topic: How Google’s Keyword Tool Works

• Blog criteria: 300-500 words Has 1-4 imagesHas links to other articlesTakes a position/opinionTagged the post with relevant categoriesUsed a systematic research process?What did you learn?

Next session:

• Blog Post Review: – Nobody clicks on banner ads anymore. 7 tips for

overcoming banner blindness.– 9 best practices small businesses should use in

optimizing a website.

• Discussion:– Search engine marketing (SEM)

• Reading: Ch. 5, Analytics: Search Analytics