1. SEO Secrets of Wise
Bread
Greg Go FINCON11
Wise Bread Chicago, October 1-2, 2011

2. Agenda
I. Introduction
II. SEO Overview & Best Practices
III. Wise Bread s SEO Mentality
IV. Day-to-Day Tactics
V. Tools We Actually Use
VI. Q&A
Slides, links, notes at www.wisebread.com/
fincon11
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 2
FINCON11, Chicago

3. Wise Bread s SEO Credentials
• 570,000 monthly Google referrals.
Search traffic = 54% of all Wise Bread traffic
• Rank in top 20 for 17,000 keywords.
credit card guide, frugal living, change your life, best
personal finance blogs, best ways to save money,
credit karma
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 3
FINCON11, Chicago

4. About Greg
• Wise Bread co-founder and tech lead.
• About.com Guide to Online Business ( 07- 08).
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 4
FINCON11, Chicago

5. The Secret
Get relevant links
to high quality content
from trusted authorities.

6. Keyword Markets
credit cards
personal finance
20 something savings accounts
finance for college students
saving money
recipes
homemade
orange chicken
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 6
FINCON11, Chicago

7. Keywords to Target
1. Plenty of traffic.
2. Easy to beat competition.
3. High value readers.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 7
FINCON11, Chicago

8. Can I Beat Top 10 Results?
Search Search Ranking Value / CPC
Volume Results Difficulty
Keyword (AdWords)
(Google) (SEOmoz)
(Google)
credit card 16,600,000 682m 81 $4.72
credit card college 301,000 443m 60 $6.87
credit card college 11,000 192m 46 $8.39+
first card
SEOmoz s Keyword Difficulty Tool:
1. Who are the top 10 results?
2. Who links to them?
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 8
FINCON11, Chicago

9. Takeaway #1: Be a Niche Authority
credit cards You?
personal finance
20 something savings accounts
finance for college students
saving money
recipes
homemade
orange chicken
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 9
FINCON11, Chicago

10. What s a High-Quality Site?
• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Does the page provide substantial value when compared
to other pages in search results?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed
magazine, encyclopedia or book?
All 23 questions:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/
2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 10
FINCON11, Chicago

11. After Google s Panda Update
Google Q/Q
Quarter Referrals
600k Change
Dec – Feb 994k
550k Mar – May 1,310k +31%
Jun – Aug 1,629k +24%
500k
450k
400k
Panda
350k update
2/24/11
300k
Feb M ar Apr M ay J un J ul Aug
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 11
FINCON11, Chicago

12. Takeaway #2: Think Long Term
Wise Bread lifetime search traffic
Consistent quality > Perfect
tactics
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 12
FINCON11, Chicago

13. Wise Bread s SEO Playbook
Strategy, Tactics, Tools

14. Wise Bread s SEO Playbook
Big Picture Strategy Day-to-Day Tactics
1. Always be link building. 1. Magazine quality articles.
2. Engage the sphere. 2. Article checklist.
3. Slow and steady. 3. Monitor, test, analyze, tweak.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 14
FINCON11, Chicago

15. Wise Bread s Strategy
1. Always be link building.
• From high quality sites that are bigger, more influential, niche
authorities, etc.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 15
FINCON11, Chicago

16. Some Regular PF Roundups
• PT Money • The Simple Dollar
Weekend Link Roundup Weekly Roundup
• Wise Bread • Budgets Are Sexy
Best Money Tips Weekly Roundup
• Get Rich Slowly • Financial Highway
Spare Change Weekly Review
• Money Crashers • Sweating the Big Stuff
Personal Finance Roundup Best of the Rest
• Moolanomy • Green Panda Tree House
Personal Finance Roundup What s Cool Around the Web
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 16
FINCON11, Chicago

17. Wise Bread s Strategy
1. Always be link building.
2. Engage the sphere.
• Find and engage niche authorities (thought leaders, subject
matter experts, influential personalities, passionate rising stars,
etc).
• Make sure everyone knows us.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 17
FINCON11, Chicago

18. Engage Anywhere and Everywhere
Weekly twitter chat at #wbchat
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 18
FINCON11, Chicago

19. Takeaway #3: Social Media = SEO
LifeRemix by
@GlenStansberry
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 19
FINCON11, Chicago

20. Wise Bread s Strategy
1. Always be link building.
2. Engage the sphere.
3. Slow and steady.
• Be cautious. Move slowly. Beware of fads.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 20
FINCON11, Chicago

21. Don t Panic!
Wise Bread lifetime search traffic
Look at those peaks and valleys.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 21
FINCON11, Chicago

22. Wise Bread s SEO Playbook
Big Picture Strategy Day-to-Day Tactics
1. Always be link building. 1. Magazine quality articles.
2. Engage the sphere. 2. Article checklist.
3. Slow and steady. 3. Monitor, test, analyze, tweak.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 22
FINCON11, Chicago

23. Wise Bread s Tactics
1. Magazine quality articles.
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine,
encyclopedia or book?
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 23
FINCON11, Chicago

24. Magazine Quality Content
• 800-1,000 words
• Long enough to be authoritative.
• Short enough to be built upon with related articles.
• Pretty picture.
• In-depth Flickr search is worth the time.
• Editing is more important than writing.
• Formatting matters to bots: <h1> <h2> <strong> <em> <a>
• Typos matter to human readers.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 24
FINCON11, Chicago

25. Wise Bread s Tactics
1. Magazine quality articles.
2. Article checklist.
• Help readers and search engines understand.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 25
FINCON11, Chicago

26. Article Checklist
Places for Keywords Editorial Considerations
ü Article Title (<h1> tag) ü Authority
ü Page Title (<title> tag) ü Readability
ü Meta Description ü Categories & Tags
ü URL ü Links out – related articles.
ü H-headings, bold, italics ü Links in – update related old
ü <img> alt and title posts.
properties
ü <a> title property
Tip! Mix up keywords. Use related phrases.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 26
FINCON11, Chicago

27. Wise Bread s Tactics
1. Magazine quality articles.
2. Article checklist.
3. Monitor, test, analyze, tweak.
• Questions we ask. Tools we use.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 27
FINCON11, Chicago

28. Tools We Actually Use
• Research • Monitoring
• SEOmoz • Google Analytics
• Open Site Explorer • Mint
• KW Difficulty Tool • Sitemeter
• SEMRush • CrazyEgg
• Google • Facebook Insights
• Search Results • Klout
• AdWords
• Wise 1000
• (fka Wise Bread s Top
PF Blogs)
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 28
FINCON11, Chicago

29. SEMRush – Blog s Best Rankings
This blog is an authority on… ?
http://www.semrush.com/info/fiscalgeek.com
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 29
FINCON11, Chicago

30. CrazyEgg – Heatmaps!
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 30
FINCON11, Chicago

31. Winning SEO Strategy
Get relevant links
to high quality content
from trusted authorities.

32. Action Item
Work the list. Get a link from every relevant, high-quality blog.
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 32
FINCON11, Chicago

33. Questions?
• What SEO mistakes have you made?
• How much time do you spend on SEO? (As a
percentage of your effort.)
• Do link exchanges work?
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 33
FINCON11, Chicago

34. The End – Thanks!
Slides, links, notes
• wisebread.com/fincon11
Get the Entire Playbook
• Advanced Blog Monetization
– Lynn Truong
• 1 Million Page Views on a Small Budget
– Will Chen
SEO Secrets of Wise Bread 34
FINCON11, Chicago