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MarketingSherpa's Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011
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Transcript of MarketingSherpa's Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011
Managing the Evolving Search and Social Climate for Optimal Results
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Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011
Actual benefits of integrating social media into SEO campaigns
Real impact of search innovations
Effectiveness of SEO and social media on various business objectives
Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011
Case study – Acoustics by Design Research based on MarketingSherpa’s
2011 Search Marketing Benchmark Report – SEO Edition
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Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011
Jen Doyle Sergio BalegnoSenior Analyst Research DirectorMarketingSherpa MarketingSherpa@JenLDoyle @SergioBalegno
Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011 - Agenda
Perceptions of SEO
Top 5 SEO Practices for 20111. Define objectives
2. Select target keywords
3. Develop a strategic process
4. Integrate social media
5. Optimize for search innovations Mobile search
Real time search
Personalized search
Video search
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Building a strong SEO foundation
Managing the evolving search and social climate
Perceptions of SEOWhich statement best describes how SEO is perceived by your organization
at budget time?
67% of organizations areincreasing SEO investmentseither liberally or conservatively
Which organizations are most likely to increase their investment? Mature SEO marketers Organizations that integrate
social media into search campaigns
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SEO is a promising tactic and will
eventually produce ROI. Let's increase budget but do it conservatively.
43%
SEO is producing measurable ROI.
Let's increase budget liberally for
continuous improvement.
24%
SEO is basically free. Let's keep it
that way.20%
The value of SEO is unknown and
something we do only as time
permits. Why invest more?
13%
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Best Practice #1: Define Objectives
Have to know where you’re going
in order to get there
Record key metrics
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“We establish our objectives and ensure that they are in line with the overall corporate and sales objectives.”
“I will set up a strategy and objectives road map for the year that will include who is to do what and how certain things are to be accomplished.”
Define ObjectivesIn your experience, how effective has SEO been at accomplishing these
marketing objectives for your organization?
SEO is perceived as aneffective tactic in achieving a number of impactful marketing objectives
Improvements in soft metrics leads to improvements in bottom-line metrics
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17%
26%
27%
29%
35%
42%
57%
55%
54%
51%
55%
58%
51%
40%
28%
20%
22%
15%
7%
7%
2%
Increase offline sales revenue
Increase online sales revenue
Improve public relations
Improve brand or product reputation
Increase lead generation
Increase brand or product awareness
Increase website traffic
Very effective Somewhat effective Not effective
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Define Objectives - Questions1. Does my company need increased sales, website
traffic, improved reputation, lead generation or some combination of all of the above?
2. Can we define revenue per visit?
3. Does my website accept ecommerce transactions?
4. Does my company have a reputation of authority?
4. Is my company receiving or subject to receive negative PR that needs to be managed?
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Best Practice #2: Select Target Keywords
Just like other marketing tactics, SEO requires effective targeting
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“We speak with customers to understand the keywords they use when searching for solutions similar to ours. We also check competitors' sites to get insight into their strategies.”
“(We) Identify keywords from competitive research, web analytics, and our on-site search engine.”
Select Target Keywords
Keyword research was rated as THE most effective tactic for SEO
Out-ranked link building and on-page content optimization
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Select Target Keywords – How to Speak your customer’s language
Use social media Partner with Customer Service & Sales Analytics On-site search engine
Aim for relevance and mix broad & targeted terms
Conduct competitive research Visit competitor websites Utilize online tools
Use a keyword research tool
Repeat!
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Best Practice #3: Develop a Strategic Process
Recent research indicates that organizations with formalized SEO processes receive the greatest benefits from their SEO practices
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“HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) - that would be me. It is all done by gut and needs to be revised. Considering outsourcing to specialized agency.”
“Identify opportunity keywords optimize sit back and watch the love roll in.”
“Our strategy has been largely reactive at this point. We are evaluating options now to change that.”
Develop a Strategic Process
We have a formal process we
routinely perform34%
We have an informal process
we randomly perform
46%
We have no process for
performing this20%
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Please select the statement that best describes the process your organization uses to perform SEO practices.
66% of organizations indicated
that they do not have a formal
process for executing SEO
that can be routinely
performed
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Develop a Strategic ProcessIn your experience, how effective have the following SEO tactics been
in achieving higher rankings?
