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SEO BOOTCAMP: Lift Your Rankings!
19.05.2016
Put Your Website in Positionto Rank in the Natural Search Results!
2016 SEO FIELD-GUIDE HANDBOOK
OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S BOOTCAMPTheory & Drill Exercises
• SEO Landscape• What Is SEO? Why Does It Matter?• SEO Dynamics & Background Context
• Practice with Go-To-Market Strategies• Onsite Tactics
• SEO Audit & Technical Enhancements• Keyword Research• On-Page Optimization: Meta Data & Content
• Offsite Tactics• Corresponding SEM Ad Campaign• Content Marketing & Link Building• Social Marketing• Local Directories & Review Sites
• Data Analysis & Continual Enhancement
WHO PUT YOU IN CHARGE? SEO Credentials for the Squad Leader
15 Years of Hard-Core SEO Tactical Work
Nikki Johnson
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/nikkijohnsonhqo
> VP of Copywriting - Hotel / Travel Marketing Agency• TIG Global – Washington, DC
> Founder / CEO / President - My Own Three Companies• HQO SEO, LLC – Washington, DC
• SEO / copywriting consultancy for small and medium-size businesses
• Plugin Group – Washington, DC• White-label marketing services / partnership with ad agencies
• Galileo Tech Media – New York, NY• Data-driven marketing for Fortune 500 brands and enterprise companies
> Marketing Director - Multilingual, International Firm• Binary.com – Kuala Lumpur / Cyberjaya, Malaysia
A FEW WORDS FROM OUR SPONSORSpecial Thanks to Binary.com for Hosting This SEO Bootcamp!
KILLER OFFICE SPACE, RIGHT?Now Hiring Like Gangbusters!> Careers Page:
• https://www.binary.com/careers?l=EN
> Open Positions:• https://www.binary.com/open-positions?l=EN
> To Apply: • hr@binary.com
A QUICK CASE STUDY: Search for “White Label Marketing Agency”• PluginGroup.com appears in the top spot /
on the first page?• This is the second company I started, woohoo!• Delivered qualified new leads each week, for
free!
• Sample of finding the SEO sweet spot!• Search volume for the targeted keywords was:
• High enough to deliver steady, relevant traffic to our website
• Low enough to still be “winnable,” from a realistic perspective
• So the process does work!• This workshop will walk you through a basic
framework• So you can start wrapping your head around
getting SEO to work for you
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)Definition:
Process of Improving a Website’s Visibility in the Natural Search Results
WHY DOES SEO MATTER?Do The Math:• 93% of online visits begin with a
search engine• Search Engine Journal
• 64% of website visitors come from organic search
• Conductor
• 50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day
• Search Engine Land
• 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within a day
• Search Engine Land
WHY DOES SEO WORK SO WELL?It’s All About Creating Win-Win Scenarios
• Ultimately, it’s a matter of connecting:
• Search engine customers actively looking for certain things
• Suppliers who can fulfill those specified needs
• Everybody wins!
• Businesses can thus connect with receptive customers, all for “free”
THEN WHY IS SEO SO DIFFICULT?The Bottom Line: It’s Super-Competitive
• Everybody wants to rank!• Millions of websites,
all vying for attention
• Can’t all appear on the first page• Need to be smart and
realistic in approach
WHAT ELSE MAKES SEO CHALLENGING?Involves Such a Broad Array of Specialties• Left-Brain Skills
• Keyword Research• Back-End Programming• Data Analysis
• Right-Brain Skills• Design / UX• Copywriting• Social Media
• Takes a Small Army to Execute All Aspects Really Well
ANYTHING ELSE THAT MAKES SEO TOUGH?Further Complications• Add the Dimension of Time!
• Constant evolution• Undergoes continuous tweaking, for the purposes of:
• Continual quality enhancement of search results• Preventing “gaming of the system” by spam artists
• Throw in Increasing Personalization of Results! • Search results are now customized to each user,
depending on his/her:• Location• Personal search / site-visitation history• Social connections• Etc.
