Presented to Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs, 8/7/11 by Karri Carlson, Marketing & Development at Leadtail. http://marketing.leadtail.com http://twitter.com/leadtail http://facebook.com/leadtail

1. AFRAID OF SEO ?

2. WHAT IS SEO ?
SEO
=
Search
Engine
Op/miza/on
“…
the
process
of
improving
the
visibility
of
a
website
or
a
web
page
in
search
engines
via
the
"natural"
or
un-­‐paid
search
results.”
Source:
Wikipedia

3. IN OTHER WORDS
“How
the
heck
do
I
get
found
online?”
“How
do
I
get
people
to
visit
my
site?”
“Do
I
have
to
pay
to
get
on
Page
1
of
Google?”
Source:
Everyone
We
Talk
To

4. PAID
RESULTS
PAID
RESULTS
“NATURAL”
RESULTS

5. 25–30%
CLICKS
70–75%
CLICKS
Source:
MarkeKngSherpa

6. 121
MILLION
Number
of
searches
performed
on
Google
–
every
hour.
Source:
SearchEngineLand

7. THREE KEYS TO SEO
•
Get
crawled
by
Google
•
Create
bloody
good
content
•
Relentless
pursuit
of
quality
links

8. GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE

9. GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE
•
Use
Google
Webmaster
Tools
•
Mind
your
meta
tags
•
Minimize
the
use
of
Flash

10. GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE
Use
Google
Webmaster
Tools
hUp://www.google.com/webmasters
•
Google
will
give
you
several
methods
to
verify
that
you
own
this
website
•
Use
www.xml-­‐sitemaps.com
to
create
a
sitemap
document
to
submit
to
Google
•
Submit
your
sitemap
via
the
Webmaster
Tools
Dashboard
•
Go
do
something
fun…
it
may
take
several
days
for
Google
to
crawl
your
site

•
Return
later
to
check
out
how
Google
sees
your
site
•
“Crawl
Errors”
will
indicate
any
pages
Google
could
not
access
•
“Search
Queries”
tell
you
which
search
terms
are
bringing
people
to
your
site
•
“Keywords”
will
tell
you
what
Google
thinks
your
site
is
about
•
“Links
to
your
site”
will
tell
you
exactly
that…
who’s
linking
to
you

11. GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE
Mind
Your
META
Tags
In
most
cases,
Google
uses
your
meta
tags
something
like
this:
So,
make
sure
your
<TITLE>
tag
makes
a
good
“headline”
for
your
page.
Give
each
page
a
unique
<TITLE>
e.g.,
each
product
page
includes
the
product
name.
Use
your
<DESCRIPTION>
tag
to
reinforce
why
someone
should
click
thru
to
your
page.

12. GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE
Minimize
Use
of
Flash
Remember
our
friends
at
Suju’s
Coffee?
Don’t
let
this
happen
to
you!

13. BLOODY GOOD CONTENT

14. BLOODY GOOD CONTENT
•
Keywords
(what
you’re
about)
•
Press
releases
•
Photos
and
video
•
Case
studies,
tutorials
•
Lists,
reviews,
raKngs

15. Bloody good CONTENT
Keywords
hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
•
Keywords
are
the
handful
of
words
and
phrases
you
want
to
strongly
associate
with
your
brand,
products,
website,
and
social
presence
online.
•
Think
about
a
few
“anchor”
words
that
describe
what
you
do/make/sell
•
e.g.,
soap,
socks,
photography,
art
prints,
cards,
catering
•
Add
modifiers
to
make
it
specific
to
you
and
your
customers
•
Geographic:
“Bay
Area
pet
photography”,
•
Product
oriented:
“handmade
angora
kneesocks”
•
Customer
oriented:
“online
storefronts
for
arKsans”
•
3-­‐4
word
phrases
work
best
as
they
get
preUy
specific
about
who
this
site
is
for
•
Use
the
Google
Keyword
Tool
to
see
variaKons
and
monthly
search
volume

16. Bloody good CONTENT
Press
Releases
hUp://www.bestonlineadverKsingstuff.com/2009/11/best-­‐free-­‐and-­‐
affordable-­‐press-­‐release-­‐services/
•
Don’t
worry
-­‐
it’s
not
the
Daily
Press
Briefing
at
the
White
House

