Beyond SEO
Scott Gledhill and Cheryl Gledhill
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 1

intro
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Working as an SEO can feel like Groundhog Day. You finally get web
standards code and well written content...

intro
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Everything is going well for a while, and then you change companies or
get a new employee...

intro
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 4
and you’re back to talking about how to write content for humans, not
using Flash content and web standards development.

intro
imagonovus
http://www. ickr.com/photos/imagonovus/2465392241/
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The problem is SEO is separate from marketing mix as well as internal
processes.

that’s not my job
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If you work as developer, content writer, producer, marketing, project
manager, it IS your job.

basics of SEO
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technical
HTML
URLs
server issues
invisible content
XML sitemaps
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content
keywords
headlines
page content
taxonomies
labeling
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external
linking strategies
content strategies
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agenda
internal, doing it better
external, using them better
today and tomorrow
beyond SEO
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internal SEO
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- getting the best from your internal team
- making SEO part of the process for web development

why bring SEO in-house
insider knowledge of business
complete control
focus
integration
learning experience
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roles of the SEO process
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- SEO is part of the following people & roles
- works for companies from 2 - 2000 people. Roles might cross over, ie
your IA might be your content writer.

common site build
Producer
Project Manager
Marketing
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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how to involve SEO
educate each silo about search
understand how to use each resource
buy in from the top (team KPIs)
checklists, to supplement this process
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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information architecture
labeling and taxonomies
linking strategies (super footers, navigational elements)
content strategies (top stories, related posts, landing pages)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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- rejecting SEO, attract the youth through branding
- this should still go through SEO eyes
- no surprises, could workaround it

visual design
branding and communication (retention of users)
HTML / CSS friendly design
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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they don’t have much SEO interaction.

developers hate SEO
surpris
es
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- don’t surprise developers
- need to think long term & strategically to do their job correctly

developers specs
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- agile or not
- developers like to know what they need to do
- blueprint / architect analogy

front-end development
web standards HTML / CSS / JavaScript
good HTML architecture (h1s, microformats, semantics...)
page optimisation (optimising visual design)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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back-end development
HTML / CSS template assembly
population of site-wide data (eg. meta-data, title, alt text, etc)
XML sitemap population
URL structures (sometimes rewrites)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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- title is not correct (this is a section page)
- description not populated
- keyword element there, but not populated

server admins
url rewriting / primary URLs
robots.txt (depending on servers)
error handling (404)
page optimisation (gzip, CDN, etc)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 25

http://www.3am.co.uk/diary/ 200 OK
http://3am.co.uk/diary/ 302 redirect
http://3am.co.uk/phwoar/ 301 redirect
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- server side redirects must be in place for launch
- do not confuse the search engines
- must be consistent

content writer
the most vital element in SEO
write content, understand search implications
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 27

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h1 is marketing copy rather than straight language for humans and
search engines.

content writer
the most vital element in SEO
write content, understand search implications
provide quality content
write link bait
write meta data
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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Link bait is not derogatory - write content that people want to link to as
it’s useful, interesting, educational or controversial

producers
often responsible for SEO
legwork - inbound links
writing copy
analytics
site consistency
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project manager
oversee the entire process
establish processes and standards for SEO
establish checklists
establish testing processes
de-brief per project
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marketing
ultimate owners of SEO
identify prospects
understanding users/customers
selling products with the right landing page
user experience
conversion
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- draw the right kind of visitors at the right time with the right intent
- speak the language of consumers
- marketing can think SEO is technical but it’s just as much marketing

testing, testing, testing
developers test browsers, data, etc
SEO outputs should be tested
pre-launch vs post-launch
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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test how your website looks in SERPs
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- use the site operator
- test, like web developers test in browsers
- truncation, duplication, can anything be changed?

in-house works when...
you get involved early!
establish SEO standards for the website building process
supplement with checklists, don’t depend on them
constant education and face time
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 35

external SEO
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- get your in-house SEO correct, then external SEO can shine

do you need an external company?
orphanjones
http://www. ickr.com/photos/orphanjones/431843839/
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The majority of SEO can/should be done in-house by developers,
producers, content writers.

outsource is good because...
constantly changing algorithms
diverse experience
black hat white hat
cost efficiency
can step back from company jargon
expert view - get unpopular decisions across the
management line easier
boring
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get the best from your agency
prioritise for them
be involved - don’t just get reports
do you own research - keywords, verticals, competitors
share your business strategy
get a core SEO team together
experiment
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today and tomorrow
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universal search
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vertical search
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Put more content out there, be it videos, pictures, audio, etc.

