SEO: Overview & Examples

Jim HolcombJuly 12, 2011

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. (wikipedia)

Inbound Marketing Toolkit

• Website/Blogging– Promotes engagement & dialogue

• Social Media– Engagement and dialogue

• Search (Paid & SEO)– Be found easily

Inbound Marketing

• Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on getting found by customers. (wikipedia)– Marketers "earn their way in“ vs. "buy, beg, or bug

their way in“– Hunting vs. Farming

www.InboundMarketing.com

• Turn strangers into friends. • Turn friends into customers.• And then... do the most important job: Turn

your customers into salespeople.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/flippingfunnelPRO.pdf

Inbound Marketing Process

Idea for Content

Delivery/ Engagement

Platform- Website- Blog- Social

Media

Audience Growth

I love search!

Search Stats• 16.95 billion searches August

2010 – 22% YoY (comScore)

• ROI from SEO is highest of all channels including Email – 70% (marketing sherpa)

Recent Developments

• The Rise of Bing - A Two Engine World• Google Instant• Google Caffeine• Google+

Self-Assessment of Your Site

Start with Questions

SEO Six Pack• Plan

– Keyword Selection• Act

– On-Site– Links– Social– Local

• Measure– Review & Adjust Accordingly

Keyword Resources

• KeywordDiscovery.com• Wordstream.com• SEMrush.com• Google AdWords https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?forceLegacy=true

Keyword Tips

• Focus on 1 Primary and 4 Secondary terms• Review competition & search volume• Give it time!

Act

On-Site - Indexation

• Make sure the site is getting crawled fully– Robots.txt– Meta No Index– Count of URLs Indexed

• Google> “Site:<domain>”

• XML Site Maps - http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

On-Site Optimization

On-Site Optimization

Title

Meta Description

Robots.txt

Alt Images

On-Site Assessment

On-Site Tips

• Make sure engines are indexing your site• Include Primary keyword in Title of Home Page• Include Primary and Secondary words in Body

of Home Page

Link Building

Anchor Text

Link Building – A Starting Guide

1. Research2. “Contact” 3. Response

Yes!Or

No?

4. Repeat

Link Opportunities – 90% Success Rates

• Directories are your friends!...Especially when they provide a high quality link and

are free!

Link Opportunities – Leverage Your Members?

• Opportunities to get links back from members– Certifications – ex. Watersavers

– Overall Membership – badges

Advanced Link Opportunities

• Social Bookmarking Sites• PressReleases

–BusinessWire–PRweb

• Industry Forums & Blogs• Publishers/news sites

Leverage Your Competitors

• http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/• http://www.majesticseo.com

Backlink Battle

5,144 links626 links

Vs.

Beware

• Don’t buy links• Beware the link swap – don’t over do link

reciprocity

Helping Members with Link Building

• Public Members Directory?• Dedicated Profile? (ex. brownbook.net)

Link Building Recap

• Research number of backlinks of client vs. competitors

• Overall inbound strategy • Inbound strategy from members?• Outbound strategy to members?

Local

Social

• The Social Trifecta– SERP domination – rep management– SEO link bait– Member/customer voice – megaphone effect

SERP Domination

Engagement – Megaphone Effect

Measure

Backlinks

Measure Tips

• Make sure to do the basics – Rank & Backlinks– www.authoritylabs.com– www.kpmrs.com

• Site analytics– Google Analytics– GetClicky

• Read, react and repeat