SEO: Optimizing Sites for People (and search engines)

Optimizing for People (and search engines)

80% of users click on one of the ﬁrst three results.

SEO is the process of getting your content to appear at or near the top of search results.

SEO = good content + good structure

SEO != black magic, secrets, rocket science

who’s responsible?

With good writers and good web skills, SEO techniques are “obvious.” POWAZEK.COM/POSTS/2101

SEO is only useful if you have good content... Useless if you don’t.

Content

Content Unique + Focused

Content Unique + Focused Fresh + Detailed

Content Unique + Focused Fresh + Detailed Organized + Scannable

Content Unique + Focused Fresh + Detailed Organized + Scannable Connected + Valued

Organic methods are rewarded. ATTEMPTS TO GAME THE SYSTEM ARE PUNISHED.

“Organic” techniques HIGH-QUALITY incoming links Write for readers, not search engines Well-structured, semantic HTML Good metadata Clear, speciﬁc page titles Great keywords Meta descriptions Clean URLs

Write content for readers... ...not search engines ✦ Cover what no one else is covering ✦ Shorter paragraphs, clearly marked sections ✦ Get to the point quickly ✦ The web rewards speciﬁcs and related information ✦ Don’t stuff keywords ✦ Don’t hide content

<title>Kick-Ass Title Tags</title> • An HTML tag that appears in the <head> container • Most important piece of metadata in your document • Name by which page appears in user bookmarks and SERPs • Unique on every page of site • No more than 70 characters • Include site name, section name (?), content title • Put site name LAST in title, keyworded phrase up front

Well-structured HTML “Semantic” HTML: Use markup as intended

Semantic HTML <h1>, <h2>, <h3> <strong> <em> <blockquote> <p>

Doing META right METADATA INCLUDES GOOD TITLE AND DESCRIPTION. NO MORE THAN 155 CHARACTERS.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Much better

Much better HEADLINE INCLUDES KEYWORDS

Keywords in Copy

Keywords in Copy Headlines

Keywords in Copy Headlines Sub-heds

Keywords in Copy Headlines Sub-heds Body

3.1 WORDS

Keywords and Images

Keywords and Images ﬁlename

Keywords and Images ﬁlename alt tag

Keywords and Images ﬁlename alt tag caption

Keywords and Images ﬁlename alt tag caption photo credit

Keyword Tools

Keyword Tools Google Adwords

Keyword Tools Google Adwords Community Sites

Keyword Tools Google Adwords Community Sites Google Insights

Incoming links 200+ ingredients in Google’s “secret sauce,” but links are #1 -- votes of conﬁdence. Use social networks OK to ask for links, but be real about it Links from comment sections of blogs are ignored Build reputation (with good content) Be liberal with outbound links (but don’t overdo it)

Be a the resource

Be a the resource Link to competitors.

Be a the resource Link to competitors. Link to people who have related content.

Be a the resource Link to competitors. Link to people who have related content. Quote, spotlight and praise people in your topic niche that publish good content.

Clean URLs • URLs should be human-readable • Won’t break when forwarded in email • Can be read over the phone • Provide a form of “breadcrumbs” • Meaningful to search engines • If you change URL structures, redirect!

Clean URLs COMPARE: HTTP://NEWS.CNET.COM/8301-17938_105-10381325-1.HTML?TAG=TOCMORESTORIES.0 HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2009/10/19/ARTS/MUSIC/19ARTS-PUERTORICOCA_BRF.HTML?REF=MUSIC HTTP://WWW.BERKELEYSIDE.COM/2009/10/22/TOO-GOOD-TO-BE-TRUE-BERKELEY-HOUSES-FOR-1/ HTTP://MULTIMEDIA.JOURNALISM.BERKELEY.EDU/2009/OCT/14/BLOGGING-EXPERTS/ PARAMETERIZED URLS: NO MORE THAN 2 HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM/BRANDS.PHP?OBJECT=1&TYPE=2&KIND=3&NODE=5&ARG=6 HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM/BRANDS.PHP?NIKE

