SEO Strategies by Thirdparty Labs and Shovemedia

Search Engine Optimization Rob Ruchte & Jon Williams April 22, 2009

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ We’re not SEO salesmen - we’re developers

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ We’re not SEO salesmen - we’re developers What makes you an expert?

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ We’re not SEO salesmen - we’re developers What makes you an expert? We’ve been building sites since BG (Before Google), have witnessed the evolution of SE technology

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ We’re not SEO salesmen - we’re developers What makes you an expert? We’ve been building sites since BG (Before Google), have witnessed the evolution of SE technology We work for ad agencies who promise their clients big SE results - we have to deliver.

Why should we trust your information about SEO? -Jonathan Champ We’re not SEO salesmen - we’re developers What makes you an expert? We’ve been building sites since BG (Before Google), have witnessed the evolution of SE technology We work for ad agencies who promise their clients big SE results - we have to deliver. For which keywords do you rank well?

How does Google’s PageRank work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

Strategic Outline

Strategic Outline (Text) Content Tactics

Strategic Outline (Text) Content Tactics (Graphic) Design Tactics

Strategic Outline (Text) Content Tactics (Graphic) Design Tactics Technology Tactics

Strategic Outline (Text) Content Tactics (Graphic) Design Tactics Technology Tactics Social Tactics

Content: King is, was, and will always be.

Content: King is, was, and will always be. Secret sauce = snake oil

Content: King is, was, and will always be. Secret sauce = snake oil Spend 80% of your efforts developing great content.

Content: King is, was, and will always be. Secret sauce = snake oil Spend 80% of your efforts developing great content. Keyword reﬁnement & SEM comes last. (20%)

Content: Be Remark-able! Be Remarkable. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html

Content

Content Safe = Boring = Death

Content Safe = Boring = Death As fresh as possible, as often as possible.

Content: Semantics

Content: Semantics Sprinkle keywords (lightly!) across hierarchy of semantic tags. <TITLE> <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, etc <strong>, <emphasis> <img alt=”Image Description” /> <meta> (deprecated?) Yahoo still considers keywords

Content: Keywords

Content: Keywords Work your target keywords and keyword phrases into header, link, and paragraph content.

Content: Keywords Work your target keywords and keyword phrases into header, link, and paragraph content. Use synonyms: http://thesaurus.com

Content: K.I.S.S.

Content: K.I.S.S. Quality over Quantity

Content: K.I.S.S. Quality over Quantity Web users favor scanning over reading. Keep it short and speciﬁc.

Content: K.I.S.S. Quality over Quantity Web users favor scanning over reading. Keep it short and speciﬁc. Google favors pages with high (relevant) keyword density.

Content: K.I.S.S. Quality over Quantity Web users favor scanning over reading. Keep it short and speciﬁc. Google favors pages with high (relevant) keyword density. Break longer pages into parts.

Content: Generic vs Speciﬁc

Content: Generic vs Speciﬁc Both! Create a content hierarchy

Content: Generic vs Speciﬁc Both! Create a content hierarchy From more generic to more speciﬁc.

Content: Generic vs Speciﬁc Both! Create a content hierarchy From more generic to more speciﬁc. Allow users to read (and link to) the appropriate level of detail.

Content: Generic vs Speciﬁc Both! Create a content hierarchy From more generic to more speciﬁc. Allow users to read (and link to) the appropriate level of detail. For example: http://www.instructables.com/

Content: ISO Perfection In Search Of Perfection http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

Content There is no perfect page. There are only perfect pages.

Content: Outgoing Links

Content: Outgoing Links Your outgoing links help search engines place you in the right “neighborhood.”

Content: Outgoing Links Your outgoing links help search engines place you in the right “neighborhood.” Pick a neighborhood with high PageRank.

