SEO from Soup to Nuts Stephan Spencer VP of SEO Strategies, Covario.
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Transcript of SEO from Soup to Nuts Stephan Spencer VP of SEO Strategies, Covario.
SEO from Soup to Nuts
Stephan SpencerVP of SEO Strategies, Covario
2 Š 2009 Stephan M Spencer Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com [email protected]
First Off... Who Am I?⢠VP of SEO Strategies at Covario⢠Founded Netconcepts LLC in Madison WI in 1995.
Sold it to Covario in 2010. Founded Netconcepts Ltd in Auckland in 1999.
⢠Lived in New Zealand for 8 yrs, returned to US in 2007.
⢠Inventor of GravityStream, a pay-for-performance SEO technology (rebranded as Organic Search Optimizer)
⢠Co-author of The Art of SEO
Keyword Research Tools for brainstorming a seed list
â Quinturaâ Google Suggest (now integrated into Google search)â Yahoo Assistâ Soovle
Tools to check popularity of keyword searchesâ Wordtrackerâ Trellianâs Keyword Discoveryâ Googleâs Keyword Suggestion Toolâ Google Trendsâ Google Insights for Search
Quintura
⢠Click on terms onthe left to realignthe data.
⢠Shows relationsof terms& website related results.
www.quintura.comwww.quintura.com
Quintura
⢠Prosâ Free!â Data is from a large sample of Internet searches
(including all searches on Yahoo!).â Provides a visual representation
⢠Consâ No quantifiable dataâ Interconnections & relations may not be relevant
Google Suggest
⢠Originally a separate testing lab in beta, rolled into web search August 2008.
⢠Search volume inferred based on order, but no quantifiable value.
Google Suggest
⢠Prosâ Free!â Data is from Google search dataâ Provides live suggestions as you type
⢠Consâ No quantifiable dataâ Based on typing order
⢠Part of Yahoo Search⢠Kicks in when delay while entering search
phrases⢠Word can match any part of search phrase
Yahoo Assist
Yahoo Assist
⢠Prosâ Free!â Data is from Yahoo search dataâ Provides live suggestions as you typeâ Typed phrases can match anywhere within the
suggestions
⢠Consâ No quantifiable data
Wordtracker
⢠Enter in keywords & search phrases to be expound upon.
⢠Build out a project with relevant terms.
⢠Use for brainstorming as well as drilling down into specific phrases.
⢠Obtain quantifiable search numbers. Free version: freekeywords.wordtracker.comFree version: freekeywords.wordtracker.com
Wordtracker Pros
â Based on last 130 days worth of searchesâ Singular vs. plural, misspellings, verb tenses all separated
outâ Advanced functionality: keyword âprojectsâ, import data
into Excel, synonyms, ⌠Cons
â Requires subscription fee ($59/month or $329/year)â Data is from a small sample of Internet searches (from the
minor search engines Dogpile and MetaCrawler).â Contains bogus data from automated searchesâ No historical archives
Keyword Discovery
⢠Similar features as Wordtracker.
⢠Trend graphs provide a visual that goes beyond total searches.
⢠Various settings to refine data.
⢠Note: plural setting only pluralizes the last word.
Free version: www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.htmlFree version: www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html
Keyword Discovery Pros
â Full year of historical archivesâ Data is from a larger sample of Internet searchesâ Singular vs. plural, misspellings, verb tenses all separated
outâ Can segment by countryâ Advanced functionality: keyword âprojectsâ, import data
into Excel, synonyms, ⌠Cons
â Access to the historical data requires subscription fee ($69.95/month or $599.40/year).
â Contains bogus data from automated searches
⢠Enter in lists of terms.
⢠Pull terms from a web page.
⢠Search volumeâ Switch to Exact
matchâ Show Search Volume
Trends column.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool
Free version: adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternalFree version: adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Google AdWords Keyword Tool Pros
â Free!â Accessing within Google AdWords yields more featuresâ Data is from a large sample of Internet searches (from
Google)â Singular vs. plural, misspellings, verb tensesâ Can segment by country (within AdWords)â Synonymsâ Monthly & average search volumes
Consâ Numbers are approximations
⢠Provides a graphical, relative search volume comparison.
⢠Enter in up to 5 search terms.
⢠Shows related news.
⢠Sign-in to get relative ranking.
