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Tune Up Your Sitefor Search Engines
June 24, 2010
Let’s Get Acquainted
• Ed Tankersley• Principal of Eight Trails• Smarter websites and online
marketing
Let’s Get Acquainted
• Ed Tankersley• Principal of Eight Trails• Smarter websites and online
marketing
• Former star of silver screen
Let’s Get Acquainted
• Ed Tankersley• Principal of Eight Trails
• Smarter websites and online marketing
• 20+ years advertising and marketing• Interactive director• Creative director• Writer
• Led the design and development of more than 50 websites
Tune Up Your Sitefor Search Engines
Today’s agenda
What Is SEOand Why Does It
Matter?
What is SEO?
• AKA Search Engine Optimization, Search Optimization
• Improvements to your website – and related to your website – that improve your site’s ranking in search engines
Why Does SEO Matter?
When someone does a search, they have communicated that they are interested, motivated,
and engaged
Why Does SEO Matter?
60%of consumers use the Internet as their first-line tool to search
for local businesses
Source: comScore 2007 Search Report
Why Does SEO Matter?
60%of those searchers
go on to make a purchase
Source: comScore 2007 Search Report
Find those potentialcustomers while they’re
actively searching foryour product or service!
SEO vs PPC
• SEO or Search Engine Optimization helps you with your organic or natural search rankings
• PPC, Pay Per Click, or Paid Search is not affected by what you do with SEO
Top 10 Rank is Critical
Source: http://www.seoresearcher.com/distribution-of-clicks-on-googles-serps-and-eye-tracking-analysis.htm
What is Google’s Purpose?
To deliver useful, relevant results to their searchers
What determines your rank?
• It’s all about relevant results for searchers
• On-site factors, such as• Page title• Text• Headings
• Off-site factors, especially• In-bound links
Optimizing Your Site
Optimizing is a 5-Step Process
1. Keyword research2. Site updates3. Submit to search engines and
directories4. Build links5. Measure and adjust
Step 1: Keyword Research
Keyword – A word or series of words that a search engine user types into the search box
Step 1: Keyword Research
• Generate a seed list• Ask your customers• Ask your front-line employees• Look at analytics or server logs
• Use tools to expand your list• Evaluate and rank your keywords by• High search volume• High relevance• Low competition
Sample Seed List
1. Bike2. Bicycle3. Mountain bike4. Hardtail5. Full suspension6. Cannondale7. Trek8. Yeti9. Gary Fisher10. Flagstaff11. Arizona12. Reviews13. Ratings
Evaluate Search Volume
• Get search volume estimates• Google Keyword Tool• adwords.google.com/select/
KeywordToolExternal
• Wordtracker• freekeywords.wordtracker.com
• Keyword Discovery• www.keyworddiscovery.com/
search.html
Evaluate Relevance
Are the people who search for that keyword likely to be
buyers?
Evaluate Relevance
• The more precise the search, the closer they are to buying:• Bicycles• Mountain bikes• Mountain bike reviews• Cannondale mountain bike• Cannondale hardtail• Cannondale F3 Caffeine• Cannondale F3 Caffeine Phoenix
Evaluate Competition
• You can’t be number 1 for everything
• Use long tail keywords
Select Your Keywords
• Start with a manageable number – 10-20 – these are your Target Keywords
• Match the Target Keywords to relevant pages of your site
• One keyword per page
Step 2: Optimize Your Site
• Focus on content• Fix the major problems• Get help with the tougher things
Content – Visible
• Domain name• Page title• URL• Headings – H1, H2, H3• Text• Internal links
Content – Hidden
• Keywords• Description• Image alt tags
Structure
• Separation of content and presentation
• Important stuff first• Text-based navigation
Don’t build your site in Flash!
Other On-Site Factors
• Currency of content• Site map• Custom error page• Robots.txt
Off-Site Factors
• Inbound links• Domain authority• Quality of anchor text
Bad
Better
Step 3: Submit Your Site
• Search Engines• Google• Bing
• Directories• Yahoo• Open Directory (dmoz.org)• JoeAnt• Business.com
Step 4: Link Building
• Blogs• Forums• Press Releases• Don’t buy links• Don’t bother with link
exchanges• Most social media sites use
“nofollow” tags so they don’t help your site get better ranking
Step 5: Measure
• Google Analytics• Referrers• Search terms
• Authority Labs• Position monitoring
Adjust
• Getting to the top takes time• SEO never stops• Give it a few months to see
results • Adjust and refine regularly
based on what you measure
Resources
• EightTrails.com• SEOmoz.com• SEObook.com• SearchEngineLand.com