A Look Into Search Engine Optimization

Stephanie WallaceDirector, Search Engine Optimization

@SBenhart

WE ARE A HUMAN-CENTERED DIGITAL AGENCY. We believe that great work comes from understanding the needs, wants and perceptions of your audience.

This human-centered approach informs everything we do. It's why our work does more than just win awards. It generates results.

This presentation includes an overview of our capabilities and highlights what makes us truly unique as a company within our industry.

OUR CLIENTS

SEO Industry

History of SEO

Operators

Phone Book

The Internet

AltaVista

Over 3.5 billion searches per day on Google

Google has identified more than 30 trillion

unique URLs

Google bots crawl 20 billion sites per day

There’s also a New Buyer Journey

Modern Buyer Journey

Digital Interaction

How Search Engines Work

Crawling & IndexingSearch engines send SPIDERS out to crawl the web.

The SPIDERS analyze your website content, semantic markup, and trust signals to determine what your site about and relative authority.

The SPIDERS consolidate the webpages and parse that index each time a user searches.

Quality & relevance determine where your website appears in SERPs.

Providing Answers• The more popular

& relevant a site, page or document, the more valuable the information must be

Ranking Factors• Google evaluates over 200 ranking factors,

each weighted differently

Source: http://moz.com/blog/ranking-factors-2013

What is SEO?

What is SEO?• The process of

optimizing a website to appear naturally in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

• Non-paid listings• Sustainable results

On-Page SEO

Off-Page SEO &

Digital PR

In-Page & Technical SEO

In-Page• Technical &

architecture issues:• Crawlability• Indexation• Site Hierarchy• URL Construction• Link Structure

On-Page• Optimizing the content within the site based on

keyword themes that convey relevance & authority

Off-Page• Every link and reference online counts as an

endorsement for your website and brand• More endorsements lead to greater perceived

authority

SEO vs. SEM• SEM refers to the

combined marketing tactics of paid search and SEO

• Also referred to as CPC (cost per click) or PPC (pay per click)

SEO Best Practices

Why do we always refer to best practices

rather than make concrete guarantees about our strategies?

Search Engines Change…

A LOT.

What should work doesn’t always work.

What works for one website may not work for

another.

What SEO Isn’t

SEO is Not About Keywords & Links

It’s About Increasing Your Shelf Space & Brand Trust

SEO Myths Debunked

Snake Oil Salesman

TINSTAAFL

SEO Takes Time

Where do you even start?

Fundamental Skills

Web Development• Understand the

basic principles of web development

• Working knowledge of HTML and a variety of CMS

Writing• Write coherent and compelling content

Read Up on SEO & Practice

Moz Beginners Guide to

SEO

Google SEO Starter Guide

Practice

Practice• Learn the fundamentals of link building and work

to get endorsements for your new site

We share relevant information that will benefit our users. Will you link to me?

Your website looks authoritative! Sure, I’ll add a link to you!

Test Some Industry Tools

Google Analytics

Google Webmaster Tools

AdWords Keyword Planner• Conduct keyword research and find search

volume, competitiveness, and new ideas

Start Applying!

Resume• Attend resume

critique events• Attend recruiting

events• Keep LinkedIn

profile up to date

The Interview• Do your homework and send thank you

letters

Questions?

TO LEARN MORE OR FOR ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Stephanie WallaceDirector, Search Engine Optimization404.885.1201swallace@neboagency.com

Thank You