Google Trends
www.google.com/trendswww.google.com/trends
Google Trends Pros
â Free!â Signing into Google account provides additional detail & featuresâ Data is from a large sample of Internet searches (from Google)â Shows related news searchesâ Can segment by region or subregionâ Filter by time frameâ Can run against websites as well
Consâ Numbers are purely relational to the query setâ No way to exportâ Only preset data filteringâ Limited to broad, popular search phrases
Google Insights for Search
⢠Similar to Google Trends⢠Additional unique features
â Compare against a categoryâ Geographic search volume
mapsâ Provides a relative index
measure against all searches performed on Google over time.
www.google.com/insights/search/www.google.com/insights/search/
Google Insights for Search Pros
â Free!â Signing into Google account provides additional detail & featuresâ Data is from a large sample of Internet searches (from Google)â Shows related news searchesâ Shows top searchesâ Show rising search phrasesâ Can segment by region & subregionâ Filter by time frame, even custom date rangesâ Export as CSV
Consâ Numbers are a normalized indexâ Limited to broad, popular search phrases
Seven Steps to High Rankings
1) Get Your Site Fully Indexed 2) Get Your Pages Visible 3) Build Links & PageRank4) Leverage Your PageRank4) Encourage Clickthrough6) Track the Right Metrics7) Follow Best Practices
1) Get Your Site Fully Indexed Pages canât rank if they arenât indexed The better your PageRank, the deeper & more
often your site will be crawled by Google. Indexation challenges typically stem from:
â Overly-complex URLsâ Content duplicationâ Cannibalizationâ Non-canonicalization (www vs. non-www)
Indexation ⌠too much, or not enough?
What Should & Shouldnât Be Page # estimates are wildly inaccurate, & include non-
indexed pages (e.g. ones with no title or snippet). Misconfigurations (in robots.txt, in the type of redirects
used, requiring cookies, etc.) can kill indexation. Utilize XML sitemaps to help indexation & overcome
crawling hurdles. Make sure your â404 File Not Foundâ page returns a hard
404 header status code. Keep duplicate pages out of the index by standardizing your
URLs, eliminating unnecessary variables, using 301 redirects when needed, & CSS styling for printer friendly.
Complexities Can Kill the Crawl
Search engines are wary of âdynamicâ pages - they fear âspider traps.â
Avoid:â stop characters (?, &, =), âcgi-binââ session IDs or long numerical strings that might appear
like a session ID.â unnecessary variables in your URLs, tracking
parameters.â framesâ redirectsâ pop-upsâ navigation in Flash/Java/JavaScript/pulldown boxesâ If not feasible due to platform constraints, can be easily
handled through proxy technology (e.g., Netconceptsâ GravityStream).
Tips:-Pass parameters via cookies-Append tracking parameters as a named anchor using â#â instead of â?â E.g., rather than tracking like ?nav=footer use #nav=footer.-Use CSS & HTML for dropdown menus, only relying on JavaScript for the interactivity.- Use hyphens to separate words
instead of underscores.
Tips:-Pass parameters via cookies-Append tracking parameters as a named anchor using â#â instead of â?â E.g., rather than tracking like ?nav=footer use #nav=footer.-Use CSS & HTML for dropdown menus, only relying on JavaScript for the interactivity.- Use hyphens to separate words
instead of underscores.
Avoid Complex URLs
⢠May inhibit or even prevent crawling.
⢠Watch PageRank, check cache & indexation of URLs to determine where issues may lie.
One click in and cached: www.cdw.com/shop/search/hub.aspx?wclss=COne click in and cached: www.cdw.com/shop/search/hub.aspx?wclss=C
Two clicks, not cached: www.cdw.com/shop/search/hub.aspx?wclss=C3&cm_re=HubPA-_-Computers-_-notebook+computers+hub
Two clicks, not cached: www.cdw.com/shop/search/hub.aspx?wclss=C3&cm_re=HubPA-_-Computers-_-notebook+computers+hub
Canonicalization
⢠One source â one destination
⢠At its simplest, refers to the homepage. Example:â qvc.comâ www.qvc.com
⢠Relates to any content duplication.
⢠âCanonicalâ tag can help
Robots.txt
⢠Protocol for blocking botsâ Keep them out of specific sectionsâ Help avoid duplicate contentâ Auto-discovery of XML sitemapâ Done wrong, can block bots from entire siteâ Unfortunately, too often, implemented incorrectly
Tip: This will block all bots from your entire siteUser-agent: *Disallow: /
Are you sure thatâs what you want?
Tip: This will block all bots from your entire siteUser-agent: *Disallow: /
Are you sure thatâs what you want?
