The Four Pillars of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - OMS-Seattle 2010

Online Marketing Summit
SEATTLE | JUNE 14, 2010
Making the Most of Natural Search:
The Four Pillars of a Strategic SEO Program
Jonathon D. Colman
Internet Marketing Program Manager
Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
REI: Recreational Equipment, Inc.
www.REI.com | @REI_Coop | Facebook.com/REI

The natural search business case
Drives at least 75% of clicks on search engine results pages
Nearly 7 out of 10 searchers only click on natural results
Top three organic listings seen by 100% of all searchers
Just 50% for top paid listing
Only 8% of searchers click past the third page of organic results
Searchers equate high organic ranking with brand trust, reputation, and relevancy

SEO Pillar #1:Audience
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Different searchers have different needs
Over 6,000 searches are performed each second in the US, but:
Not everyone knows you exist
Not everyone knows what they’re looking for
Not everyone is ready to buy
And:
Some searchers are already familiar with you
Some searchers do know exactly what they’re looking for
Some searchers are ready to buy right now

Major types of search queries
Informational queries: cover a broad topic(s) with many results
Ex. “Social network”
Navigational queries: find a particular entity, brand, web site
Ex. “Facebook”
Transactional queries: make a purchase or perform any action
Ex. “How to avoid my Mom on Facebook LOL”
Structured queries: includes Boolean or other search operators
Ex. “your AND mom site:facebook.com”

Context: where does your audience search?
What are all of these searchers looking for?

Awareness
Engagement
Research
Purchase
Each type of visitor needsto be directed to differentcontent to meet their needs
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This page is intended for use by people who are interested in cycling but need to learn more in order to figure out how they want to engage in riding a bike.
To attract that audience, this page should be optimized for broad terms like “cycling” and “bikes”.
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This page is intended for use by people who are interested in starting to ride their bike and need help learning how to begin.
To attract that audience, this page should be optimized for specific words attached to cycling and learning like “getting started”.
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This page is intended for use by people who are ready to try bicycle commuting to and from work.
To attract that audience, this page should be optimized for phrases like “bicycle commuting”.
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This page is intended for use by people who are ready to research the purchase of a commuter bike or to buy one right now.
To attract that audience, this page should be optimized for the product and category terms.
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Key takeaways
Focus on meeting your visitors’ needs
Optimize content for different types of inbound traffic
Help your visitors advance through the funnel
Not everyone’s ready to buy, but be ready for those who are
Advanced tips:
Offer engagement opportunities to top-of-funnel visitors
Videos, downloads, quizzes, checklists, etc.
Use web analytics to track where visitors drop out of your content flow
Always Be Testing: conduct testing of landing pages to learn what drives conversion, stickiness, and return visits

SEO Pillar #2:On-Site Content
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What’s the anatomy of a web page?
Different for humans and for search engines
Humans have a full visual experience of web content
Search engines have a… different user experience

The homepage for the Seattle Sounders is visually compelling and engaging…
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…but a search engine can only see the text, links, and code driving the page without bells and whistles.
The takeaway for the Sounders is to make their pages as accessible and as relevant as possible for humans… and for search engines.

What can’t search engines see?
Flash, Javascript, AJAX, or other client-side programming
But they’re getting better at it
Content in images, audio, and video
Progress is being made here as well
Password-protected content
Content hidden behind a login or a form field
Most dynamic widgets and applications
Any other content you purposefully block (i.e., robots.txt)
Off-line content (duh)

What can search engines see?
We know of over 200 factors that search engines consider when evaluating a page, including…
<title> elements
<meta> elements
<link> canonical element
Navigation links
Links in body copy
Anchor text in links
Inbound & outbound links
Nofollowed links
Headers
URL structure and content
CSS
Site speed
Server response header
Media types
ALT attribute text
Structured information
Metadata
Content!(duh)

High
General phrases:
“cycling”, “bikes”
Cost, competition
2-4 word phrases:
“road bike reviews”, “bike to work”
Even more descriptive phrases:
“how to repair a flat tire”
Low
Keyword popularity,search volume
High volume,low conversion
Low volume,high conversion
The “Long Tail” of Search Marketing
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Adapted from an Elliance infographic

Relevancy factors in your content
Matches your visitors’ interests and intents
Original and unique
Literal and specific
Provides a compelling user experience

This is an REI.com product page for a popular backpacking stove. How is it optimized for relevancy?