Organizations
in Phase III receive
greater benefits
from most SEO tactics
than organizations
in phases I & II
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38%
25%
37%
42%
52%
55%
61%
63%
71%
71%
13%
15%
37%
31%
23%
41%
28%
39%
59%
61%
0%
20%
17%
50%
22%
40%
38%
50%
33%
60%
Creating an XML sitemap
Online press release distribution
Integrating social media
Blogging
Competitive research
Meta tag & meta description …
Link building
Title tag optimization
On page content optimization
Keyword research
Phase I: Trial Phase II: Transition Phase III: Strategic
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Develop a strategic process – 4 key components
Research and targeting
On-site optimization On page content & code
Off-site optimization Generate inbound links
Test, measure, test again
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Best Practice #4: Search and Social Media Integration
Research of search and social marketing practices Two-year study of 4200 social media marketers This year’s study of 2200 search marketers
Key finding: Search and social have incredible synergy The whole is greater than the sum of its parts But integration strategy critical to achieving optimal effectiveness
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“First, we identify the social media platforms that our target audience is using. Then, we research what our primary and secondary competitors are doing in terms of SEO and Social Media.“
Majority Integrating Search and Social MediaDoes your organization integrate social media with search engine marketing?
Not currently integrating search
and social? You’re in the minority
Marketers in strategic phase
much more likely to integrate
What’s the pay-off?
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Yes64%
No36%
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Individually, Search and Social Very EffectiveIn your experience, how effective has SEO and social media been at
accomplishing these marketing objectives for your organization?
SEO perceived as more
effective accomplishing hard
objectives: traffic, leads, sales
Social perceived as more
effective accomplishing soft
objectives: branding and PR
As social matures,
perception will change
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26%
17%
35%
57%
27%
29%
42%
9%
10%
18%
33%
36%
37%
37%
Increase online sales revenue
Increase offline sales revenue
Increase lead generation
Increase website traffic
Improve public relations
Improve brand or product reputation
Increase brand or product awareness
Very Effective Social Media Objectives Very Effective SEO Objectives
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Together, Search and Social a Very Powerful Pair What is your organization’s conversion rate for organic traffic?
Search marketers who integratesocial media achieve a 59% better rate of conversion. Also…
Increase the amount of SEO friendly content on the web
Generate inbound links Increase the number of listings
in the SERP’s Improve the quality of your
website’s traffic
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27%
17%
Organic search traffic
Social Media Users Non-Social Media Users
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
MarketingSherpa Case Study: Integrating Social Media to Reap SEO Gains
Acoustics by Design
Acoustical consulting firm withlimited marketing resources
•Healthcare•Education•Industrial
How they developed a blog strategy and corralled multiple authors to write timely posts
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Integration Campaign Objectives
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Create keyword rich content to improve SEO performance
Establish reputation as an industry though leader
Increase lead generation and conversion
Campaign Tactic: Planning Editorial Targets
Identify target audiences
Create keyword list for blog content that fills gaps in current web SEO
Create editorial calendar for a year of blog posts on keyword related topics
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Campaign Tactic: Recruiting Authors
“After I pulled all the knives out of my chest and started talking about
doing blogs for which everyone would only need to prepare a post once
every 6-8 weeks, the conversation went
a lot better.”– Kenric Van Wyk, President
and Principle Acoustical Engineer, Acoustics by Design
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Creating sufficient volume of content a big challenge
Enlisted engineering teamto write blogs and gain thought-leadership status
Won acceptance by minimizing workload
Campaign Tactic: Streamlining Content
Allowed authors to select from a list of relevant topics
Provided writing guidelines to streamline process
Assigned an editor to review writing and optimize posts
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Campaign Tactic: Share Results
Recognize thought-leadership status of bloggers with bylines
Analyze comments, inbound links, and other SEO gains
Include exceptional blog posts in company newsletter for recognition
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Campaign Results
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Blog generating 53% of natural search visits
Shared content positioning Acoustics by Design as thought leader on industry social media sites
Lead volume and rate of conversions increased
Best Practice #5: Optimize for Search Innovations
Major search engines are responding to the rapidly growing popularity of social media as a marketing tactic by developing and releasing various search engine innovations to improve the experience of end users and advertisers alike Mobile search Real time search Personalized search Video search
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ld
“Our greatest challenge is getting high rankings for generic terms within our industry. Personalized search could have a large impact as well.”
Optimize for Search InnovationsHow do you think the following search innovations will impact your business In the
next 1 – 5 years?