Content: Outgoing Links Your outgoing links help search engines place you in the right “neighborhood.” Pick a neighborhood with high PageRank. Misconceptions

Content: Outgoing Links Your outgoing links help search engines place you in the right “neighborhood.” Pick a neighborhood with high PageRank. Misconceptions PageRank dilution

Design Before you’ve read a single word, you’ve already formed an opinion about a site’s quality based purely on an emotional response to the design. So do visitors to your site. Don’t give them an excuse not to link to you.

Design: Typography

Design: Typography Typography for Dummies: http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/ ﬁve_simple_steps_to_better_typography/

Design: Typography

Design: Typography No more than 2 - 3 alphabets per line in length. (~80 characters)

Design: Typography No more than 2 - 3 alphabets per line in length. (~80 characters) Leading wider than word spacing

Design: Typography No more than 2 - 3 alphabets per line in length. (~80 characters) Leading wider than word spacing White text on black?

Design: Typography No more than 2 - 3 alphabets per line in length. (~80 characters) Leading wider than word spacing White text on black? Increase the leading & tracking

Design: Typography No more than 2 - 3 alphabets per line in length. (~80 characters) Leading wider than word spacing White text on black? Increase the leading & tracking Decrease your font-weight.

Design: Typography

Design: Typography size relationships between body copy, headers, subheaders, etc. For example:

Design: Typography size relationships between body copy, headers, subheaders, etc. For example: <H1> 24px, <H2> 18px, <H3> 16px, <H4> 13px, <body> 11px

Design: Typography size relationships between body copy, headers, subheaders, etc. For example: <H1> 24px, <H2> 18px, <H3> 16px, <H4> 13px, <body> 11px weight relationships - For example: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, QUINTARY

Design: Whitespace

Design: Whitespace http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whitespace

Design: Whitespace http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whitespace Striking a balance between the page’s whitespace and areas of high detail allow you to guide the eye from element to element in a predictable way.

Design: Whitespace http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whitespace Striking a balance between the page’s whitespace and areas of high detail allow you to guide the eye from element to element in a predictable way. Notice how bullet-to-bullet linespacing is greater than the linespacing within rows of a single bullet?

Design: Minimalism

Design: Minimalism Minimalist designs:

Design: Minimalism Minimalist designs: are more easily achieved because there are fewer page elements to create and make work together.

Design: Minimalism Minimalist designs: are more easily achieved because there are fewer page elements to create and make work together. can be scientiﬁcally compared for effectiveness.

Design: Minimalism Minimalist designs: are more easily achieved because there are fewer page elements to create and make work together. can be scientiﬁcally compared for effectiveness. can be aggregated into more complex designs.

Technology: Semantics

Technology: Semantics <TITLE>, <H1><H2><H3>, <strong><emphasis>, <img alt=”Image Description” />, <a href=”http://domain.com/human-readable.html” />

Technology: HTML

Technology: HTML Google uses the ﬁrst 70 characters of page titles

Technology: HTML Google uses the first 70 characters of page titles Titles should be More Specific -> Less Specific

Technology: HTML Google uses the first 70 characters of page titles Titles should be More Specific -> Less Specific For example: Product Feature | Product Name | Company instead of: Company | Product Name | Product Feature

Technology: CSS Use advanced CSS to implement the designer’s vision

Technology: CSS Use advanced CSS to implement the designer’s vision Style lists with sprites for attractive yet usable multi- state navigation

Technology: CSS Use advanced CSS to implement the designer’s vision Style lists with sprites for attractive yet usable multi- state navigation Style headings with background images for non- standard fonts

Technology: CSS Use advanced CSS to implement the designer’s vision Style lists with sprites for attractive yet usable multi- state navigation Style headings with background images for non- standard fonts Download demo of these techniques: http://karoshiethos.com/seo/ http://karoshiethos.com/seo.zip

Technology: Syndication

Technology: Syndication Indicates that you want people to share and promote your content

Technology: Syndication Indicates that you want people to share and promote your content RSS

Technology: Syndication Indicates that you want people to share and promote your content RSS embed-able content For-example: YouTube video