Original, detailed, and descriptive product information written in language that our customers use.

Detailed specifications and the names of product attributes add additional value.

User-generated reviews leverage the passion of your customers while adding transparency…

…and relevancy for additional keywords that customers actually use while searching the web.
All of the content on your pages plays a role in driving relevancy, which can lead to higher rankings and more traffic.

Key takeaways
Optimize content experience for humans
Optimize content access for search engines
Optimize content relevancy to drive visibility and engagement
Advanced tips:
Use keyword research tools to understand customer demand for terms
Use Flash text replacement techniques to add beauty without sacrifice
Don’t fragment relevancy by splitting content into too many pages
Socialize your content creation to drive transparency, bring customers into your brand, and build additional SEO value

SEO Pillar #3:Site Structure
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Questions and answers
So you have great content – now what?
How do you get search engines to find and crawl through your site?
How do you prioritize some pages above others?
How do you optimize pathways through your site for users and search engines?
The answer: Links.

Page onSite A
Page onSite B
Link
Links are signs of trust
For a search engine, links from one site to another are like a vote of confidence and trust. If a page on Site A links to a page on Site B, the page on Site B can be said to be “a trusted resource” of value to visitors of Site A.
“I trust you!”

Links
Search engine index
Discovery and discoverability
Search engines index the entire Web by following link after link to page after page of content. Search engines can’t find brand new pages because there aren’t any links pointing at them.
Strongly interlinked site
with numerous links
New pages without links areisolated from search engines

Page on
Site A
Page on
Site B
Trust aggregates into authority
As search engines index the Web, they count one-way, inbound links to each page online. Pages with more links can be said to be more authoritative because more individual sites trust their content resources.
Five inbound links
Ten inbound links
= more authority

The importance of navigation to SEO
Moves users and search engines through your site
Signals the importance of your content to search engines
Shows search engines the flow of meaning through content
Focuses your authority on strategic content of your choosing

Your homepage has more authority than any other page on your site – use it to link to deeper content to focus search engine attention!

Smart navigation pays attention to context – choices should change to suit the customer’s needs and to further distribute authority.

Faceted navigation is based on sorting through content attributes – a win for users that also helps you target more specific keywords.

Key takeaways
Links are the means by which search engines crawl the web
New content can’t be discovered unless you link to it
Navigation help users and search engines find content
Use your navigation to focus search engine authority
Advanced tips:
Provide an XML sitemap to help ensure that all your content gets crawled
Build faceted navigation/sorting to benefit user experience
Use Google Webmaster Tools to help identify duplicate content
Use the canonical <link> element to signal duplicate content to search engines

SEO Pillar #4:Off-Site Factors
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External links and citations
Good for traffic and even better for SEO – use them to:
Build your brand awareness
Gain access to new, established audiences
Help search engines find/re-find your site
Drive increased visibility in search engine results
Make your SEO program more pro-active and agile

How much do external links matter?
24% – Trust/authority of the host domain
22% – Link popularity of the specific page
20% – Anchor text of external links
= 66% of overall ranking algorithm is dependent on links!

Where should(n’t) you get links to your site?
Not all links are created equal – you can drive quality links from:
Sites related to your market or subject area
Sites where your users are actively engaged
Sites where your competitors already have links
Some links can hurt you – try to avoid driving links from:
Sites where you have to pay to list a link
“Bad neighborhoods” (also don’t link to these)

Link sources
Easy
Difficult
Adapted from a chart by AudetteMedia

How can you drive more links to your site
Link-building starts with content and continues with outreach:
Provide genuinely useful content that exists nowhere else
Build a new tool that’s valuable for your audience
Feature content from external authorities
Hold a contest with awards for your users
Create a blog on your site and respond to timely news
Reach out to influencers who are passionate about you
Pitch your content to publishers, bloggers and media contacts
Leverage your social media outlets

Engage your audience by asking questions that matter to them – you’ll drive both engagement and links back to your content.