• No two users see exactly the same search results
GAH! SEO SOUNDS LIKE SHEER MADNESS!Where Do You Even Start?• Just Breathe
• No Need to Lose Your Head
• Take It Nice and Easy• Prioritization of Efforts• “HQO Ripple Effect”:
• Start with a Certain Set of Activities• Increasingly Expand Over Time,
to Rank for:• More Competitive Keywords• Additional Phrases
ONE HELPFUL CONSIDERATIONSome Basic Factors Will Always Signal Strong RelevanceEXAMPLE: If a given page is relevant to a particular keyword, it probably:
• Appears in certain places on the page• Title?• Heading?• Paragraph text?• Images / multimedia?
• Is repeated a few times in the midst of the page• Amid the rich description
• Is surrounded by synonyms and related words• Used in the process of describing the given keyword topic• “Semantic search”
REACHING ACROSS SEARCH ENGINESMany Common Factors to All Search Engines• Each search engine has its own unique
formula for determining rankings• Google dominates the field by far,
in terms of market share
• However, there are common factors to the basic characteristics that tend to signal relevance across the board
• Similar to keyword usage on the previous page
• Stay focused on these constants first and foremost, to keep things manageable
• Cover the basics first• Then move on to the elements that involve:
• Greater complexity• Increased frequency
Google: 65.4%Bing: 15.8%Yahoo!: 8.3%
Baidu: 8.3%Ask: 0.2%Others: 1.9%
GLOBAL SHARE OF USERS: Netmarketshare.com – Jan 2016
ANOTHER HELPFUL SEO FRAMEWORKConsider the Primary Objective of the Search Engines
• Search Engine Objective:• Provide solid, highly relevant
content to satisfy users actively searching for info related to particular keywords
• Therefore, Your Objective Should Be: • Demonstrating to the search
engines that you have solid content with genuine relevance to actively searched keywords
APPLYING REALISMThe Most Critical Element to SEO Success in 2016• The Key Question:
• Realistically, how likely am I to appear on the first page for this keyword?• How does my site stack up against all of the other websites that could be considered relevant to
this term?• Do I legitimately belong on the first page for this keyword, based on the full range of info
available to users related to this phrase?
• This Humble Approach Helps You Stay Focused on:• Geographically based terms
• Hyperlocal• Niche terms, geared toward particular:
• Customer segments / audiences• Certain types of products / services• Specific attributes / modifiers• Other characteristics that help to:
• Limit the competition• Increase likelihood of conversion,
through targeted focus
EVOLUTION OF THE SEO WORLDToday, SEO Best Practices Are Digital Marketing Best PracticesPast:
• When I started 15 years ago, the “Venn Diagrams” for SEO and overall marketing practices were not nearly as well-aligned
• Many SEO practices existed solely to appeal to the search engines• Such tactics left much to be desired for human users
• Keyword stuffing• Useless directories and a whole cottage industry of “link farms”• Mountains of pages with weak, mostly duplicated content,
exclusively designed for the purpose of ranking• Etc.
• Google and the other major search engines have been stamping out these malpractices with a vengeance, with each successive update
Present:• Search engines have become increasingly more sophisticated
• Getting closer and closer to being able to assess web content just as a human would
GREY SCALE OF SEOFull Spectrum of SEO Tactics
• White-Hat SEO• Entirely pure and well-intentioned best
practices• The best route for long-term success
• Black-Hat SEO• Dark and sinister tactics• Tend to work only for a short time, until
they are discovered and rooted out
• Grey-Hat SEO• The shady ground in the middle of these
two extremes
SEO MECHANICSExactly How Are Rankings Determined?
