What is SEO? Learn about SEO in 5 minutes from what SEO is to what SEO can do for your company plus a proper SEO strategy and approach. This presentation is designed to help business owners understand the basics of SEO so that they know the right questions to ask when hiring an SEO company.

1. The Basics of
SEO
Do you know how to ask
the RIGHT questions for your
website?
Presented by:
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2. Search Engine Optimization
[surch-en-juhn op-tuh-muh-zey-shuh] Noun
The process of improving a website’s content
and structure so that in the eyes of the Search
Engines your website is the most relevant to the
products and services you offer.
You need to tell the Search Engines:



What it is you offer
Who you offer it to
Where they can find it
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3. The Importance of SEO
How do people find businesses online?

95% of online experiences begin with a Search Engine.

70% of links Searchers click on are Organic Results.

75% of users will never scroll past the first page (Top 10 Organic results).

Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating Social Media by more than 300%
Source: SearchEngineJournal
Key Takeaway: Top listings on the first page of search results will bring highly qualified Traffic.
How are customers searching for your products and services?

People actively search on the Internet every day for the products and services you offer.

They have already indicated a need for your insurance products and services.

They will be easier to convince and require less effort to convert into customers.
Key Takeaway: You can use your website to get more people buying your products and services.
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4. What does SEO do?
SEO makes your website more appealing to the Search Engines by:
→ Addressing any issues that may be preventing the search engines from
finding what they need
→ Improving your web pages’ chances for being found, indexed and ranked
well (in the Top 10 search results)
SEO makes your website more appealing to your Audience by:
→ Providing your visitors with the answers they seek
→ And addressing how they are coming to your website (what terms they
use, what questions they ask, etc.)
SEO provides below-average cost per lead and above-average sales
conversions.
More Top SE Rankings + More Highly Qualified Traffic
= More Sales/ Revenues
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5. Expected Outcomes of SEO
Improve ROI and
bottom line
Get more leads and
sales
Attract
motivated, qualified
search traffic.
Get top rankings
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6. Top 4 Reasons to Choose SEO
1.
Google only wants to deliver reliable, high
quality, relevant results.

2.
People research companies online first.

3.
93% of online experiences begin with a search.
People trust companies that are ranked near the top.


4.
The more relevant your site is the higher you will rank.
70 – 80% of searchers ignore the paid ads in Search Results
75% of searchers never click past the first page of Search Results
SEO delivers a great ROI


SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to direct mail &
print, which have only 1.7% close rate.
Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites,
beating social media by 300+%
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7. How Rankings are Determined
Google’s ranking algorithm uses 200+
criteria (which Google keeps closely guarded) in order to
determine:
1.
2.
3.
What your web pages are about
For what search queries the pages should be shown
And where your pages should be ranked and listed
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8. Parts of the “Guarded” Ranking Algorithm
We have found that the following items are
commonly well-defined across websites that
rank well:







Relevant, quality text content
Important HTML clues that help search engines (and
users) determine relevancy
Clean, crawlable source code
Page load speed (how fast your web pages load)
Proper server configuration
Proper on-page internal linking
Proper site architecture
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9. Additional Off Site Ranking Factors
 Establishing
trust “Authority”
 Social reputation
(Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc…)
 Local organic results
 High quality, relevant links pointing to your
site
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10. Remember …
The more your website meets and satisfies
Google’s algorithm criteria, the better your
site pages will rank and perform in the listing
results.
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11. Top Ranked Sites Get the
Traffic
In general, a top ranked website can expect
the following volume of search traffic:
# 1 ranking = 30% of all search traffic
# 3 ranking = 8% of all search traffic
#10 ranking = 3 % of all search traffic
A website listed on page 2 (or higher) can
expect less than 1% of total search traffic
volume.
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12. Five Basic Stages of SEO
5.
Ongoing
Updates
1.
Website
Audit
4.
Analytics
Measurement
2.
Keyword
Research
3.
Optimize
Website
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13. Stage 1- Website Audit
Ongoing
Updates
Website
Audit
Analytics
Measurement
Keyword
Research
Optimize
Website
Is your website and server properly
configured so that the search
engines can easily access and
understand all your web pages?
DETAILS:
To rate and rank a website Search Engines must be able to:
•
•
Access all the web pages
Crawl through and understand what your web pages are about
An audit uncovers common (and sometimes uncommon) issues that may be adversely
affecting how the search engines access, crawl and rate your website.
If not addressed, a poor site and server configurations can often
make any form of SEO in-effective.
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14. Stage 2 – Keyword Research
Website
Audit
Ongoing
Updates
Analytics
Measurement
Keyword
Research
Optimize
Website
What phrases or keyword terms are
customers (and potential customers)
using to find your products and services?
DETAILS:
Keyword research can reveal niche markets plus products and services that searchers are
actively looking for. Keyword research helps you to:
1.
2.
Understand what motivates your customers’ searches
Discover the “best” keyword terms that:
•
•
•
•
•
Have significant search volumes with lower competition
Are attainable within allocated resources
Are relevant to what you offer
Will attract the “right” qualified (and motivated) traffic
Will bring the highest return on investment
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201-33119 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC V2S 2B1