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indexing more
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takeaway - audio, video, podcasts, etc.
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what does this mean for you? Make video, podcasts, images.

real time search
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real time search information search
40% 40%
navigational search 20%
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40% browsing without URL in mind, what’s going on right now.
20% navigation searches - know brand already
40% information searches, ie looking for specific info with no destination
in mind

de ned by publish time, not index time
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- Google can index in minutes now
- this doesn’t qualify as ‘real time search’
- real time == ‘microblogging’ or ‘instant uploads’

sydney dust storms
toolmantim
http://www. ickr.com/photos/toolmantim/3946766188/
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- Sydney Dust Storm - straight to Twitter
- newspapers can’t keep up with this

15 minutes of lost time
Brendan Loy
http://www. ickr.com/photos/51629368@N00/2669857604/
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- When a city has a blackout, it’s 2 seconds before the first search (Google), but 15 min first story
to be indexed (or published)
- standard search / publication methods can’t keep up

‘real time’ mixed with ‘quick index time’
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- Google is trying to perfect aggregation
- is this a better solution?
- launched May 2009, trying to solve the issue

caffeine
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- Caffeine update
- partially about real-time updates
- perfecting the algorithm, setting it up for perfection

real time service
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- very responsive to current trends, events
- could be inaccurate, biased... but immediate

twitter, ickr, facebook, youtube, friendfeed...
instantaneous
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- instant information
- starting points for extra information gathering

real time aggregation
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- aggregating real time feeds
- twitter, facebook, flickr...

should you get in on real time?
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should you get in on real time?
is it relevant to your business or users? (eg. breaking news)
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- there is no use getting in there if it makes no sense
- otherwise, it’s just noise

should you get in on real time?
is it relevant to your business or users? (eg. breaking news)
don’t publish stale content
expand on real time with real content
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- real time search is good for instant results
- many media types lend itself to expanding on an idea (news details,
fare details, etc)

mobile search
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standards compliant code
quality content
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The same rules apply for mobile as for web - it’s about having standards
compliant code and quality content.

as at August 2009
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- There are 50x more searches from iPhone than other mobile devices.
- If current trend continues mobile searches will overtake xed internet searches “within the next several years”, says google.
- 55% of iPhone users conduct searches on their devices, while just 32% of smartphone users and 12% of all mobile phone users search
on their phones.

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- Google surfaces contextual information such as phone number and directions
- Think of user context when developing mobile site. What are users most likely to
need?

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Google Mobile Web search has a separate index just for mobile content.
- Google launched voice search so users are searching for multiple words, more natural language

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Microsoft is building Bing with a view towards beating Google in an area highlighted as ripe for
massive growth: mobile search.

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Always have phone number and address as plain text so users can click for map or phone call. Do not
put contact details in an image or Flash

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links are not as important
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users don’t browse from a phone as much as desktop, and it’s harder to
click on links. Think about your content and whether you can have it on
the same page

content structure
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Very important to get content and navigation correct on a phone. Put important information at the
top of the page. Really think about your content structure and what users are looking for.

This site requires the Macromedia Flash Player.
Download it here.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 69
Flash doesn’t work on the iphone... don’t use flash if you can help it.

.mobi domain
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sometimes, the .mobi is all you need to rank in Google mobile at the moment
They look good in mobile search results - whenever you do a search from your handset and see a .mobi, you immediately know they
have a site designed for you
But m.something.com easier to type than .mobi.

mobilecaption
sitemap
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Google webmaster tools and Yahoo submit site.

nd not search
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With twitter and social networking, we’re finding more without searching

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Google used to be my homepage, now it’s Twitter - I find a lot more links
when I’m not looking for them

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what does 150 thousand fans mean? Google doesn’t know yet - but
possibly will in the future

personalisation
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can vote results up or remove them in Google. Personal results for you
based on your history and location

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local search
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Add your business to google local, get other local businesses to link to
you when relevant

beyond SEO
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- Terminator was looking for Sarah Connor now?
- Twitter? Google search?

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- timeline view, can go back to ‘past view’
- not accurate, just references to specific dates

the more we search, the more we want from search
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pimousse3000
http://www. ickr.com/photos/pimousse3000/3408701879/
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Google is OK now at guessing intentions... still a bit rough.

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Google can tell if you mean apple computer or apple fruit based on
context

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A human can understand “Dirty Dancing the scene where Baby talks to
her Dad” but what does this mean to a search engine? Needs context.

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- picking out keywords from surrounding content
- doesn’t actually understand context of query

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better interpretation, less gaming
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- keyword optimisation is spam in a way
- better relevance for the user

indexing of everything
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- what about the stuff that can’t be indexed now?

audio
video
ash
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- what happens when this content is indexed as efficiently as HTML
- how do we code / encode it?
- how do we communicate with it? attract users?

talk for search engines?
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- would all dialogue get watered down for SE?
- no slang, link bait, keywords... boring!

real, real, real time
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- 15 min window, is now a 2 minute window
- what happens when user expectations increase?

not fast enough
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- 3 days ago? not acceptable.

how does SEO adapt to the future?
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we should be beyond basics
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- it’s time to think past the usual SEO methodologies
- SEO strategy needs to mature

sort your processes
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- optimise for in-house SEO, make it a part of the process
- use your externals properly & efficiently

know your medium
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- technical problems plague SEO
- ignorance is not an excuse, SEOs should know their medium

accessibility and content
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- these two concepts will still be core in the future.
- will still need ‘good content’ and ‘be able to access it’

focus on users, enhance for search engines
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- focus on users first
- then learn what / how to enhance for search engines (xml sitemaps,
etc)

break the cycle
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