Infinite URL Bloat
⢠Infinite URL combinations due to:â Paginationâ Sortingâ Filteringâ Display options
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/LCD-Plasma-TVs/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12869/N/20012866+20012867+20012869+40001426+4589/link/ref/Ns/accm_num_unts_sld|1/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.dohttp://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/LCD-Plasma-TVs/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12869/N/20012866+20012867+20012869+40001426+4589/link/ref/Ns/accm_num_unts_sld|1/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/LCD-Plasma-TVs/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12869/N/20012866+20012867+20012869+4589+40001426/link/ref/Ns/accm_num_unts_sld|1/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.dohttp://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/LCD-Plasma-TVs/sem/rpsm/catOid/-12869/N/20012866+20012867+20012869+4589+40001426/link/ref/Ns/accm_num_unts_sld|1/link/ref/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do
XML Sitemaps
Inform the search engines of your pages.â Auto-discovery through
robots.txt.â Google Webmaster Centralâ Yahoo Site Explorerâ Bing Webmaster Center
Not a solution for bad URLs Googleâs reporting of indexed
URLs compared to total URLs submitted may be an indicator of URL or content quality.
2) Get Your Pages Visible 100+ âsignalsâ that influence ranking âTitle tagâ is the most important copy âon the pageâ Home page is the most important page of a site Every page of a site has a âsongâ (keyword theme) Incorporate keywords into title tags, hyperlink text, headings
(H1 & H2 tags), alt attributes, & high up in the page (where theyâre given more âweightâ).
Eliminate extraneous HTML code âMeta tagsâ are not a magic bullet Have text for navigation, not graphics Donât let whizz-bang, oh-ah bring you down
Meaningful Titles
⢠Keyword-rich, without being spammy.
⢠Lead with most important keywords.
⢠Looks good to humans & bots.
⢠DPReview.comâ #1 for: digital cameraâ #1 for: digital camerasâ Page-1 in Google for all
phrase variations within title.
Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQDigital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ
Not So Meaningful Titles
⢠Not changing titles is a wasted opportunity.
⢠Check your own site for this costly mistake. site:www.domain.com intitle:âUntitled Documentâsite:www.domain.com intitle:âUntitled Documentâ
Duplicate Title Tags
⢠Check for duplicationâ Use special queries with
Google to find duplication.â 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"
Visually Appealing to Humans
⢠Textual body copy⢠Textual navigation &
links.⢠Doesnât mean a site
canât be visually appealing.
Textually Appealing to Bots (& humans)
⢠Check for text vs. images:â Select individual textâ Ctrl-A to select allâ View âtext onlyâ
version in Google cache.
Meta Tags No Magic Bullet
⢠Meta descriptions are somewhat important, but only for clickthrough.
⢠Meta keywords â ignored by Google & Bing, no discernable value in Yahoo or Ask.
Code Bloat â More Code Than Copy
⢠Tables-based layouts vs. table-less & CSS.
⢠Inline & embedded CSS vs. external.
⢠Embedded JavaScript vs. external.
Beware the Whizz Bang
⢠Further you move from pure HTML, the greater the risks of stopping the bots, or even turning away the humans.â JavaScript powered dropdown
navigations.â AJAX interactivityâ Flash
⢠Progressive enhancement â start with the lowest common denominator, then layer on the effects.
This Nokia page may still be loading ⌠I didnât wait to find out.This Nokia page may still be loading ⌠I didnât wait to find out.
3) Build Links & PageRank âLink popularityâ affects search engine rankings PageRank â Links from âimportantâ sites have more impact
on your Google rankings (weighted link popularity). Google offers a window into your PageRank
â PageRank meter in the Google Toolbar (toolbar.google.com) & 3rd party tools like SEO for Firefox & SEOChat.com PageRank Lookup are all powered by Googleâs Toolbar Server
Bing and Yahoo have similar measures to PageRank Excellent alternative to PageRank score: mozRank
(Linkscape)
Logarithmic Nature of PageRank
39
4) Leverage Your PageRank
⢠Your homepageâs PageRank gets distributed to your deep pages by virtue of your hierarchical internal linking structure (e.g. breadcrumb navigation).
⢠Pay attention to the text used within the hyperlink (âGoogle bombingâ).
⢠Utilize rel=ânofollowâ internally, but with care⢠Donât hoard your PageRank⢠Donât link to âbad neighborhoodsâ
Avoid PageRank Dilution
⢠Many of the structural issues that impact indexation, can impact PageRank.â Canonicalization (www.domain.com vs. domain.com)â Duplicate pages: (session IDs, tracking codes, superfluous
parameters).â In general, search engines are cautious of dynamic URLs
(with ?, &, and = characters) because of âspider traps.â⢠Rewrite your URLs (using a server module/plug-in) or use a hosted
proxy service (e.g., GravityStream).