• Algorithm• Complex mathematical equation that incorporates
hundreds of different factors
• Indexing• Believe it or not, Google does not actually
search the Web itself whenever a user inputs a set of keywords
• Instead, Google maintains its own copy of the Web, which it can navigate a lot more quickly to process queries
• This copy is known as the “Google Index”
• In order for Google to include your site in its ranked results, it must be “crawled” and included in its index
ANATOMY OF A SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS PAGEDissecting the “SERPs”• Organic Results
• Ten “natural” search listings per page
• Paid Results• Sponsored listings, fueled by AdWords
• Local Results• Tied to the map
• Knowledge Graph• Google’s data warehouse about people,
places, animals, events, history, and topics• Compiled from authoritative sites such as:
• Wikipedia• CIA World Factbook• Freebase
PAID RESULTS
LOCAL RESULTS
ORGANIC RESULTS
SOME OF GOOGLE’S MAJOR UPDATESA Veritable Zoo of Evolutionary Changes to Its Algorithm
• Panda• Low-quality content cleanup
• Penguin• Linking malpractice crackdown
• Hummingbird• Semantic search updates
• Pigeon• Local search updates
RANKBRAINThe Latest Mind-Blowing Enhancement to Google’s Algorithm
• Launched at the end of October 2015• Now all the rage in the SEO world!
• Machine-learning artificial intelligence system• Processes huge volume of queries• Uses AI mechanisms to provide
increasingly better answers
RANKING FACTORSBasic Dichotomy: Onsite and Offsite
• Onsite SEO Factors• Enhancements made to the website itself
• Offsite SEO Factors• Best practices applied to the way the site
engages with the rest of the World Web Web
• Proverbial Metaphor in Effect Here• Analogous to a tree falling in the forest with no
one to hear it• Not just about adjusting the website itself, in its
isolated state• Half of SEO also deals with its interactions with
the larger ecosystem• Need to treat both as equally important
to make an impact
ONSITE RANKING FACTORS• Keyword Research
• Short-tail / long-tail phrases with:• Relevance to your offering• Active search demand
• Google AdWords Keyword Planner• Possibly paired with an SEM campaign
• On-Page Optimization• Title Tag• Meta Description• Header Tags• Descriptive Text• Alt / Image Tags, as Appropriate
• Technical Factors• XML Sitemap• Robots.txt• Google Webmaster Tools & Analytics Setup• Canonicalization / Redirects• Schema & Markup
OFFSITE RANKING FACTORS• Content Marketing & Link Building
• Creation of “Shareworthy” Content• Focus on Content Promotion through
High-Quality, Trusted, Authoritative Sources
• Engaging Prospects with Interesting Content
• Social Media• Interacting with target audiences as real
people• Measures of active engagement and
“likeability”
• Local Directories & Review Sites• Play a particularly important role in the
Local Search section
Field Practice with Go-To-Market SEO StrategiesONSITE TACTICS
SEO AUDITTechnical Tactic #1• Use a few different audit tools
to examine your site• Open Site Explorer & Moz Tools
• https://moz.com/tools
• SEM Rush• https://www.semrush.com/features/
site-audit/
• Screaming Frog• http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/
seo-spider/
• Look at a few competitors • Grab some benchmarks from:
• Local competitors• Industry competitors
WEBMASTER TOOLS FOR GOOGLE, BING, ETC.Technical Tactic #2• These tools enable you to:
• Identify any issues that may adversely affect search performance for your website
• Optimize all aspects of your site from a technical perspective
• Excellent tutorial guides:• Search Engine Watch –
Google Webmaster Tools: An Overview:• https://searchenginewatch.com/
sew/how-to/2191991/google-webmaster-tools-an-overview
• Search Engine Watch –Bing Webmaster Tools: An Overview:
• https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2195777/bing-webmaster-tools-an-overview
ANALYTICS TOOLS FOR GOOGLE, BING, ETC.Technical Tactic #3• Google Analytics enables you to:
• Start tracking all aspects of performance for the website
• Examine what works, and continue to evolve your SEO efforts over time
• Excellent tutorial guide:• ClickZ – An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up
Google Analytics for Your Website:• https://www.clickz.com/2016/01/20/an-absolute-beginners-
guide-to-setting-up-google-analytics-for-your-website
• Note that for Bing:• Analytics are incorporated into:
• Bing Webmaster Tools• Bing Ads (for paid search ads)
SOME OF THE TECHNICAL TACTICS
• XML Sitemap• A special file that lists all URLs for a site, enabling Google and
other search engines to crawl it more intelligently
• Robots.txt• A file that instructs the search engines which pages not to index
• Canonicalization• Redirects set up to show the search engines that the www and
non-www version of your site are the same, preventing duplicate content issues
• Schema & Markup• Special labels that can be added to particular types of
information, enabling the search engines to pick up and use these details in various applications
Addressed During this Phase
BUILD A CHART OF POTENTIAL KEYWORDS
• Use Google AdWords Keyword Planner to research demand
• Put together a chart of various keywords with active demand related to what you offer
• Focus particularly on search phrases that incorporate:
• Geographic areas• City (e.g., “”kuala lumpur”)
• Neighborhood (e.g., “bukit bintang”)
• Best approach for first starting out• Once dominated, go broader
• Niche phrases• “Best” / “Top”• Focus on a certain type of customer • Specific types of products / services• Particular modifiers (“affordable,” “effective,” etc.)