Technology: Syndication Indicates that you want people to share and promote your content RSS embed-able content For-example: YouTube video free PDFs

Technology: Multimedia

Technology: Multimedia Search Engines see HTML replaced via Progressive Enhancement (requires JavaScript)

Technology: Multimedia Search Engines see HTML replaced via Progressive Enhancement (requires JavaScript) Flash Video - http://karoshiethos.com/seo/video/

Technology: Multimedia Search Engines see HTML replaced via Progressive Enhancement (requires JavaScript) Flash Video - http://karoshiethos.com/seo/video/ sIFR - http://wiki.novemberborn.net/sifr3/

Technology: Bookmarked Video http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/link-to-youtube- minute-second/

Technology: Accessible Flash

Technology: Accessible Flash SwfAddress: http://www.asual.com/swfaddress/

Technology: Accessible Flash SwfAddress: http://www.asual.com/swfaddress/ Gaia Flash Framework: http://www.gaiaﬂashframework.com/

Technology: Accessible Flash SwfAddress: http://www.asual.com/swfaddress/ Gaia Flash Framework: http://www.gaiaﬂashframework.com/ Example: http://therepublik.net

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite If your site is accessible via multiple domains, choose and enforce a canonical domain for your site: RewriteCond %{http_host} ^(www.)?site.com$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.site.org/$1 [R=301,L]

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite If your site is accessible via multiple domains, choose and enforce a canonical domain for your site: RewriteCond %{http_host} ^(www.)?site.com$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.site.org/$1 [R=301,L] Choose and enforce a canonical subdomain too: RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www. [NC] RewriteRule .* http://www.site.edu%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite Implement human/search engine friendly URLs for systems that use query parameters

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite Implement human/search engine friendly URLs for systems that use query parameters Turn /page.php?id=231 into /page-title.html RewriteRule ^page-title.html page.php?id=231 [nc]

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite Implement human/search engine friendly URLs for systems that use query parameters Turn /page.php?id=231 into /page-title.html RewriteRule ^page-title.html page.php?id=231 [nc] Turn /search.php?q=term into /search/term RewriteRule ^search/(.*) search.php?q=$1 [nc]

Technology: Apache mod_rewrite Implement human/search engine friendly URLs for systems that use query parameters Turn /page.php?id=231 into /page-title.html RewriteRule ^page-title.html page.php?id=231 [nc] Turn /search.php?q=term into /search/term RewriteRule ^search/(.*) search.php?q=$1 [nc] mod_rewrite docs: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/ misc/rewriteguide.html

Technology: On-site Search

Technology: On-site Search Lucene - http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/

Technology: On-site Search Lucene - http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/ Zend Framework Implementation

Technology: On-site Search Lucene - http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/ Zend Framework Implementation Done correctly, represents a dynamic index of content matching search criteria. Linkable, bookmarkable, sharable.

Technology: On-site Search Lucene - http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/ Zend Framework Implementation Done correctly, represents a dynamic index of content matching search criteria. Linkable, bookmarkable, sharable. Use semantic URLs to link to Lucene searches to auto-categorize content using chosen keywords/ phrases eg. http://example.com/search/engineering

Technology: Google Tools

Technology: Google Tools Analytics Measure what's working, what isn't.

Technology: Google Tools Analytics Measure what's working, what isn't. Optimizer https://www.google.com/analytics/siteopt/splash? hl=en

Technology: Google Tools Analytics Measure what's working, what isn't. Optimizer https://www.google.com/analytics/siteopt/splash? hl=en Google Sitemap File https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/ protocol.html

Social

Social The Cluetrain Manifesto http://www.cluetrain.com

Social The Cluetrain Manifesto http://www.cluetrain.com The ﬁrst markets were markets. Not bulls, bears, or invisible hands. Not battleﬁelds, targets, or arenas. Not demographics, eyeballs, or seats. Most of all, not consumers.

