Presentation of the four essentials of search engine optimization (SEO) given at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) regional conference in Seattle on June 14, 2010.
This presentation, aimed at beginners, focuses on four main topics in search engine optimization: understanding your audience, optimizing your content for accessibility and relevancy, building a logical and effective site structure, and taking advantage of off-site factors to drive traffic and rankings for your brand.
You can learn more about Jonathon Colman at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/
Web Form Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apri...
The Four Pillars of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
1. 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
8. 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
12. 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
13. 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”
14. Context: where does your audience search?
What are all of
these searchers
looking for?
15. Awareness
Engagement
Research
Purchase
Each type of visitor needs
to be directed to different
content to meet their needs
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16. 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”. 16
17. 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
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learning like “getting started”.
18. 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”. 18
19. 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. 19
20. 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
22. 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
23. The homepage for the Seattle
Sounders is visually compelling
and engaging…
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24. …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.
25. 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)
26. What can search engines see?
• We know of over 200 factors that search engines consider
when evaluating a page, including…
• <title> elements • URL structure and content
• <meta> elements • CSS
• <link> canonical element • Site speed
• Navigation links • Server response header
• Links in body copy • Media types
• Anchor text in links • ALT attribute text
• Inbound & outbound links • Structured information
• Nofollowed links • Metadata
• Headers • Content! (duh)
27. The “Long Tail” of Search Marketing
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
High volume, Keyword popularity, Low volume,
low conversion high conversion
search volume 27
Adapted from an Elliance infographic
28. Relevancy factors in your content
• Matches your visitors’ interests and intents
• Original and unique
• Literal and specific
• Provides a compelling user experience
29. This is an REI.com product page
for a popular backpacking stove.
How is it optimized for relevancy?
30. Original, detailed, and descriptive
product information written in
language that our customers use.
33. …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.
34. 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
36. 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.
37. 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.
Page on Page on
Site A Site B
“I trust you!”
Link
38. 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.
Links
Strongly interlinked site New pages without links are
with numerous links isolated from search engines
39. 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.
Page on Page on
Site A Site B
Five inbound links Ten inbound links
= more authority
40. 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
41. Your homepage has more authority
than any other page on your site –
use it to link to deeper content to
focus search engine attention!
42. Smart navigation pays attention to
context – choices should change
to suit the customer’s needs and to
further distribute authority.
43. Faceted navigation is based on
sorting through content attributes
– a win for users that also helps
you target more specific keywords.
44. 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
46. 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
47. 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!
48. 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)
49. Link sources
Easy General directories,
organizations, and classifieds
Blogs, forums,
profiles, and e-mail lists
Niche directories, article
sites, and small publishers, etc.
Basic social media,
PR and partnerships
Key influencers,
advanced social media
Highest
Difficult authority sites
Adapted from a chart by AudetteMedia
50. 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
51. Engage your audience by asking
questions that matter to them –
you’ll drive both engagement and
links back to your content.
52. Create Top 10 lists and utility-
focused content that provides a
useful service for your die-hard
audience members.
53. Hold a contest that incentivizes
online user participation with a
creative pay-off that’s valuable and
meaningful for your audience.
54. Create applications based on your
site content that provide a useful
service for your audience – then
build buzz to drive links.
55. Drive awareness and focus
attention through direct
communication with your audience
using your social media channels.
56. 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
58. 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
59. 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. 60 resources for growing your SEO knowledge
Industry news & blogs Tools, tools, tools… Tactical approaches
- Search Engine Land - Google Webmaster Tools - In-house SEO guide
- Search Engine Watch - Bing Webmaster Center - Search ranking factors (2010)
- Google Webmaster Central - Yahoo Site Explorer - Local search
- Yahoo Search Marketing blog - Google AdWords Keyword Tool - Adobe Flash & SEO
- Bing Webmaster Center blog - SEOBook Keyword Tool - AJAX & SEO
- Matt Cutts - Google Insights for Search - Flash text replacement
- SEOmoz - Search-based Keyword Tool - Site speed
- SEOBook - Google rich snippets testing tool - SEO for video
- Search Engine Journal - SEOmoz tools - XML sitemaps
- TopRank - Open Site Explorer - Robots.txt
- WebmasterWorld - Majestic-SEO tools - Rich snippets/microformats
- Sphinn - Raven SEO tools - Developer’s SEO cheatsheet
- ClickZ - SEO-Browser - Link-building tips (Matt Cutts)
- Xenu Link Sleuth - HTML <meta> tagging
Books - Firebug and YSlow - CSS and SEO
- SEO For Dummies - Analytics
- SEO: An Hour a Day Conferences - Social media and SEO
- The Art of SEO - Online Marketing Summit! - Social media optimization
- Web Analytics: An Hour a Day - Search Marketing Expo (SMX) - Worst practices for SEO
- Search Engine Visibility - Search Engine Strategies (SES)
Hey! You probably know of
- Anything by Peter Morville - Pubcon
many other great resources.
Help us out by sharing them
with others so that we can all
learn together.
61. Many thanks!
Let’s continue learning together. Please
contact me with questions or comments:
• Jonathon D. Colman, jcolman@rei.com
• Twitter @jcolman
• Portal: http://flavors.me/jcolman
• Profile: Google
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62. Thank You!
Visit
www.onlinemarketingsummit.com
for more information
Follow us @OMSummit
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