Clean URLs COMPARE: HTTP://NEWS.CNET.COM/8301-17938_105-10381325-1.HTML?TAG=TOCMORESTORIES.0 HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2009/10/19/ARTS/MUSIC/19ARTS-PUERTORICOCA_BRF.HTML?REF=MUSIC HTTP://WWW.BERKELEYSIDE.COM/2009/10/22/TOO-GOOD-TO-BE-TRUE-BERKELEY-HOUSES-FOR-1/ HTTP://MULTIMEDIA.JOURNALISM.BERKELEY.EDU/2009/OCT/14/BLOGGING-EXPERTS/ LIMIT URL DEPTH TO 4 LEVELS PARAMETERIZED URLS: NO MORE THAN 2 HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM/BRANDS.PHP?OBJECT=1&TYPE=2&KIND=3&NODE=5&ARG=6 HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM/BRANDS.PHP?NIKE

Clean URLs in WordPress COMPARING-WIDESCREEN-TVS-OUR-TESTERS-TRIED-SAMSUNG-SONY-PIONEER SEE ALSO: WORDPRESS.ORG/EXTEND/PLUGINS/SEO-SLUGS

Canonical Homepage URL BAD HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM HTTP://MYSITE.COM HTTP://WWW.MYSITE.COM/INDEX.HTML HTTP://MYSITE.COM/INDEX.HTML GOOD HTTP://MYSITE.COM/

Build a sitemap! Eliminates the guesswork Provides hints Machine-readable Human-readable A good CMS or framework can generate one for you

Sitemaps make life easy for search engines WORDPRESS.ORG/EXTEND/PLUGINS/GOOGLE-SITEMAP-GENERATOR

SEO tips Keep your site focused on a topic More pages on a topic = more cred Min. 200 words to a page Keep it fresh! Google rewards new content Spend extra effort sharpening homepage SEO Use text links for nav, not images

More SEO tips Don’t use Javascript-driven menus Don’t link to index.html (don’t split links) Frames, Flash, Ajax: Can’t deep link to content When link building, quality over quantity Keyword links + descriptive adjancent text Registering a domain? Don’t take privacy option

Still more SEO tips Don’t use graphics for navigation Make sure images have alt=”foo” tags (Google is the net’s largest blind user!) Create an HTML sitemap as well as XML Make sure you have a good “About” page Don’t use “click here” links Clean up 404s & add search to your 404 pages Don’t obsess: “What is the googlebot hungry for now?”

Yet more SEO tips Give link love, get link love Links from .edu domains have more weight Optimize RSS feeds too! (description, title) Use captions with images and videos Make a separate video sitemap Broaden your range (podcasts, social, etc.) Avoid duplicate content (See Google Webmaster Tools)

“Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings.” - Google Webmaster Guidelines

Gaming the system Break search engine rules Present content differently to search engine than to user Link farms, link exchanges Keyword stufﬁng False doorways Submission ‘bots User experience suffers

Blog about…

Blog about… • Plans • Staff • Wireframes • UGC • Design • Testing • <more>

Don’t pay for SEO "LOOK UNDER THE HOOD OF ANY SEO PLAN AND YOU’LL FIND ADVICE LIKE THIS: MAKE SURE TO USE KEYWORDS IN THE HEADLINE, USE PROPER FORMATTING, PROVIDE SUMMARIES OF THE CONTENT, INCLUDE LINKS TO RELEVANT INFORMATION. ALL OF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, AND NONE OF IT IS A SECRET. IT’S SO OBVIOUS, ANYONE WHO PAYS FOR IT IS A FOOL." -POWAZEK

The One True Way WHICH BRINGS US, FINALLY, TO THE ONE TRUE WAY TO GET A LOT OF TRAFFIC ON THE WEB. IT’S PRETTY SIMPLE, AND I’M GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU HERE, FOR FREE: MAKE SOMETHING GREAT. TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT. DO IT AGAIN. IT’LL TAKE TIME. A LOT OF TIME. BUT IT WORKS. AND IT’S THE ONLY THING THAT DOES.

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu	66
http://jornalistas20.com	6
http://sparkwi.se	4
http://www.slideshare.net	2
http://apprentieweb.blogspot.com	1

SEO: Optimizing Sites for People (and search engines)

by Knight Digital Media Center (Berkeley)

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