Think like a developer debugging seo - be wizard 2013 rimini

I wish diagnosing SEO issues was easy.

But it’snevereasy...

We need more data, less opinion.

Someone told him this was a good idea.

How to debug SEO

I even went to the length ofunderstanding the process ofelimination by building my ownphp app.

Caveat : You need to have acertain level of knowledge.

Randsaid thisin2011, and it wasalreadya big list

The debugging process.The following is based on real life events. I’ve always wanted to say that.

Here’s the overall organic graph for2012 versus 2011. Seasonalfluctuation seemed unlikely. 2012 2011

If this was programming, we’d get an error message telling us where the problem is. Looking for problems in SEO isn’t as straightforward.

You can use the Content > ContentDrill down report, but it only showspageviews, not visits.

If you’re usingGA, set up acustom reportusing thesesettings.

/product/ When folders are not constant /city/, segment by number/product/region/ of slashes (/) using regex to see the full /product/region/city/ picture.

It turns out that it was the/region/ city pages.

These aretopconvertingrevenuepages!

Step 1:Explain the problem clearly with specific details.

/product/region/city/dropped 50% organic visits comparing from June to May.

Step 2:Gather data and investigate.

Data Gathered Tool(s) used Double check with:Before / After traffic metrics (visits, Google Analytics Server logs imported into Splunk.bounce rate etc..)Response codes, link architecture, Screaming Frog, IIS crawler Chrome inspect element, manualOn page elements (titles, robots inspection.directives etc..)KW rankings, Backlink analysis Authority Labs, Searchmetrics, Custom scripts, manual Google Open site explorer, Majestic checks.Indexation, PageRank Scrapebox Custom scripts, SEOstatsGooglebot activity Server logs – with Splunk Google webcache (not perfect!)Source code similarity (scrape) ImportXML + Excel Manual checks, Text comparing online (Diffnow)Environmental activity SEOmoz Algorithm updates, Webmaster forums, other SEOs, Development queue / logs, SEO articles. Holidays, world events

The process of elimination, thinkof it as Logger.log();

Navigation Same Navigation Heading 10% Different Heading 10% SameLead generation Form Lead generation Form Sales text Same Sales text Same Footer Footer

Now I know what the problem is, and I have data to explain.http://www.diffnow.com/

These pages were 90%identical to each other AND Panda 3.8 & 3.9 updates rolled out around the time of loss.

Step 3Form a hypothesis that might explain the problem

If we make these pages at least 50% unique, they won’t be considered duplicate and will regaintraffic after a Panda refresh.

Step 4Conduct an experiment to test the hypothesis.

Withoutproof..

Don’t expectanyone to dothe work.

We created content to makea small sample set of pages 50% unique (5k).

We conducted the experiment and wenow have proof (data) that it worked

Step 5:Based on your experimentresults, revise or validate hypothesis.

It’s ok tofail – buttry tominimizethedamage.

We can make SEO aMy client

Keep testing, keep breaking stuff, be aMy client GREAT SEO

DAVID SOTTIMANO Lead Consultant, Distilled David.sottimano@distilled.net @dsottimano

Image credits http://eastcountyoralsurgery.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kid-diver.jpg amateurexpert92.deviantart.com http://www.tommyzor.comhttp://www.nouse.co.uk/2012/12/28/5-films-that-make-my-christmas/home-alone/ www.amommyismade.comhttp://www.failepicfail.com/gymnast-fail-gymnast-parallel-bars-epic-fail-229.html

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Think like a developer debugging seo - be wizard 2013 rimini

by David Sottimano on Mar 09, 2013

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