SEO for Recipe and Food Blogs - Rand Fishkin

Food Blogs & SEO:Marketing Made Delicious Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOmoz @randfish http://bit.ly/foodbloggerseo

Let’s See What’s on the SEO Menu Today:I. Why Search Matters So MuchII. Making an SEO-Friendly SiteIII. Quick Setup Guide for BloggersIV. Choosing Keywords & Optimizing Your PagesV. Link Building Dos & Don’tsVI. 10 Actionable Tips for Your BlogVII. Answers to Frequent Questions

The Growth of Search Number of Searches/Day on Google 3 Billion Searches/Day (announced Aug. 2012)

SEO vs. Paid Search Ads 75%+ of all clicks go to organic results, not paid ads.

SEO vs. Paid Search Ads More than 50% of search queries have no paid ads at all.

Great SEO Builds On ItselfDone right, consistent, quality posts + solid SEO lead to a natural growth in referrals

Making Your Blog SEO-Friendly

Using Wordpress? You’re 80% There!“(Wordpress) is a fantastic piece of software, it makes your site easilycrawlable by search engines, solves some 80-90% of mechanics ofSEO and is the first big step anyone can take towards creating apopular online business.”Via: http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/seo/googles-matt-cutts-wordpress-the-best-blogging-platform-for-seo/

Wordpress Users: Read This Guide!http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/ - I also recommend Joost’s plugin “Wordpress SEO”

Other SEO-Friendly Platforms Include:http://drupal.org/, http://joomla.com and http://www.squarespace.com are all good choices if Wordpress isn’t a match.

Less Ideal Platforms for SEOI wouldn’t recommend these platforms as a first choice for SEO-friendly blogging, though some (likeTypePad and Expression Engine) can be customized with enough elbow grease.

Quick Setup Guide for Bloggers

Step 1: Google Webmaster Toolshttp://google.com/webmasters - can help you diagnose and repair issues w/ your site

Step 2: Feedburnerhttp://feedburner.com – create RSS feeds and track your subscribers and clicks

Step 3: Google Analyticshttp://google.com/analytics - track how visitors get to you and what they do on your site

Step 4: Bit.ly to Track Sharinghttp://bit.ly – great for determining which shares your fans/followers really enjoy

Optional: SEOmoz PROhttp://pro.seomoz.org – good if you’re hardcore into SEO, otherwise less ideal

Choosing Keywords &Optimizing Your Pages

Step 1: Go to Google AdWords http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

Step 2: Use “Exact Match” Don’t Use This “Broad” as Numbers are Way OffUse “Exact” - These are Much Better http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

Step 3: Choose Keywords Wisely http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

Step 4: Make Great Titles Using Your KeywordsNote the title doesn’t have to just be keywords, and that you can combine terms, too!

Step 5: Employ Keywords Wisely in Your PostKeyword use in the first paragraph or two is smart, as is including a relevant picture or two

Choose Keywords that Aren’t Too Competitive Strong, popular sites w/ targeted titles + content

Choose Keywords that Aren’t Too Competitive Weaker, lesser known sites and non-targeted titles

Focus on the Long Tail & Chunky Middle First

A Few More General Keyword RulesA) Don’t target more than 2 pgs on your site to a given keywordB) Never use a keyword in a post more than what feels naturalC) Not every post needs to be keyword targetedD) Choose keyword subjects that you have expertise in. Don’ttry to force a keyword+post combination that won’t be quality.E) The better the post, the better your chances for ranking.SEO is less about the perfect formula and more about peopleloving & sharing your work.

Link Building Dos and Don’ts

Don’t Fall for This Crap

Or This Other Crap

Or This Equally Terrible Crap

Or This Magnificently Scary Crap

Or This

Got it? Good!

Chart of Link Tactics & Relative Risk

What Elements Matter in a Link? URL Rel=“Nofollow” (a tag that indicates search (the link target) engines shouldn’t trust/count this link) <p><a href=http://www.seomoz.org rel=“nofollow”> SEOmoz’s Website </a> is a good resource for those seeking to learn more about search engine optimization.</p> Surrounding Text Anchor text (may provide context on(tells the engine what the link’s relevance) this link is about)

Tactics to Earn Great Links• Beginner’s Guide: Chapter 7 – Growing Links & Popularity• Link Building Blog Posts on SEOmoz• Webinar on Link Building Strategies• 101 Ways to Build Links from SEOBook• Link Building Presentations on Slideshare• The Science of Retweets from Dan Zarrella• The Noob Guide to Link Building from Mike King• 1000s of Link Building Tactics from the SEOmoz Blog

10 Actionable Tips for Your Blog

#1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time Where Geraldine Started Her Blog

#1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time Where people usually give up.

#1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time 2.5 years in, she finally reaches 1000s of daily visits

“The only thing that I see that is distinctlydifferent about me is that I’m not afraid toDIE on a treadmill. You might have moretalent than me, you might be smarter thanme, but if we get on a treadmilltogether, there are two things: 1- You’regetting off first OR 2- I’m gonna DIE. It’sreally that simple” - Will Smith

#2: Blog Posts Can Be More than Text & Photos

#3: Don’t Separate Into Multiple Sites or Subdomains http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites

#4: Experiment with Lots of Different NetworksUsers: 200mm 900mm 200mm 150mm 20mmUsers: 15mm 30mm 14mm 15mm 15mm

#5: Don’t Just Aim for Rankings, Go for CTR Which onewould you click?

#6: Use Google Reader to Find Other Blogs Whose Communities to Participate In http://www.google.com/reader/view/#directory-search/travel%20blog//0

#7: Use Followerwonk to Find Twitter Influencers http://followerwonk.com

#8: Use FindPeopleOnPlus for Google+ http://findpeopleonplus.com

#9: Your Followers Aren’t All Online at the Same Time. Share More than Once. Via http://followerwonk.com

#10: Use Rel=Author & Google+ to Get Your Mugshot Next to Your Pages in SERPs http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/how-to-implement-rel-author

Answers to Frequent Questions

What Was Google’s “Panda” Update? Do I Need to Worry About That?Check out http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-googles-panda-update-changed-seo-best-practices-forever-whiteboard-friday for more on how Panda imapcted SEO and http://www.seomoz.org/blog/beat-google-panda fortips on how to beat it.

What About “Penguin”?http://www.seomoz.org/blog/penguins-pandas-and-panic-at-the-zoo

Should I Worry About Spam Comments?

Can Links from Low Quality Sites Hurt Me? http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-if-my-competitors-point-spammy-links-to-my-site

What About Image Search SEO?http://www.seomoz.org/blog/image-seo-basics-whiteboard-friday

What About Local SEO? NormalAlgorithm MapsAlgorithm http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

What About Recipe SEO? Rich Snippets Specific Filtershttp://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2 011/02/google-recipe-search.html

Google’s smart, but even theyf#$% up  Really?

Thank you! Let’s do some Q+A! Download this Webinar: http://bit.ly/foodbloggerseo Contacting Me:@randfish or rand@seomoz.org

SEO for Recipe and Food Blogs - Rand Fishkin

by The International Food Blogger Conference on Sep 11, 2012

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SEO for Recipe and Food Blogs - Rand Fishkin Presentation Transcript