European Blogger SummitBlogging SEO

Gareth CartmanDirector of Digital Marketing

Clever Little DesignBarcelona 24-25 September 2013

Clever Little Design LimitedCommunications House, Maidenhead, SL6 2LS01628 627853 www.cleverlittledesign.co.uk

Most blogs live here…

Give people what they want… (be the jelly)

jelly

new

baby

brother

happy

What do our readers want?

People want shared sentiment, distraction, advice… and help.

So blog for them, not yourself.

Even if they’re strange.

Where do our readers come from?

SOCIAL

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin,

G+, etc.

DistractionSimilar sentiment

Viewed as RSS feed

Emphasis on catchy titles & shareable

imagery

SEARCH

Google, Bing, Yandex, etc.

Information, helpful advice, facts &

research

Emphasis on keywords in

strategic positions

DIRECT

Typing the URL or bookmarked

Obviously a fan, coming back for

more…

Emphasis on regularity &

freshness

REFERRAL

Someone has linked to your blog

Visitor: CuriosityLinker: you are a

reference

Emphasis on linkability – having

quality content

It’s never just one channel…

SOCIAL SEARCH DIRECT REFERRAL

SEARCH SOCIAL

DIRECT DIRECT

DIRECT

SOCIAL

SOCIAL

Different types of content

SOCIAL SEARCH DIRECT REFERRAL

SentimentOpinion

ShareabilityConclusionsDistraction

InformationAdviceActionFacts

Depth

FreshnessFun

DistractionCommunity

Personal

ReferenceAdvice & OpinionHelpful

CommunityResource

The path to a regular, engaged readership

SEARCH SOCIAL

NETWORKFOLLOW-UP

ENGAGE

DIRECT REFERRAL

What do search engines want?

They want to understand:• … what you’re writing about (CONTEXT)• … how good your writing is (AUTHORITY)• … how popular your writing is (AUTHORITY &

TRUST)

They want to present:• … the most useful websites• … the most informative websites• … the best user experiences

SEARCH

Google, Bing, Yandex, etc.

Information, helpful advice, facts &

research

Emphasis on keywords in

strategic positions

What do social users want?

They want:• … real people• … distraction, similar sentiment• … a discussion

They are more likely to visit & share if…• … they agree (or disagree) strongly with you• … you have a catchy headline & imagery• … you give them the opportunity to share!

SOCIAL

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin,

G+, etc.

DistractionSimilar sentiment

Viewed as RSS feed

Emphasis on catchy titles & shareable

imagery

Social article:

“What I had for breakfast”

Search article:

“Breakfast recipe for diabetics”

What Search Engines Are Looking For

Search term “Coping with Diabetes”

Search engines are simple creaturesPage title…Web directory structureAssess the competition……

Search term “best cocktails for diabetics”

No exact match Therefore – big sites win. Great opportunity

Search term “low-carb Moroccan recipes for people with gestational diabetes”

Wow, that’s long-tailLower competitionMixed page titles (no exact match)Higher chance of clicking around

If you’re not saying it… how will anyone know?

And you won’t rank for itThink page title, H1, text, internal links

Getting noticed by search engines

Page titlesH1 tagsKeywords in the textSocial SignalsSites linking to youHelpful content…… Evergreen content

Evergreen Content

Evergreen content never dies

… if it’s any good

Evergreen content

Evergreen content

Evergreen content – what is it?

Permanently useful or Recurring Usefulness

HelpfulInformativeAdviceA reference that referencesLong & Detailed

Everyone is talking about it

LinksSocial mentionsEmails (Gmail)CitationsReferences

Unique

A new angleWhy you, and not another blogger?Differentiate

Inspiration for evergreen content

diabetes

cookingrecipes forhow to cook for

best

diabeticsfood fordiets forfoods to avoid for

recipesdietsfoods

Type 1Top 10 people with

Inspiration for evergreen content

Google Keyword Planner

Free keyword dataUnderstand how people searchAlternative keyword ideasLocation-based data

Keywords & their volumes

720 people in the UK search “recipes for diabetics” every month

480 people search for “diets for diabetics”

But that search volume increases significantly in January (of course)

10 searches / month is not insignificant

Even keywords without volumes do get searched for

Ubersuggest.org

Keyword research

What would Sherlock do?

Research your keywordsResearch your competitionGoogle Adwords & Ubersuggest.orgVisualise & DevelopInvestigate

Other tools:- Wordstream (paid)- SEMrush (paid – top 10 results free)- SEObook / Wordtracker (free)

Implementing keyword research

• Define a schedule for evergreen content (Monthly? Weekly?): QDF• Get high volume keywords into page title & header (often the same on

blogs)• Get low volume keywords into the blog copy itself• Use low volume keywords in H2 (sub-headers)• Link from other blog posts to your evergreen content

- internal links should use ‘anchor text’ (keywords as hyperlinks)- internal links tell search engines ‘look at this page, it’s important!’