Read: catalogagemag.com/mag/marketing_right_page_web/Read: catalogagemag.com/mag/marketing_right_page_web/
⢠1 product⢠5 different URLs
â Diluting PageRankâ Duplicated contentâ Self-competing, cannibalizingâ Diluted crawl equity
Even You Know Who Struggles
5) Encourage Clickthrough Being on top of search results commands attention. Itâs
an implied endorsement. Synergistic effect of being at the top of the natural
results & paid results. Entice the user with a compelling call-to-action & value
proposition in your descriptions. Your title tag is critical Snippet gets built automatically, but you CAN influence
whatâs displayed here. See my SEL article: searchengineland.com/anatomy-of-a-google-snippet-38357
Power of Position
⢠Where do searchers look?â Enquiro, Did-it Eyetools
study.â Golden Triangle or âFâ shape
⢠Focus onâ Natural search vs. Paidâ Above the foldâ Reinforcement based on
search term presence.
⢠Getting there is only half the battle.â Do titles captivate?â Does the
description reinforce the search terms?
â Does the description call the searcher to action, leading to clickthrough?
Do You Sing in Search?
6) Track the Right Metrics⢠Indexation: # of pages indexed, % of site indexed, % of product inventory
indexed, # of âfresh pages.â⢠Link popularity: # of links, PageRank score (0 - 10)⢠Rankings: by keyword, âfilteredâ (penalized) rankings⢠Keyword popularity: # of searches, competition, KEI (Keyword
Effectiveness Indicator) scores.⢠Cost/ROI: sales by keyword & by engine, cost per lead
SEO Metrics
⢠Go beyond rankings, referrals, conversions, and revenue.
⢠Also beyond indexation, link popularity, keyword popularity, KEI, PageRank
⢠Use alternative trust & authority metrics like mozRank & mozTrust
⢠Track and measure the health of the Long Tail of organic search
SEO Metrics
⢠Page yield â % of unique pages yielding search engine-delivered traffic in a given month
⢠Keyword yield â ratio of keywords to pages yielding search traffic
⢠Brand-to-nonbrand ratio â % of search traffic coming from brand keywords vs. nonbrand keywords
⢠Unique pages â non-duplicate pages crawled
SEO Metrics
⢠Visitors per keyword â ratio of search engine delivered visitors to search terms
⢠Index-to-crawl ratio â ratio of pages indexed to unique crawled pages
⢠Engine yield â how much traffic the engine delivers for every page it crawls
⢠More on these at http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/506/SEO-Metrics-That-Matter/
7) Follow Best Practices⢠Target relevant keywords⢠Donât stuff keywords or replicate pages⢠Create useful content⢠Don't conceal, manipulate, or over-optimize
content ⢠Links should be relevant (no scheming!)⢠Observe copyright/trademark law & Googleâs
guidelines⢠And sometimes the best practices are just
avoiding the worst practices âŚ
Spamming in Its Many Forms âŚ
⢠Hidden or small text⢠Keyword stuffing⢠Targeted to obviously irrelevant keywords⢠Automated submitting, resubmitting, deep submitting⢠Competitor names in meta tags⢠Duplicate pages with minimal or no changes⢠Spamglish⢠Machine generated content
Spamming in Its Darker Forms âŚ
⢠Pagejacking⢠Doorway pages⢠Cloaking⢠Submitting to FFA (âFree For Allâ) sites & link
farms⢠Buying up expired domains with high PageRanks⢠Scraping⢠Splogging (spam blogging)
Doorway Page Example
⢠BMW.de hosted many doorway pages like this one, with lots of keyword stuffed text for search engine spiders âŚ
Doorway Page Example
⢠Which used a sneaky redirect to send human searchers to this page.
Not Spam, But Bad for Rankings
⢠Splash pages, content-less home page, Flash intros⢠Title tags the same across the site⢠Error pages in the search results (e.g., âSession
expiredâ)⢠"Click here" links⢠Superfluous text like âWelcome toâ at beginning of
titles⢠Spreading site across multiple domains (usually for
load balancing).⢠Content too many levels deep
In Summary
⢠Focus on the right keywords⢠Focus on site architecture⢠Have great keyword-rich content⢠Build links, and thus your PageRank⢠Spend that PageRank wisely within your site⢠Measure the right things⢠Continually monitor, benchmark, & donât be
afraid to test
Now What?
⢠What can you do tomorrow that will improve your siteâs SEO? Write down 3 things. Get âem done!
⢠Remember: you eat an elephant one bite at a time⢠To contact me: [email protected]⢠For an SEO Best & Worst Practices whitepaper &
checklist, e-mail me