“While Google is constantly updating the way we rank, WordPress has forever changed the speed at which we rank” – Alex Miranda

Case Study: How I Optimized A WordPress Website To Rank On The First Page of Google

Alex Miranda

My Profile• SEO Marketing since 1998• Digital Marketing VP at Marknet Group Inc• Certified Google Adwords Professional • WordPress SEO Speaker & Trainer • Asst Organizer of Hudson Valley &

Westchester WordPress Meetup Group• Asst Organizer of Hudson Valley Digital

Marketing Meetup Group• Executive Chef

How Do I Find A Good SEO Pro?• Ask Questions - Just because someone talks SEO doesn’t mean

they know SEO• Email - If you get an Email from an SEO company offering their

services, DO NOT REPLY..TRASH IT!! • Phone Solicitation – If an SEO company calls you out of the

blue, Avoid them.• Countries – Using an SEO company from a third world country

may be cheap but at the end of the day it will be costly. There are good companies out there.Do your homework

• Ranking Guarantee – No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.

• Get References – Ask for multiple references you can call• Use LinkedIn – Find them. Check out their recommendations

and NOT their endorsements• Check for yourself – Check the sites they optimized, Check

their rankings. What tactics are they using?Read more tips HERE

What Are NOT Search Engines Looking For?• Keyword Stuffing - Overuse of keywords

on your pages• Purchased Links - Buying links will get

you nowhere when it comes to SEO• Low Quality Links - Make it relevant• Poor User Experience - Make it easy for

the user to get around• Old Content - Does your site have old

outdated content? Is your site outdated?

Ask Yourself 4 Questions

• Who are you?• Where are you?• Why are you searching for this?• Who are you trying to reach?

Types of Keywords• Broad and Popular – Coffee Machines, WordPress

(Don’t bother)• Niche – Commercial Coffee Machines, WordPress SEO

Expert (Not too shabby)• Long Tail Keywords – Commercial Coffee Machines

Westchester, WordPress SEO Expert NYC (YES!!)

Install Plugins

• Google Analytics for WordPress - Joost De Valk

• Google XML SiteMaps – Arne Brachhold• WP Robots Txt - Christopher Davis• SEO Plugin? Depend on what is right for

you.

Check General Settings

• Site title• URL• New York time zone• Date format• Time format

Check Writing SettingsUpdate Services

Photo: allstuffweb.com

Add This Ping Listhttp://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2http://rpc.pingomatic.com/http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/pingSubmit?bloglink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurocoffeeusa.comhttp://www.bing.com/webmaster/ping.aspx?siteMap=www.eurocoffeeusa.com/sitemap.xmlhttp://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http%3A//www.eurocoffeeusa.com/sitemap.xmlhttp://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ping?sitemap=http://www.eurocoffeeusa.com/sitemap.xmlhttp://rpc.twingly.comhttp://rpc.weblogs.com/pingSiteForm?name=BlogTitle&url=http%3A%2F%2fwww.eurocoffeeusa.comhttp://geourl.org/ping?p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurocoffeeusa.com

Check Reading Settings• Make sure Search Engine Visibility is not

checked.• Edit Robots.txt content

Check Discussion Settings

URL Structure & Permalinks

Content• Clear and Simple. Is your homepage

digestible in 5 seconds?• Engage your reader. Write for visitors

first. Do not write for search engines• Create a great, seamless user experience• Call to action = conversions & leads• Keep website fresh and updated• Too many ads on homepage will kill you• Avoid flash and avoid auto play sounds

Targeted Page

Title Tags

• Do not use the same title for every page• Create unique title tags for each page.

Make sure they are relevant to the page• No more than 70 characters and avoid stop

word• Should contain keywords from content

Meta Description

• Keep it below 165 characters• Create unique meta tag descriptions for

each page• Make sure the keywords match your title

tags• Meta tags are extremely important in

gaining user click-through from search engine result pages

SitemapsHTML Sitemap - HTML Sitemap contains links to all pages within a website. Makes it easier for visitors to find your content.

XML Sitemap - Designed for search engines. Makes it easier for search engines to find your content

There is so much more to learn…• Local SEO

• Link Building• Citations• Social• Video

Want to learn more?

Lets Touch Base

Email: alex@marknetgroup.comTwitter: @mralexmirandaFacebook: www.facebook.com/prundergroundGoogle+: google.com/+AlexMirandaSEO Web: http://www.marknetgroup.com

www.linkedin.com/in/mralexmiranda/

* If you liked my presentation, give me a recommendation.