This presentation was designed for Rider University and delivered on November 13, 2013. The goal of the search engine optimization (SEO) presentation was to provide a basic understanding of organic search and fundamental explanation of organic ranking factors. During this presentation, students should learn: What organic search results are; factors that influence organic search results; the weight of organic ranking factors; techniques for optimizing websites and other digital assets.

1. SEO Made Simple
Rider University
November 2013

2. A little about myself…
Michael Fleischner
• 15 year corporate career in marketing
• Top-selling author and entrepreneur
• MarketingScoop, Marketing Blog, Scoop
Marketing Forum
• Founder, Upward SEO
o Provide Search Engine Optimization
and Reputation management
solutions to businesses of all sizes
(SEO, local optimization, reputation
marketing, reputation
management)

3. It’s All About Google…
http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/10/comScore_Re
leases_September_2013_US_Search_Engine_Rankings

4. Growth of Google Queries
Currently, there are more
than 3 billion searches/day
on Google
http://www.quora.com/How-many-search-queries-does-Google-serve-worldwide-every-day

5. Value of Search Engine Traffic

6. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/illustrating-the-long-tail

7. Yes, You Can Compete with the Big Guys

8. Good SEO is Easier
than It Looks

10. You Have to Get
These Right

11. Before You Get
These Right

12. Using Wordpress? You’re 80% of the Way There
“(Wordpress) is a fantastic piece of software, it
makes your site easily crawlable by search
engines, solves some 80-90% of mechanics of SEO
and is the first big step anyone can take towards
creating a popular online business.”
From a talk given by Google’s Matt Cutts at Wordcamp: http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/seo/googles-mattcutts-wordpress-the-best-blogging-platform-for-seo/

13. Other SEO-Friendly Platforms Include:
http://drupal.org/, http://joomla.com and http://www.squarespace.com are all good choices if Wordpress
isn’t a match.

14. Tools to Help with Accessibility
http://www.google.com/webmasters/

15. Keyword Research

16. A Simple Process for Choosing Good Keywords
High Volume
(many searches/month)
Low Competition
(weak sites/pages in the top 10)
High Value
(large % of visitors convert)
Ideal Keywords!

17. AdWords: The Best Choice (Most of the Time)
The AdWords Keyword Tool Can Be Found Here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

18. Use Exact Match! Be Careful About Phrase + Broad
Note the much
higher numbers!

19. Analyzing the Top 10 to Determine Difficulty
Strong, popular
sites w/ targeted
titles + content

20. Analyzing the Top 10 to Determine Difficulty
Weaker, lesser
known sites and
non-targeted titles

21. Keyword Difficulty Tool
I use SEOmoz tool to drill down on difficulty: http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/keyword-difficulty/

22. Value of Visits? Use Analytics Data
Good proxies for the value of
traffic from these sources
Via Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics) which is free!

23. A Simple Process for Choosing Good Keywords
High Volume
(many searches/month)
Google AdWords
Low Competition
(weak sites/pages in the top 10)
High Value
(large % of visitors convert)
Gut Feel (or KW Difficulty Tool)
Gut Feel (or Analytics Data)

24. How Great Writing and Great
SEO Go Hand-in-Hand

25. High Volume Keywords = Content People Want
People really want to know this stuff!

26. Great Content + SEO + Social Really Works.
Great
Content
+
SEO
Friendly
+
Social
Sharing
+
Link
Building
=
Higher
Rankings
More
Followers
More
Readers
=
Virtuous Cycle of
Inbound Marketing!
More
Influence

27. Link Building

28. Why Links Matter to Search Engines
What You Say
About Yourself.
<
What Others Say
About You.

29. What Matters in a Link?
Editorially given
From a trusted source
Uses descriptive anchor text
Points to the right page

30. What Matters in a Link?
URL
(the link target)
Rel=“Dofollow”
(a tag that indicates search
engines should trust/count
this link)
<p><a href=“http://www.upwardseo.com” rel=“dofollow”>
Search Engine Optimization from Upward SEO </a> is a
great way to improve the ranking of your website and other
digital assets like pictures and videos.</p>
Anchor text
(tells the engine what
this link is about)
Surrounding Text
(may provide context on
the link’s relevance)

31. Manual Link Building
Tactics like discovering the links of competitors, getting listed in directories, resource lists, submitting
content, building profiles, etc. are all in the “manual link building” category (above via http://opensiteexplorer.org
and http://www.majesticseo.com

32. Link Building through Outreach, Networking

33. “Natural” Link Building
Many of these blogs will
use the badge and link to
the list, because it makes
them look good!
The AdAge 150 is a brilliant example of link building through the creation and sharing of a resource.