Keyword Tactic #1
SAMPLE KEYWORD RESEARCHA Few Sample Screenshots from Google AdWords
You can explore demand for specific keywords under the “Keyword ideas” tab
Google will also suggest additional possibilities …some more relevant than others
ASSIGN SPECIFIC KEYWORDS TO EACH PAGE
• Map keywords with active demand to each page of your website
• Determine one or two primary themes to keywords chosen for full site
• Identify specific keywords for each page
• One main keyword per page
• “Long-tail” variations thereof
• Identify additional pages that need to be created
Keyword Tactic #2
TITLE TAGS
• Title Tag• The most influential factor
signaling relevant keywords for the page
• 55 characters or less
Meta Data Tactic #1
META DESCRIPTIONS
• Meta Description• Call to action to visit the page,
incorporating keywords• 155 characters or less
Meta Data Tactic #2
ALT TAGS FOR IMAGES
• Alt / Image Tags• Brief description of subject matter for photos• Incorporate keywords only if appropriate• Five words or less
Meta Data Tactic #3
Alt Tag 1: Pet store in Bukit Bintang
Alt Tag 2: An adorable selection of cats
Alt Tag 3: Two dogs at our store
ON-PAGE OPTIMIZATION
• Incorporate keywords into your page text naturally• Do not force keywords
• “Keyword stuffing”• Try to add them in a
perfectly conversational way
• Aim for at least 300 wordsper page• Websites / pages with too
little text content are penalized by “Google Panda”
Content Development Tactic #1
DEVELOP CONTENT IN DIFFERENT FORMATS
• Identify themes to keywords that can be covered with content• Blog posts• Ebooks• Videos• Infographics• Etc.
• Create an editorial calendar• Map out development and
distribution of content for keyword groups
Content Development Tactic #2
Field Practice with Go-To-Market SEO StrategiesOFFSITE TACTICS
DEVELOP A PAID SEARCH CAMPAIGN• Set up ad campaigns
• Map keywords to most appropriate landing pages
• Launch campaign, and closely monitor results
• Tweak as necessary, for optimal results
EVOLVE BOTH CAMPAIGNS IN TANDEMSEO v. SEM: The Yin & Yang of Search Marketing• SEO
• Search Engine Optimization• Positioning a website to rank in
the natural search results• “Free” but placement is not
guaranteed
• SEM / PPC / Paid Search• Search Engine Marketing /
Pay-Per-Click Marketing• Positioning a website to appear in
the paid results / sponsored ads section
• Paid but placement is guaranteed
SEO
SEM
LINK BUILDING TACTICS• Search for places to promote
content to be created• Check which sites are ranking
well for keywords you plan to target
• Look for article directories, relevant forums, social-media groups, etc.
• Determine key influencers in your industry• Make friends / powerful alliances
with these folks• Figure out cool ways to
collaborate, for benefit all
SEARCH FOR RELATED RESOURCES AND POTENTIAL PARTNERS
LOOK FOR RELATED BLOGSAsk About “Guest Blogging”
SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS
• Build social-media campaigns around content to be created
• Look for all sorts of different ways to find others with related interests
• Gather positive signals of engagement with the content
• Look for local authorities with whom you can collaborate
Interact with Real People!