Social The Cluetrain Manifesto http://www.cluetrain.com The ﬁrst markets were markets. Not bulls, bears, or invisible hands. Not battleﬁelds, targets, or arenas. Not demographics, eyeballs, or seats. Most of all, not consumers. These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.

Social: Bookmarking

Social: Bookmarking Digg (and delicious, and StumbleUpon, and...)

Social: Bookmarking Digg (and delicious, and StumbleUpon, and...) Make it easy for visitors to share your content (sharethis.com)

Social: Viral

Social: Viral Flickr

Social: Viral Flickr More than just photos, you can upload documents & video

Social: Viral Flickr More than just photos, you can upload documents & video YouTube (Vimeo, Revver, etc...)

Social: Viral Flickr More than just photos, you can upload documents & video YouTube (Vimeo, Revver, etc...) Avoids encoding/format issues

Social: Viral Flickr More than just photos, you can upload documents & video YouTube (Vimeo, Revver, etc...) Avoids encoding/format issues Sharing is built into the player

Social: Viral Flickr More than just photos, you can upload documents & video YouTube (Vimeo, Revver, etc...) Avoids encoding/format issues Sharing is built into the player Save bandwidth, server space

Social: Networking

Social: Networking Facebook

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter More than just, “I forgot how much I like pickles!”

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter More than just, “I forgot how much I like pickles!” Follow subject experts, stay in tune with your subject

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter More than just, “I forgot how much I like pickles!” Follow subject experts, stay in tune with your subject Tweet about your subject

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter More than just, “I forgot how much I like pickles!” Follow subject experts, stay in tune with your subject Tweet about your subject Link to relevant content on your site and others.

Social: Networking Facebook Network with other subject matter experts Post links to your content Twitter More than just, “I forgot how much I like pickles!” Follow subject experts, stay in tune with your subject Tweet about your subject Link to relevant content on your site and others. Join the conversation.

Pitfalls

Pitfalls 100% Duplicate Content http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html

Pitfalls 100% Duplicate Content http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html Redirects Use 301 redirects to retain the “juice” from incoming links. Avoid using 302 redirects in all but a few speciﬁc cases (eg. same-domain page redirects) http://www.bigoakinc.com/blog/when-to-use-a-301-vs-302-redirect/

Pitfalls 100% Duplicate Content http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html Redirects Use 301 redirects to retain the “juice” from incoming links. Avoid using 302 redirects in all but a few speciﬁc cases (eg. same-domain page redirects) http://www.bigoakinc.com/blog/when-to-use-a-301-vs-302-redirect/ If you use a URL shortener for posting links to your site (tinyurl.com, bit.ly, etc...), make sure they use 301 redirects.

Pitfalls

Pitfalls Paid Links use nofollow in <a> <a href=”http://advertiser.com” rel=”nofollow”>

Pitfalls Paid Links use nofollow in <a> <a href=”http://advertiser.com” rel=”nofollow”> Incestuous Linking Sites that only link amongst themselves

Pitfalls Paid Links use nofollow in <a> <a href=”http://advertiser.com” rel=”nofollow”> Incestuous Linking Sites that only link amongst themselves Keyword/Link Stufﬁng Overloading pages with terms and links that do not provide beneﬁts to visitors

Pitfalls

Pitfalls Spamdexing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamdexing

Pitfalls Spamdexing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamdexing Shared Servers Double-check server blacklists

Pitfalls Spamdexing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamdexing Shared Servers Double-check server blacklists Bot DOS “Attack” Crawl-Delay: 10 in robots.txt

Useful Links http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/ http://www.seomoz.org/article/beginners-guide-to- search-engine-optimization http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-web-developers-seo- cheat-sheet http://www.addedbytes.com/apache/url-rewriting-for- beginners/ http://www.addedbytes.com/apache/mod_rewrite- cheat-sheet/

SEO Strategies by Thirdparty Labs and Shovemedia

by RobRuchte on Apr 22, 2009

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SEO Strategies by Thirdparty Labs and Shovemedia — Presentation Transcript

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