• Keep evergreen content ‘evergreen’- use a navigation category, such as ‘resources’- ensure it doesn’t drop down the site hierarchy- keep linking to it- update it regularly

Going evergreen

TOPIC

KEYWORDS

CONTENT

KEEP THE CONTENTUPDATED

REGULARLY

DEVELOPFURTHER RELATED

CONTENT

Choose a topic you know well

Research your article’s audience

Unique, long-form, keyword-rich

PROMOTE Social, bloggers, forums, links

Use feedback & comments to help you develop your content

Become the authority on the topic

Developing evergreen

CURATE

CO-CREATE

SHARE

CROWDSOURCE REGULARITY

Develop relationships with other bloggers

Don’t always write on your own. Collaborate.

Don’t always write for yourself. Share your knowledge.

PROMOTE Social, bloggers, forums, links

Use your community to help you develop ideas & content

QueryDeservesFreshness

SEO Fundamentals for blogs• Page titles: for competitive keywords• Headers (h1 tags): for competitive keywords• Headers (h2 tags): for sub-headings & less competitive keywords• Alt tags on images: for usability & competitive keywords• Internal links: link to blog posts you want to rank using relevant keywords• Domain names: get a unique domain name• URL structure: ideally it should be domainname.com/category/page-title-here

- wordpress is great for this- clear URLs are better understood by users & search engines alike

• Categories: use them & let search engines index them- lets search engines find older articles more quickly- the quicker your posts are found, the better

• Support evergreen content with related blog posts- link between the two- e.g. top-level “recipes for diabetics page” supported by actual recipe sub-pages

• Have a Google Plus profile- use “rel=author” tag on your name for every blog post- this ensures that your photo appears in SERPs and your content is not plagiarised

To summarise, SEO is…

Learn it… (research)

Say it… (write)

Shout it (marketing)

How to get a blog to take off

It takes time…

And… • Hard work & persistence• An understanding of your readership,

their needs, their problems, their viewpoints

• A clean, optimised website with a clear structure

Invest time in multiple channels

Every channel is different…

Search engines for information & help

Social networks for community, shareability, fun

Referring sites are friends or citations

Learn from surprises.Sometimes, shit happens…40k likes. 1811 tweets.Why?

Nobody else wrote about it… Reddit… controversy…

20% inspiration + 20% writing + 60% marketing

Blogs that are doing well… (inspiration)

How do people get diabetes (3)Pesto Vinaigrette Dressing (1)Statins and Leg Pain (4)Medtronic Pump Colors (3)Pioneer Woman Chili (4)Minimed CGM (5)

Blogs that are doing well… (inspiration)

A day in the life of a diabetic (8)Diabetic blogs (7)Diabetes paranoia (1)White Coat Syndrome (7)

Blogs that are doing well (inspiration)

Ketone meter (1)Home a1c test accuracy (2)Diabetic donuts (2)Diabetes medical devices (3)Blood ketone meter (4)Diabetes 504 plan (4)

Blogs that are doing well (inspiration)

Pumps sex (1)Insulin pump blogs (1)Diabetes type 1 blog (1)Insulin pump tubing (1)C-section recovery (5)Carbohydrate scale (5)

The path to a regular, engaged readership

Keywords researchOptimised pagesOptimised structure

SEARCH SOCIAL

Virality, ShareabilityCatchy headlinesUnderstand audience

Meets user intent & expectationsOffers action (share, more info)

NETWORKFOLLOW-UP

Follow re-tweetersThank them, retweet themDiscuss on Facebook or G+

What ranks well? More postsTraffic volumes?Amend evergreen to optimise

ENGAGE

Subscription options (mailshot)Social subscription

QDF

DIRECT REFERRAL

An Animas Keyword Cloud

DIABETIC(s)

DIABETESType 2 Diabetes

DIET PLANSHEETFood listGuidelines

Keyword Volume (phrase)

Diabetic diet 6,600

Diabetes diet 6,600

Diabetic diet plan 480

Diabetic diet sheet 390

Type 2 Diabetes diet 1,600

Diabetes diet plan 880

Diabetic diets 320

Diabetic diet food list 140

Gestational diabetes diet plan 140

Diets for diabetes 91

Diet(s) forDiet plan forRecipe forGestational Type 1/2Pre-ControllingBestLow carb Carbohydrates

And carbohydrates

Keyword Volume (phrase)

Carbohydrate Counting Diabetes 28

Diabetes and Carbohydrates 28

Carbohydrate Counting 720

Diabetic Recipes 3,600

Diabetes type 2 diet plan 260

Gestational diabetes diet 720

Diet plan for diabetes 170

Type 1 diabetes diet 170

Diabetes 2 diet 110

Diets for diabetics 590

RECIPES