The mystical world of SEOWhy you should forget about everything you’ve been told about SEO

Presented by Andrew Allfrey Luciid Online Marketing

27th September 2012

Topics for Today

• SEO - Legend and Myth

• Do it Right ... First Things First

• What Google Wants ... and Doesn’t Want

• On Page & Off Page Factors

• Conducting An SEO Audit

• Launching A New Site?

• Case Studies & Questions

“Either write something worth reading or

do something worth writing about”

Benjamin Franklin

SEO Legend & Myth

The 3 Key Elements

First Things First

• SEO is an integral part of any web design project

• Google Loves Speedy Websites. Go for the best possible spec.

• Google is your friend !! ... Create a Google A/C and sign up for Webmaster Tools and Analytics.

• Make your life easier … use a Search Friendly CMS such as Drupal, Joomla or Wordpress

What Google Wants

• A site it can read and understand

• Unique original content that’ll be interesting to visitors

• A fresh site that is regularly updated

• A “responsive” site that everyone can access from anywhere

• Links from industry relevant, reputable websites

What Google Doesn’t Want

• Websites it can’t read

• Sites that have loads of pages with little content

• Sites that have lots of duplicate content

• Over optimised sites

• Selling links

• Links in from dodgy websites

On Page Factors

• Site Structure (User & Search Friendly URL’s)

• Content (Avoid Duplicate Content)

• Page Titles (Unique, Relevant - Very Important)

• Meta Descriptions (Doesn’t effect Ranking per-se but can improve CTR)

• Headings and Page Structure

• Internal Linking - (Link to the most important pages in your site)

Off Page Factors

• Links from Reputable Sites

• Social Media & SEO - Google+

• Directories – Don’t Bother

The SEO Audit

• Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools – (Indexability, Duplicate Content etc. HTML recommendations)

• Gap Analysis? (Where do you currently rank compared to where you want to rank? What should be the focus?)

• Get To Know Your Visitors (Personas, Search Habits?)

• Carry Out Keyword Research

• Sense Check your Site Structure & Content

• How are you measuring success?

Launching A New Site

• SEO should be one of the first steps in any new site redesign

• Carry Out Keyword & Competitor Research

• Is this the optimum site structure?

• Content Strategy

• SEO Style Guide

• Site Migration Plan

What Makes My Site Different?

Resources• Mat Cutts Videos on YouTube• Google’s “Beginners Guide to SEO”• Google Webmaster’s & Analytics Blog• Search Engine Watch• Search Engine Land• Smart Insights & eConsultancy

Any Questions?