Personalized search has created much speculationamong the SEO industry
Real time search and social marketing
Social media users anticipate the greatest impact from all search innovations across the board
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24%
26%
33%
33%
47%
47%
56%
57%
29%
28%
10%
11%
Mobile search
Video search
Real time search
Personalized search
Will have a great impact on our business
Will somewhat impact our business
Will have no impact on our business
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Optimize for Search Innovations – Mobile Search
Mobile search refers to the use of web search functionality on mobile deviceswith wireless internet connections
Mobile search has increased the reach of search engines by adding another point of access for search engine users
Mobile search is still in it’s infancy as a marketing tactic 56% of respondents indicated that they
had not yet received any impact from mobile search
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24%
47%
29%
Will have a great impact on our businessWill somewhat impact our businessWill have no impact on our business
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Optimize for Search Innovations – Mobile Search
Know your apps Research apps on major device manufacturers websites, and
the websites for phone operating systems Optimize more types of content
Mobile search applications are accepting more than text-based queries Shazam SnapTell
Signal your location Attract local business
Include address in website code using hCard microformatting
Optimize your current site Take advantage of the history with search engines, current
traffic and inbound links Original content will out rank duplicate content
Keep sites clean and simple The mobile web is not yet sophisticated enough for complex
websites Keep keywords short
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Optimize for Search Innovations – Real Time Search
Real time search refers to a searchengine’s ability to index newly published web content as it is being published with virtually no delay, or in real time
Real time search can have a great impact on organizations by allowing search engine users to access newly created and published content. Promotions & time sensitive content can
now be distributed through organic search
Social media content
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33%
56%
10%
Will have a great impact on our businessWill somewhat impact our businessWill have no impact on our business
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Optimize for Search Innovations – Real Time Search
Develop keyword optimized content for social media
Join the conversation Research hot topics and latest trends
that are relevant to your business
Post frequently Utilize social tools to schedule tweets or
status updates ahead of time
Recruit brand advocates
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Optimize for Search Innovations – Personalized Search
Personalized search refers to a search engine’s capability to personalize search results based on the last 180 days of a search engine users’ search habits Previously visited sites Interpreting search queries
Personalized search is expected tohave a negative impact on SEO by limitingthe number of impressions their organic listings receive
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33%
57%
11%
Will have a great impact on our businessWill somewhat impact our businessWill have no impact on our business
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
Optimize for Search Innovations – Personalized Search
Drive more traffic to your site – now! Email blasts Encourage bookmarking PPC Etc.
Engage web visitors Relevant, useful, engaging content Frequently add a new variety of
content
Rank checking is even less reliable
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Optimize for Search Innovations – Video Search
Search engines have responded to the growing popularity of video beingutilized for marketing and business purposes by developing video search, or the capability to crawl and index video content.
Video content is now being indexed and ranked on the first page of the search results when relevant
Video search is in it’s infancy as a marketing tactic 52% of organizations indicated that they had
not yet received any impact from video search
26%
47%
28%
Will have a great impact on our businessWill somewhat impact our businessWill have no impact on our business
Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194
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Optimize for Search Innovations – Video Search
Create great content Relevance and usefulness Keep it short
Optimize video content with target keywords Video sharing sites On-page content & surrounding HTML Links
Attract viewers & maximize views Video thumbnails Enable sharing
Encourage comments and ratings
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Top 5 SEO Practices for 2011 - Review Define objectives
Questions to ask yourself Does my company need increased sales, traffic, improved reputation, lead
gen, or all of the above? Can we define revenue per visit? Does my website accept ecommerce transactions? Does my company have a reputation of authority? Is my company receiving negative PR?
Select target keywords Speak your customers language Aim for relevance and mix broad & targeted terms Conduct competitor research Use a keyword research tool Repeat
Develop a strategic process Research & targeting On-site optimization Off-site optimization Test, measure, test again
Integrate social media Need to have an existing social marketing plan in place Increase the amount of SEO friendly content Increase inbound links Increase the number of listings in the SERP’s Improve conversion rates
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•Optimize for search innovations•Mobile search
•Know your apps•Optimize for more types of content•Signal your location•Optimize your current site•Keep it clean and simple•Target shorter keywords
•Real time search•Optimize social content•Join the conversation•Post frequently•Recruit brand advocates
•Personalized search•Drive traffic now•Engage web visitors•Encourage bookmarking•Rank checking is less reliable
•Video search•Create great content•Optimize video content •Attract viewers and maximize reviews•Encourage comments and ratings