Create Top 10 lists and utility-focused content that provides a useful service for your die-hard audience members.

Hold a contest that incentivizes online user participation with a creative pay-off that’s valuable and meaningful for your audience.

Create applications based on your site content that provide a useful service for your audience – then build buzz to drive links.

Drive awareness and focus attention through direct communication with your audience using your social media channels.

Key takeaways
What happens off your site is just as important (if not more so!) than what happens on your site
Developing great content is your first step into link-building
Link-building opportunities are everywhere – get started now!
Advanced tips:
Use tools like Open Site Explorer to track your (and competitors’) links
Use social media outlets like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. to drive link-building outreach and viral growth
Develop “link-bait”, engaging content that’s so good and useful (or entertaining) that other sites just have to link to yours
Track social media mentions to develop new contacts for link outreach

What Have We Learned?In Conclusion
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Conclusion: What have we learned?
The four pillars of a strategic, customer-focused SEO program:
Targeting your audience
Building accessible, relevant on-site content
Optimizing your site structure for people and search engines
Driving attention to your site with off-site factors like links

Conclusion: What have we learned?
Your key takeaways:
Do what’s best for the customer and focus on user experience…
But keep in mind that search engines are content consumers, too
Strive for uniquity and specificity and avoid ambiguity and generality
Use your navigation and links to your advantage
Solicit links from your audience and from external sites
Advanced tips:
Talk to each other: meet, listen, network, publish, speak, share
Never be afraid of failing — always be afraid of not learning

60 resources for growing your SEO knowledge
Industry news & blogs
- Search Engine Land
- Search Engine Watch
- Google Webmaster Central
- Yahoo Search Marketing blog
- Bing Webmaster Center blog
- Matt Cutts
- SEOmoz
- SEOBook
- Search Engine Journal
- TopRank
- WebmasterWorld
- Sphinn
- ClickZ
Books
- SEO For Dummies
- SEO: An Hour a Day
- The Art of SEO
- Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
- Search Engine Visibility
- Anything by Peter Morville
Tools, tools, tools…
- Google Webmaster Tools
- Bing Webmaster Center
- Yahoo Site Explorer
- Google AdWords Keyword Tool
- SEOBook Keyword Tool
- Google Insights for Search
- Search-based Keyword Tool
- Google rich snippets testing tool
- SEOmoz tools
- Open Site Explorer
- Majestic-SEO tools
- Raven SEO tools
- SEO-Browser
- Xenu Link Sleuth
- Firebug and YSlow
Conferences
-Online Marketing Summit!
- Search Marketing Expo (SMX)
- Search Engine Strategies (SES)
- Pubcon
Tactical approaches
- In-house SEO guide
- Search ranking factors (2010)
- Local search
- Adobe Flash & SEO
- AJAX & SEO
- Flash text replacement
- Site speed
- SEO for video
- XML sitemaps
- Robots.txt
- Rich snippets/microformats
- Developer’s SEO cheatsheet
- Link-building tips (Matt Cutts)
- HTML <meta> tagging
- CSS and SEO
- Analytics
- Social media and SEO
- Social media optimization
- Worst practices for SEO
Hey! You probably know of many other great resources. Help us out by sharing them with others so that we can all learn together.

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Many thanks!
Let’s continue learning together. Pleasecontact me with questions or comments:
Jonathon D. Colman,jcolman@rei.com
Twitter@jcolman
Portal:http://flavors.me/jcolman
Profile:Google
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Thank You!
Visit
www.onlinemarketingsummit.com
for more information
Follow us @OMSummit

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The Four Pillars of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - OMS-Seattle 2010

by Jonathon Colman on Jun 14, 2010

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