SEO for Beginners: Simple Steps for Nonprofits and Libraries
With George Weiner, Whole Whale
November 29, 2016
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Presenters
Becky WiegandWebinar Program Manager
TechSoup
George WeinerFounder and CEO
Whole Whale
Assisting with chat: Julie Leary, Whole Whale and Susan Hope Bard, TechSoup
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Objectives
1. Understand basic principles of search engine optimization
2. Learn some best practices for keyword research and use
3. Get basics on link-building to increase your site traffic
4. Gain insight on what matters on-page an off-page for SEO
6
About TechSoup
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SEO for Beginners: Simple Steps for Nonprofits & Libraries
Contents●Part 1: How it works●Part 2: The SEO Process
o Keywordso Contento Links
Poll TimeWhat are you looking to take away the most?
●Where to start with SEO●Choosing keywords●Understanding what content to create●How to build links●Other
Part 1: How it works
What is SEO?Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – the practice of improving and promoting a website in order to increase the number of visitors the site receives from search engines.
Basically, it’s about ranking higher in the search engine results for keywords related to your site.
Ads
Results
What Google Search is doing●Organizing the world’s information●Helping you find what you’re looking for●Monetizing (& taking over the world)
Narrow AIFast, Accessible, Relevant Results
My Brief and Selective History● Human (Dawn of time - 1994)● Crawling Spiders/bots (1994)● Google PageRank (1998)
○ Spammers mess with links○ Google responds
● Social starts to factor in (2009)○ Spammers create content farms
● Speed + Device begin to factor into search● Google responds (Panda 2011) to focus on quality content
○ Spammers build link farms● Google responds (Penguin 2012)● Knowledge Graph (2012)
○ Spam links… ● Hummingbird (2013)
Don’t Mess With Google
If history has taught us anything…
Smarter Search
Smarter Mobile Search1 Trillion daily searches, 50% mobile/tablet.
Searches by maternity and new parents - Think With Google
PageRank
Links are Votes
Two buckets of SEO
● Content + Keywords● Site Structure
○ HTML tags (H1,H2, Alt,title)
○ Speed○ Mobile responsive○ Video + Image tagging
● Links!● <a href=”#”>Anchor
text</a>● Domain authority● Social reputation
On-Page Off-Page
And 200+ other factors!
Ranking
Part 2: The Process
SEO Process
SEO Process
SEO Process: Keywords
SEO Process: Keywords
Research Tools
Goal: How does your audience talk about the topic?
Tools● Search Auto-Complete● Google.com/trends● Google Ad Planner
o Similarweb.com o Keyword ideas
● Google Search Console● MOZ.com/content● Thinkwithgoogle.com/
marketers-almanac/● Youtube.com/trending
Curse of Knowledge
Keyword Volume - Google.com/Trends
Keyword Volume Ad Planner
Google AdWords Grants!
●$10k per month for Google AdWords●Eligible 501c(3) Google.com/nonprofits●Use or lose●Playing with the house’s money!
Google AdWords Grant Course
Code: WEBINAR (50% off)WholeWhale.com/University
●Short vs Long-tail●Relevance●Phrasing
Keyword Research
Understand the searches that touch your term and the volume of interest.
Auto-Complete for Long-tail
Understand the searches that touch your term and the volume of interest.
Auto-Complete Ideas
YouTube.com
Phrasing
Keyword Research
Understand the way people drill down on searches
Long tails
Google Search Console
Competition: Ispionage.com
SEO Process: Content
SEO Process
● Fills a perennial need● Answers a unique question● Serves as a timeless
reference● References other authorities● Seasonally effected/relevant● The page of a book you’d
dogear● Designed to hook users from
search
Evergreen Content
List ExampleHighly shared & indexed by Google, lead to increased traffic, that lead to +3k users to other pages.
The Content FunnelCapture Engage Convert
Content marketing: create content that captures organic traffic, drives referrals and social shares to reach new audiences
Create content that helps people learn about your programs and helps them picture themselves as part of the solution
Design conversion pages that drive users to take meaningful actions like signing up for programs
Capture, Engage, Convert
Convert
● Build Calls-To-Action● Consider Pop-ups● A/B test
SEO Growth 2012-2016
0 poets
340,000
poets
Funnel to Goal
MOZ.com/content/search
Copywriting
Goals: People judge an article by its title first.
Tools● Hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator● Headlines.sharethrough.com ● Think With Google Almanac
Hubspot
headlines.Sharethrough
headlines.Sharethrough
Titles that hookTitles and Meta descriptions are why people click.
Spectrums vs Selling out
Poll TimeI believe that increasing organic traffic through SEO would help my organization:
●A lot! ●Somewhat●A little●Not at all
SEO Process: Link Building
SEO Process
Link Building Process●Discovery
o Choose the contento Choose the target
Blogs, Communities Competition - ispionage.com + Similarweb.com Resource lists Social Influencers Partnerships
●Outreach●Execute on your list + Learn
Link Building Outreach● 1:1 Outreach●Broadcast new content
o Social, PR, Email blast ●Pay to play
o Paid social/search ads around target content o (Google AdWords Grants!)
Shareability
Execute●Build a spreadsheet with keyword, content and
targets to build links●Track progress
Analyze - Google Search● Analyze who is linking●Build the partnership●Look for similar sites
Poll TimeI am most excited about getting to work on:
●Playing with the cool website tools●Doing our keyword research●Writing some awesome content●Rewatching this… I have a lot to do
WW Resources● WholeWhale.com/University (code: webinar)●Wholewhale.com/seo
69
Questions?
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