SEO for Editorial Teams

Search Engine Optimisation Why it’s Hot Search is a new online experience It’s changed the way people access content – expectations, archiving, easy to find Making sure your stories are found Reach more people Get found online What it’s Not Stuffing keywords into articles Writing for robots or software Giving up editorial control Good online content is still about being relevant and interesting to your HUMAN readers

Why it’s Hot

Search is a new online experience

It’s changed the way people access content – expectations, archiving, easy to find

Making sure your stories are found

Reach more people

Get found online

What it’s Not

Stuffing keywords into articles

Writing for robots or software

Giving up editorial control

Good online content is still about being relevant and interesting to your HUMAN readers

The objective of SEO To be very easy to find on search engines for ANY relevant terms E.g. News about Cisco, NPfit, Finance Software etc etc To get the search engines working for you. To appear in Top 10 positions on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs). Deliver a great search experience and you’ll be rewarded.

To be very easy to find on search engines for ANY relevant terms

E.g. News about Cisco, NPfit, Finance Software etc etc

To get the search engines working for you.

To appear in Top 10 positions on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs).

Deliver a great search experience and you’ll be rewarded.

Search Engine Algorithms Keyword Density – the number of mentions of particular keywords Link Popularity – the number of links from other sites pointing to your site

Keyword Density – the number of mentions of particular keywords

Link Popularity – the number of links from other sites pointing to your site

Search Engine Algorithms Freshness – how often your content is updated Authority – the ability to use your site to find new relevant information

Freshness – how often your content is updated

Authority – the ability to use your site to find new relevant information

The Way People Search

People are Searching

Simplicity Page Titles – most important thing to get right as they are what gets displayed as your listing in the search results. Meta Tags – description and keyword meta tags are especially important for pages with rich media content.

Page Titles – most important thing to get right as they are what gets displayed as your listing in the search results.

Meta Tags – description and keyword meta tags are especially important for pages with rich media content.

Usability Link titles – Like alt tags these appear when your mouse hovers over a link. They should indicate where the link takes you. E.g. For the AAJ job alerts signup link it says “Automate your job searches and get them sent to you via email” Alt tags – primarily for disability access, users who switch images off or use screenreaders, alt tags should be purely descriptive. E.g. on photo of a journalist might reiterate the ad or describe the picture “ Photo: Steve Coogan – VNU tech correspondent ”

Link titles – Like alt tags these appear when your mouse hovers over a link. They should indicate where the link takes you.

E.g. For the AAJ job alerts signup link it says “Automate your job searches and get them sent to you via email”

Alt tags – primarily for disability access, users who switch images off or use screenreaders, alt tags should be purely descriptive.

E.g. on photo of a journalist might reiterate the ad or describe the picture “ Photo: Steve Coogan – VNU tech correspondent ”

Relevancy Links from one article to another should pay careful attention to which keywords they include in the link text. Include terms that are: Targeting high traffic terms Relevant to the type of traffic you want to attract Make it obvious what the story is about

Links from one article to another should pay careful attention to which keywords they include in the link text. Include terms that are:

Targeting high traffic terms

Relevant to the type of traffic you want to attract

Make it obvious what the story is about

Turn your page into a hub of information

What are your competitors doing? Authority Authority Authority

Traffic Estimation Tools Online tools help to give estimates of search traffic across different engines and different keyword combinations. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.co.uk/en_GB/rc/srch/?mkt=uk www.wordtracker.com https:// adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Online tools help to give estimates of search traffic across different engines and different keyword combinations.

http://searchmarketing.yahoo.co.uk/en_GB/rc/srch/?mkt=uk

www.wordtracker.com

https:// adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Analytics Tools Webtrends – the actual incoming search term used to find your website is recorded in the web server log file. Monitoring these can provide you with new undiscovered, uncompetitive, and 'long tail' terms. Hitwise – tracks traffic at a network level and can tell you what keywords were used to find your competitors websites. Monitoring these can allow you to discover new sources of traffic and

Webtrends – the actual incoming search term used to find your website is recorded in the web server log file. Monitoring these can provide you with new undiscovered, uncompetitive, and 'long tail' terms.

Hitwise – tracks traffic at a network level and can tell you what keywords were used to find your competitors websites. Monitoring these can allow you to discover new sources of traffic and