BE A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY• Look for opportunities to
share your content with people who can benefit from it
• Don’t push it• All must be approached naturally
• Look for local “influencers” in your industry• Who talks the most about your
industry in the area?• Who do your customers rely on for
advice and entertainment?
SEARCH FOR RELEVANT SOCIAL GROUPS• Look for related groups on
Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social sites that relate to:
• Your industry• Your target audience• Your geographic area
CHECKLIST FOR LOCAL SEO
• Many Local SEO factors overlap with the traditional SEO factors• However, some factors are given
particular emphasis in this section
• A great Local SEO tutorial guide:• Moz Local SEO Checklist
• https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-checklist
Local SEO Tactic #1
OPTIMIZE YOUR BUSINESS LISTINGSLocal SEO Tactic #2• Optimize your local business
listing for your website in Google’s local directory• Be sure to complete all fields as
fully as you can• Be consistent about name,
address, and phone number EVERYWHERE!
• Otherwise, Google may not recognize the listings as belonging to the same business
• “Name, Address, and Phone Number” are often referred to as “NAP” in Local SEO guides
DIRECTORY & REVIEW TACTICS
• Submit your site to all major local directories• International • By area• By industry
• Set up profiles on major review sites for your industry• Encourage customers and
partners to post reviews
Local SEO Tactic #3
SAMPLE LOCAL DIRECTORIES
Go-To-Market SEO StrategiesCONTINUAL TESTING & ENHANCEMENT
DATA SCIENCE TACTICS• Establish a regular schedule of
reporting• Weekly• Monthly • Quarterly
• Determine key metrics • Traffic by source• Revenue / conversion rate• Keywords delivering traffic• Customer demographics
• Identify takeaways from each campaign
• Continue to evolve all efforts • Based on your findings
SOLID SEO RESOURCES TO EXPLOREDeeper-Dive Sites• Guides
• Moz• Beginner’s Guide to SEO
• https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
• Google• Search Engine Optimization Guide
• http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
• Blogs• Use an RSS reader to track news from:
• Search Engine Land• Search Engine Journal• Search Engine Watch• SEO Book• Marketing Land
HANDFUL OF SEO EXPERTSJust a Few Kings of Content in this Realm• Matt Cutts
• Former Head of Web Spam for Google
• John Mueller• Webmaster Trends Analyst for Google
• Rand Fishkin• Founder, Former CEO, and “Wizard” of Moz
• Danny Sullivan• Co-Founder of Search Engine Land
• Neil Patel• Founder of CrazyEgg, Kiss Metrics, QuickSprout
• Josh Bachynski• Self-Made SEO Consultant & Documentarian
SEO BOOTCAMP SIGN-OFFWhat Have We Learned Here Today?• Before getting bogged down
in the details, take a step back• Cover the basic low-hanging fruit first• Then move onto the tougher stuff
• Use a realistic approach• To start, focus on keywords that are:
• Geographically based• Niche-centered
• Then expand your focus to incorporate:• More competitive keywords• Additional phrases
• Above all, relax, knowing that:• Following “white-hat” SEO best practices
helps you do better marketing as a whole
• Questions?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR YOU From Your Friends at Kuala Lumpur Marketing Meetup
• Join Us for Lots More Free Workshops!• Many More Marketing / IT Subjects:
• Check the Calendar: • http://www.meetup.com/
Kuala-Lumpur-Marketing-Meetup/
• Follow Us!• Facebook:
• https://www.facebook.com/Kuala-Lumpur-Marketing-Meetup-203684033319402/
• LinkedIn: • https://www.linkedin.com/company/7591769
• Peatix: • http://kuala-lumpur-marketing-meetup.peatix.com/
Thanks for AttendingToday’s SEO Bootcamp!See You Again Soon! Bring Some Friends!