10 Super-Common SEO/SEM Mistakes Stephan Spencer, Co-Author of The Art of SEO Mona Elesseily, Page...

10 Super-Common SEO/SEM Mistakes

Stephan Spencer, Co-Author of The Art of SEO

Mona Elesseily, Page Zero Media

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Who Is Stephan?

• Co-author of The Art of SEO• Founded Netconcepts in 1995

and sold it to Covario in 2010.• Invented GravityStream, a pay-for-

performance SEO technology• Twitter: @sspencer

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Who Is Mona?

• An owner of search marketingfirm Page Zero Media

• Author of two books on searchmarketing

• A sought-after speaker who has presented at 100+ conferences globally

• Served on several key industry advisory boards

• Twitter: @webmona

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These mistakes are costing you serious cash...

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10 Common SEM Mistakes

• Mistake #1: Making assumptions about customer vocabulary

• Mistake #2: Poor keyword brainstorming

• Mistake #3: Not using the tools properly

• Mistake #4: Avoid cannibalization• Mistake #5: Ignoring your competitors

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10 Common SEO Mistakes

• Mistake #6: Executing a social media strategy that isn’t driven by SEO needs

• Mistake #7: Duplicate content• Mistake #8: Wasting time on no-value

activities (like meta keywords)• Mistake #9: Buying into SEO myths• Mistake #10: Unintentionally

spamming

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Organic vs. Paid Listings

PaidPaid PaidPaid

OrganicOrganic

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Mistake #1: Making assumptions about customer vocabulary

• Your customer doesn’t use industry-speak.– Who here has ever used the phrase

“kitchen electrics” in a sentence before?

• Use the customer’s vocabulary instead– acronyms? word choice?

• The apparel industry targets “apparel” but should be targeting “clothing” & “clothes”

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Soovle.comSoovle.com

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Mistake #2: Poor keyword brainstorming

• Keyword brainstorming should be integral to your content planning.

• Think laterally!• Here are a few examples...

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Mistake #3: Not Using the Tools Properly

• Broad matching by default in AdWords Keyword Tool– massively inflated numbers!

• Not logging out (when searching)– turn off personalization

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Personalized Results

Personalized Results

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Still PersonalizedStill Personalized

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Turn off Personalized

Results

Turn off Personalized

Results

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Mistake #4: Avoid Cannibalization

• You want a situation where 1+1=3, not 1+1 = 1

• Cannibalization stems from poor or no measurement

27http://searchengineland.com/organic-search-paid-search-are-they-synergistic-or-cannibalistic-36444http://searchengineland.com/organic-search-paid-search-are-they-synergistic-or-cannibalistic-36444

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Mistake #5: Ignoring Your Competitors

• Ignore your competitors at your peril• Your competitors can teach you a lot

– Keywords they are buying– Ad copy– Major competitors– Where they get their links

33http://searchengineland.com/spying-on-your-paid-search-competitors-13235http://searchengineland.com/spying-on-your-paid-search-competitors-13235

http://searchengineland.com/spying-on-your-paid-search-competitors-13235

http://searchengineland.com/spying-on-your-paid-search-competitors-13235

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Mistake #6: Social MediaMinus the SEO

• It’s not a social media “strategy” if it isn’t driven by SEO needs

• Write “link bait” and seed it into social media like Digg.com

• “Power users” on social media get a lot more mileage out of their submissions

38http://searchengineland.com/the-social-media-underground-22030http://searchengineland.com/the-social-media-underground-22030

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Mistake #7: Duplicate Content

• Multiple URLs leading to the same piece of content

• Duplicate content triggers Google’s “duplicate content filter” – all but one gets filtered out

• It also results in PageRank dilution• Technical reasons: session IDs, tracking

codes, superfluous parameters, www or no• Using the same title tags, meta descriptions,

or page copy indicate duplicate content

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Mistake #7: Duplicate Content

• Duplicate title tags

• Check for duplication– Use special queries with

Google to find duplication.– Over 9,000 duplicates of

this title alone … what does it say to Google?

• Purely duplicate titles• Canonicalization• Parameters & URL bloat

site:www.officedepot.com intitle:"Office Supplies: Office Products and Office Furniture: Office Depot"site:www.officedepot.com intitle:"Office Supplies: Office Products and Office Furniture: Office Depot"

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• 1 product• 5 different URLs

– Diluting PageRank– Duplicated content– Self-competing, cannibalizing– Diluted crawl equity

Even Google Struggles

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Mistake #8: Low Value Activities

• Meta keywords, anyone?– Google never supported this worthless

tag– http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/20

09/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

– Free info for your competitors• Guaranteed there are items on your

SEO to-do list that aren’t worth doing• Be outcome-focused, not activity-

focused

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html



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Mistake #9: Buying into SEO Myths

• Myths are created inadvertently, unintentionally– Easy to confuse correlation with causation

• Some myths are perpetuated by snake oil salesmen– e.g. If some SEO consultant starts talking

about how they’ll help you rank by optimizing your meta tags, turn and run!

• Bottom line: SEO is an experimental science

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Mistake #9: SEO Myths• Personalization means nobody’s #1 anymore• Meta tags will boost your rankings• Country sites are “duplicate content”• JavaScripted links will keep the spiders away• Googlebot doesn’t read CSS• You must update your home page daily• Linking out (such as to Google.com) helps rankings• SEO is a one-time activity• Using Flash will tank your SEO• SEO is free• Google penalizes for duplicate content• .edu links get extra weight• etc.

51http://searchengineland.com/36-seo-myths-that-wont-die-but-need-to-40076http://searchengineland.com/36-seo-myths-that-wont-die-but-need-to-40076

52http://searchengineland.com/36-more-seo-myths-that-wont-die-but-need-to-41999http://searchengineland.com/36-more-seo-myths-that-wont-die-but-need-to-41999

53http://searchengineland.com/seo-myths-reloaded-clarifcations-consensus-and-controversy-41816http://searchengineland.com/seo-myths-reloaded-clarifcations-consensus-and-controversy-41816

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Mistake #10: Unintentionally Spamming

• Too many keyword-stuffed text links• “SEO copy” = clearly not meant for

human consumption• Reordering text with CSS for SEO• Inappropriate use of CSS “Image

Replacement”• Hidden text or hidden links• Targeting irrelevant keywords

Hidden link – Hidden link – in the “All” in the “All”

of “All of “All Rights Rights

Reserved” – Reserved” – leads to a leads to a hallway hallway page page

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10 Common SEM Mistakes

• Mistake #1: Making assumptions about customer vocabulary

• Mistake #2: Poor keyword brainstorming

• Mistake #3: Not using the tools properly

• Mistake #4: Avoid cannibalization• Mistake #5: Ignoring your competitors

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10 Common SEO Mistakes

• Mistake #6: Executing a social media strategy that isn’t driven by SEO needs

• Mistake #7: Duplicate content• Mistake #8: Wasting time on no-value

activities (like meta keywords)• Mistake #9: Buying into SEO myths• Mistake #10: Unintentionally

spamming

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Now What?

• Email [email protected] if you want– a free mini SEO site

review? We have 15 slotsopen

– a free 17-page SEO Best& Worst Practiceswhitepaper & checklist

mailto:[email protected]

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Now What?

• What can you do tomorrow that will improve your PPC & SEO? Write down 3 things. Get ‘em done!

• Remember: you eat an elephant one bite at a time

• To contact Stephan: [email protected]

• To contact Mona: [email protected]• To follow us on Twitter: @sspencer &

@webmona



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