34. Link Building Types
•Naked URLs consist of some variation of the actual URL of the link destination. Examples
include searchenginejournal.com, http://www.searchenginejournal.com,
www.searchenginejournal.com
•Brand Anchors consist of some variation of the brand name of the destination website.
Examples include Search Engine Journal, SearchEngineJournal, Search engine journal,
and SEJ
•Brand-keyword hybrid anchors consist of some variation of the brand name of the
destination website mixed with a relevant exact-match or LSI keyword. Examples include SEO
blog Search Engine Journal, Search Blog Search Engine Journal, and Search Engine Journal, a
search blog
•Universal/junk anchors consist of words that can apply to any destination website, or are
universal in nature, such as “click here,” “visit this website,” and “here.”
•KEYWORDS SHOULD ONLY BE USED IN ANCHOR TEXT ABOUT 20% - 30% OF THE TIME

35. Link Building & Social Sharing Resources
There are literally infinite numbers of ways to build links – creativity is your only limitation!

36. Social Media & SEO

37. Indirect Impacts of Social on SEO
All these shares lead to
visits, which may lead to
links, comments and
positive user/usage signals
This handy tool can be found at http://sharedcount.com

38. Result #42

39. Result #13

40. Facebook
Correlation of Social Media-Based Factors
(data via Topsy API & Google Buzz API)
Amazing: Facebook Shares
is our single highest
correlated metric with
higher Google rankings.
But correlation is not causation!

41. Google+

42. Google+
Anyone logged-in
to any Google
service will see
results like these.
Time to get on G+!
http://searchengineland.com/examples-google-search-plus-drive-facebook-twitter-crazy-107554

43. LinkedIn

44. Other Networks to Consider
14mm
Millions
14mm
6.5mm
2.5mm
500mm
1.5mm
10mm
There are many social networks potentially worthy of participation

45. A Few Specific SEO Questions

46. What Was Panda? Do I Need to Worry About It?
Where’s the beef?
-low ration of original content above the fold
Pages that exist simply to link to other pages…

47. Redundant content
Too many ads
Affiliate links and auto generated content

48. What Was Hummingbird?
• What’s “Hummingbird?”
It’s the name of the new search algorithm that Google is using, one that Google says
should return better results.
• What type of “new” search activity does Hummingbird help?
“Conversational search” is one of the biggest areas of focus with this update.
Google uses context to determine meaning and return results
Danny Sullivan - http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816

49. Can Links from Low Quality Sites Hurt Me?

50. LOCAL
•Just over a year-and-a-half ago, Google introduced
Blended Place Search, merging its traditional organic
algorithm with its index of Local businesses from Google
Places
•We saw the number of "pure" Local results (those
showing traditional "7-pack" formats) go from a
consistent majority to a consistent minority
•Local is growing in importance. Estimated that up
almost 40% of all search queries have a local component
•All businesses must be listed in Google Places (90%
have not claimed) and local search engines

51. What About Local/Maps SEO?
Normal
Algorithm
Maps
Algorithm
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

52. How Do I Get These Cool Results!?
That’s my
face!
Rel author tag… http://www.vervesearch.com/blog/seo/how-to-implement-the-relauthor-taga-step-by-step-guide/

53. What About Those Awesome Video Results?!
These are
great for
driving clicks
http://wistia.com/doc/video-seo

54. SEO is NOT once and DONE!
Some things to consider:
• SEO is an ongoing process – focus on fundamentals
- Quality content
- Engagement
- Basic blocking a tackling (URLs, keywords, site
speed, etc.)
• Authority matters
- Quality link partners
- Quality in bound links
• Slow and stead wins the race
• Think local
- Growth of mobile devices
- Local search engines
- Local consumer behavior

55. Thank You!
Want to get in touch?
mfleischner@upwardseo.com
MySEOmadesimple.com
Forum.MarketingScoop.com
Michael Fleischner, Upward SEO | November 2013