Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
for traditional marketers
Overview
Vanessa Bright

Relax, SEO is… Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• The most important for SEO: understanding your audience
Outline
• Explanation of Search Engine Optimization from marketing perspective
• Practical tips
– Keyword research
– Web site SEO
– Press release SEO
– Social media SEO
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What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization is optimizing
marketing programs for a new audience – a search
engine spider
Search Engine Optimization has a technical
element, but it is a marketing initiative that Spider is a program that
automatically indexes Web
involves much more than a web site content. The index is used
to find the most relevant
Common misconception: “SEO is something IT information on the Internet
does with the Web site when everything is Spider can be considered
completed…” It would be similar to “Brand is a very knowledgeable
friend that can always find
something designers do when they design an ad…” needed information
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Search Engine Spider as an audience
Search Engine Spider is an influencer
What Spider likes?
• Electronic copy… everywhere on the web
• Links
• Can not see images
• Can not see animation (at this point)
• Can not see password-protected information
• Prefers its information fresh…
What Spider wants?
• To find the most relevant information and present it on the search results
page… to “keep the job”
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Universal Search
(Spider is not concentrating on Web sites only)
Sponsored Links
(advertisement you can buy; spider is
not involved)
We should optimize
everything
Videos
News
Twitter
Social Networks (MySpace, Facebook)
Blogs
Books
Organic
(listing you can not buy; based on
“spider work”)
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Targeting different audiences
Audiences
Blog Press Release
Interactive Marketing
Channels
Web Site Micro Site
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Considering that we are “customer centric…”
Blog
Web Site
Press Release
Micro Site
Spider influences Blog
every audience that
uses search engines
Web Site
We should optimize
everything based on
the key phrases each Press Release
audience would use
Micro Site
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Marketing Strategy and Search Engine Optimization
POST method (Forrester)
• People (determine target audience and its needs/desires)
• Objectives (determine what do you want to achieve)
• Strategy (determine how do you plan to achieve it) SEO needs to be
• Technology (find technology that suits your purpose) considered at every
stage of the process
Common misconception: “IT group has some content management system;
let us use the shell of an old web site and make a new web site quickly…”
Why this approach is wrong:
– it is backward – it starts from the technology which may not fit customer
needs and business objectives
- It is similar to branding approach “other group has some brand; let us use
it for our new product and promote it quickly…”
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Search Engine Optimization process
Web site or micro site
Audience: Building the site – Based on research:
Based on research: Based on research:
how they search? Based on research: External links,
Site structure Site copy
keyword research Tags, internal links PR, etc.
Press release
Audience:
All of it should work together –
Based on research: Based on research:
how they search?
title and copy links Optimization is not a
keyword research
campaign – it is an approach;
it is a permanent activity; a
“state of mind”
Social media
Audience: Based on research:
Based on research:
how they search? copy / file names
links
keyword research / tags
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Keyword Research
Research Keywords that your target audience is https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
(Google only - about 73% of US online search volume)
using to find your product Example – chocolate covered cherry
Learn more: very concise article about keyword research
Plural is more
Highest search
popular
volume is in
December
Key phrases Last month Google search
used in Google search volume trends over last
searches on Google year
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Web site optimization - copy
You found key phrases that your prospects use; now these words
need to be available for the Spider (become part of Web site copy).
Important: do not use “keyword staffing” just adding keywords into
the text, use keywords and other relevant words.
Key word example: pasta
If you are looking for pasta, you I love pasta! Nothing makes me
came to the right place… Pasta happier than cooking some
blah blah… pasta pasta… blah Macaroni and Cheese in my
blah, pasta… kitchen. Even though I am sensitive
to carbohydrates, there are some
great pasta companies, like
ET TER Dreamfields who makes low-carb
E B Spaghetti, Linguini, and Angel Hair.
U L DB If you are interested in gourmet
SHO cuisine, then this pasta will bring
the flair of an Italian meal (with high
fiber) in a flash.
This easy to understand example is from http://www.stomperblog.com/
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Web site optimization – copy
• Have about 250 words of copy per page (however, do what is reasonable
for your customers
• Optimize one key phrase per page (2-3 times per paragraph)
• Use key phrases in bold, italic, bulleted lists and headings
• Use key phrases as anchor text of links
• Title tag
– Use unique title tags for each page
– Start title tag from key phrase, not your brand
• Description tag
– Use unique description tags for each page
– Phrase description as a call to action and use key phrase
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Web site optimization – copy (title and description tags)
Search results your prospect/customer could see
Title tag
Could be description tag
Code your prospect/customer would not see
(to view the code, right-click on the web page and select “view source”)
Title tag
Description tag
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Web site optimization – copy (title and description tags)
Key phrase Company name or brand
Title tag is also
visible on the page
If your content management
system allows changing title
tags and descriptions, you
can do it.
If not, ask site developers.
You can always verify title
tags and descriptions in the
code ;-)
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Web site optimization – internal links
Determine which page should be optimized as a search landing
page and link key phrase from other pages to it
(business decision)
Your site
Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate
Create “clusters” of key phrase links
leading to the targeted page
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Web site optimization – external links
Your site
Something about
dark chocolate
Your Press Release Your blog
(optimized!) (optimized!)
In Business Wire (for example)
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate
Ask for links (or create them) from other sites with similar content, articles, social
sites, trade associations, etc.
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Press Release Optimization
Research key phrases
Chocolate Covered Cherries – the rest of the title of the press
release Use key phrase as close to the
beginning of the title as possible
Lorem ipsum dolar sit amet, Chocolate Covered Cherries et Optimize the release copy
dolore magn trud exercitation ullamcorpor susc vel eum irure dolor
in reprehende dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Link appropriate key phrases to the
At lupatum delenit aigue duos dolor tempor sunt in culpa qui officia
d dereud facils est er expedit distinc peccand quaerer en imigent page of the site with the same topic or
cupidat. Cherries, Covered with Dark Chocolate ad quam vis product
vadisen vlavis confecs nis revinc tae. Ietm hae magnitu dine for
super oper mari aggere. Oppidi his mowni bus suifs fortunis desp
Chocolate
erate coe Chocolate Gourmet se rursus isdem opport unitel Covered
rursus isdem opport loci defen porti busi. Navigandi ad nunc. Que Cherries
neque pedibus ipsorum, naves ad hunc mod arm aeque, erant fere
situs oppi dorum ut facilus. Vada ac desussum aestus exipe aditurn (page Inside
habere ex alto. your main site )
Oppidi his mowni bus suifs fortunis Cherry recipei ban ibi se
rursus isdem Dark chocolate candy isdem opport loci defen porti
busi. Situs era eod oppi dorum, ut posta. Lorem ipsum dolar sit Use advanced opportunities, such as
amet, cons incidunt ut labore et Business Wire Smart Press Releases
dolor tempor sunt in culpa qui officia d dereud facils est er expedit
distinc peccand quaerer en imigent cupidat.
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Social Media optimization
• Use key phrases in profile names, copy, links
• Optimize file names (images, video)
• If tags are allowed (blogs, social bookmarking sites) use keywords as tags
Example for a photo sharing network:
name the image dark-chocolate-covered-cherries.jpg
rather than cher-23.jpg
Learn more about Social Media SEO
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Remember every audience
Create for the user, but don’t forget the spider… so the user can find it
These are basic concepts of Search Engine Optimization; learn more in the future. SEO is
not a rocket science, but it has a few nuances that need to be understood.
SEO is just part of marketing. If you are not using it yet, start now!
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Questions
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