15. Stage 3 – Optimize Content
Ongoing
Updates
Website
Audit
Analytics
Measurement
Keyword
Research
Does your website content properly
support your target keyword terms, and
the products and services that you offer?
Optimize
Website
DETAILS:
Content optimization ensures that your chosen “target keyword phrases” are properly
supported throughout your website including your:
• Site content
• Meta Data
• Alt tags
• Page titles and descriptions
• Navigation
• Internal linking structure
Optimization can also include developing and optimizing NEW
website content pages to better support your key products and
services plus support your branding across all your web pages.
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16. Stage 4 – Website Analytics
Ongoing
Updates
Website
Audit
Analytics
Measurement
Keyword
Research
Optimize
Website
What goals and conversions criteria do
you need to set to measure website
success, measure visitor activity, and to
ensure continued growth and ROI
improvement?
DETAILS:
A well-defined web analytics program can:
1. Help you understand what motivates your website traffic
2. Inform you about what users do once they land on your website
3. Set and measure goals for your website, for example:
• Increase search traffic by 50% in one year
• Increase the number of online contact form completions by 25%
• Increase Brochure downloads by 30%.
Google analytics is the industry standard for understanding how your
site is doing and what needs to be done next to further improve results.
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201-33119 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC V2S 2B1

17. Stage 5 – Ongoing Optimization
Ongoing
Updates
Website
Audit
Analytics
Measurement
Keyword
Research
Optimize
Website
What adjustments need to be made to
keep your website current and maintain
or improve your Google rankings, plus
improve visitor traffic and ROI?
DETAILS:
Website optimization is an ongoing process for several reasons:
•
•
•
•
•
Search Engines are always updating their algorithms (changing the rules)
Search Engines are always looking for new or fresh content
Competitors are constantly changing and improving their websites
New opportunities and markets are presented
Keeps your site content current with the changes in your industry
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18. Additional Resources
Watch our SEO Videos:
http://www.1stonthelist.ca/searchengineoptimization/seo-videos/
Read our Blog:
http://www.1stonthelist.ca/articles/
Take our Instant Site Audit:
http://insites.1stonthelist.ca/
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201-33119 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC V2S 2B1

19. About 1st on the List
1st on the List is a full-service SEO committed to utilizing only ethical, industry accepted search
engine marketing best practices.
Founded 1997 (we’re older than Google!) we are now recognized as a leading North American
SEO firm by TopSEOs Canada which identifies and ranks the best SEO companies in North
America. Currently 1st on the List is ranked #2 in Canada and #14 in the United States.
Serving clients locally, across Canada and throughout the United States, from
small, independent businesses to Fortune 500 companies we have the “right fit” SEO for your
business, whatever its size, industry or market.
Learn more about us at http://www.1stonthelist.ca/company/
Contact Us Today!
888-262-6687
Complete our form:
http://www.1stonthelist.ca/contact/
contact@1stonthelist.ca
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201-33119 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC V2S 2B1