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Slide 1: SEO 102 – Beginner Search Marketing Presented by The JAR Group, 04.29.08 © The JAR Group 2006 Proprietary & Confidential

Slide 2: An effective search marketing campaign is a cyclical, multi-layered effort that addresses many levels of need and mindsets. 2

Slide 3: Overview What is search? 3

Slide 4: Its more than the search engine Social Networks: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Del.icio.us Blogs: Huffington Post, Publishing 2.0, TechCrunch Information Portals: Yahoo, MSN, AOL Aggregators: Digg, Reddit, Mixx …each of these factors adds to a robust, blended search presence. 4

Slide 5: Source: Radar Networks 5

Slide 6: Research Understand how your audience finds information. 6

Slide 7: Keyword Research – Understand your audience What does your article discuss? Analyze what you article is about and gather the words and phrases that best describe what you are describing Watch your competition: Look at the terms your competition is targeting by analyzing their titles, meta tags, and body copy Find Related Terms: Tools such as Google Suggest will help find keywords relevant to your topic Find Derivatives: Find terms that are based on your main keyword. Use The JAR Group’s keyword research tool to help determine the right keyword to target Determine Search Volume: You should determine if a keyword is worth targeting based on the amount of search volume a term gets in relation to another term. Example: “Lose Weight” vs. “Weight Loss” “Lose Weight” is searched about 24,000 times each month. “Weight Loss” is searched over 135,000 times each month. 7

Slide 8: Social and Competitive Landscape Where does your audience play? • Forums • Social Networks • Blogs • Information Portals • Websites …where do your competitors play? Where are they strong? Where are they weak? Where don’t they have a presence? Piggyback on Current Events 8

Slide 9: The Website On-page SEO Factors. 9

Slide 10: The Title Tag The Title Tag is one of the most important things, after the actual inclusion of your keywords in your article to actually have impact on how well your article ranks on Google and the other search engines. Length: Search engine spiders will index the first 80 characters, but only the first 63 will show up in the search engines Keep it Relevant: Use the relevant keywords you found in your research, at the beginning, when possible as it is the most heavily weighted portion of the title Branding: Branding should be kept to the end of the title, after the main keyword or article title Our suggested format: <title>Main Article Concept: Article Section: TICS: Time Inc</title> or… <title>Custom Publishing Solutions: Publishing: TICS: Time Inc</title> 10

Slide 11: The Meta Tags Meta Keywords: Include 3 to 4 of keywords (including derivatives), from your research, on each page, being careful not to use the same keyword too many times. These should be the same as the keywords you’ve chosen for your tags Meta Description: Write a clear concise 2 to 3 sentence paragraph of about 250 characters that summarizes the content on the page Example: The Meta Description shows up directly in the search engines. The copy that is written for the Meta Description should be optimized with the targeted keyword as well as captivating for users. 11

Slide 12: Other Page Elements Images: the image Alt Text should incorporate the keyword into the picture that is most pertinent to the content. Alt Text is intended for those who are unable to actually view the picture. Alt text should be a clear, concise phrase. Also, the image file name should use the main keyword describing the image. Heading Tags (H1): For your main heading, you want to generally incorporate your main keyword. Readers want to know what the page is about before going any further. This is the second most important on-page element (title is first) to the search engines. Sub-Headings (H2/H3): Multiple, specific sub-headers let the reader know what is coming next. The use of heading tags will draw more search engine attention and make the headline more apparent. Search Engine Friendly URLs: As often as possible, use static URLs and the title of the article within the URL 12

Slide 13: Paying attention to details! 13

Slide 14: How Popular are You Off-page SEO Factors. 14

Slide 15: Off-page SEO Factors Its about Inbound Links! • Anchor Text • Text Surrounding the Link • Topical Relationship of Linking Page • Topical Relationship of Linking Site • Global Link Popularity of Linking Site • Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community • Rate of New Inbound Links to Site 15

Slide 16: The Dark Side of Search Artificial Rankings Monitor Algorithm Changes Research and Learn 16

Slide 17: Paid Search Complementing SEO Efforts. 17

Slide 18: Paid Search • Instant Visibility • Test Editorial • Test On-page messaging • Instant Results • Creates a Well-rounded Search Strategy 18

Slide 19: Analytics Learning. 19

Slide 20: Tracking and Optimization Anchor Text Text Surrounding the Link Top Content Traffic Sources Conversion Paths Optimize: Landing Pages, Media Buys, Content 20

Slide 21: Search Recap Coming Full Circle. 21

Slide 22: Search is a Competition Creative Competition: • Compelling Articles • Insightful Information • Unique Services • Cool Tools • Viral Content Strategic Competition: • Research • Tactically Smart • Be active in topical community 22

Slide 23: The Importance of Search Allows you to reach your existing audience Allows you to reach an unfamiliar audience Allows you to extend the reach of your brand Allows you to keep your job (increase your bottom line) 23

Slide 24: The Bottom Line Compelling Content + Attention to Detail = Traffic x Conversion Rate x $ = ROI 24

Slide 25: Thank You! Andrew Zarick Brand Evangelist Andrew.Zarick@thejargroup.com 25