•
Anything
happening
in
your
business
that
supports
your
“story”
is
newsworthy!
•
You
hired
a
new
person,
or
signed
a
new
client
•
Your
business
will
be
represented
at
an
event
(sponsor,
speaker,
etc.)
•
You’ve
conducted
a
survey
and
want
to
share
the
results
•
Use
your
keyword
phrases
liberally,
but
naturally,
in
each
press
release
•
Create
a
“News”
secKon
for
your
website
and
post
your
press
releases
•
Don’t
forget
to
push
out
your
news
via
Facebook,
TwiUer,
and
Email
•
Press
releases
can
be
duplicated
across
the
web
without
any
penalty
from
Google
•
Press
release
services
can
help
you
distribute
your
news
to
relevant
media
outlets

17. Bloody good CONTENT
Photos
&
Video
•
Use
the
ALT
tag
to
associate
keywords
with
images
•
Create
a
text
transcript
for
your
videos;
include
your
website
URL,
too
•
News
is
given
preferenKal
treatment
in
search
results
(remember
press
releases!)

18. Bloody good CONTENT
Lists,
How
Tos,
Reviews….
•
Over
300
MILLION
Google
searches
each
month
include
the
phrase
“how
to”
•
Over
124
MILLION
Google
searches
each
month
include
the
word
“review”
•
Experiment
with
the
format
that
makes
the
most
sense
for
your
site
•
Lists
of
tools,
products,
vendors
you
recommend
•
Reviews
or
wrap
ups
describing
an
event
you
aUended
•
Video
tutorials
that
show
people
how
you
create
your
product
•
See
what
categories
people
are
searching
for
using
Google’s
Keyword
Tool
hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

19. LIIIIIInks!

20. LINKS!
•
Quality
over
quanKty
•
Marketplaces
&
directories
•
Social
media
links

21. LINKS!
Quality
over
QuanKty
•
Google
uses
a
system
called
“Page
Rank”
as
shorthand
for
a
site’s
authority
•
The
higher
the
Page
Rank,
the
more
Google
trusts
this
site
and
the
sites
it
links
to
•
You
want
links
from
sites
that
have
high
Page
Rank
•
Use
Page
Rank
Checker
to
see
the
current
page
rank
for
any
site
hUp://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
•
How
do
you
get
sites
to
link
to
you?
•
Give
to
get
–
put
a
link
on
your
site
to
theirs
•
Comment
on
their
blog/arKcles
•
Follow
and
engage
them
on
Facebook,
TwiUer,
LinkedIn,
etc.
•
Ask
them
(nicely)

22. LINKS!
Marketplaces
&
Directories
•
Marketplaces
and
directories
can
do
some
of
the
“heavy
liqing”
SEO
work
for
you
•
Marketplaces
and
directories
opKmize
their
overall
site
to
aUract
people
interested
in
the
products
their
members
sell
•
Many
marketplaces
offer
promoKonal
tools
to
help
you
get
more
visibility
•
Marketplaces
succeed
when
their
members
succeed
–
talk
to
other
sellers
to
find
out
what
is
working
for
them,
and
where
else
you
might
want
to
list

23. LINKS!
Social
Media
Links
•
The
big
search
engines
are
working
hard
to
figure
out
how
to
best
interpret
links
and
menKons
from
social
media
sites.
•
These
links
can
be
very
important
when
someone
is
searching
for
YOU
•
Use
your
social
media
profiles
to
drive
people
back
to
your
store/website

24. CLIMB TO THE TOP

25. Climb to the top
•
Clean
up
your
website
(meta
tags,
no
flash,
etc.)
•
No
subsKtute
for
relevant
content
•
Get
lots
of
quality
sites
linking
to
you
•
SEO
is
a
process,
not
an
event;
change
takes
Kme
•
Lots
of
resources
to
help

26. TOOLS AND LINKS
Google
Webmaster
Tools
hUp://www.google.com/webmasters
Free
XML
Sitemap
Generator
hUp://www.xml-­‐sitemaps.com
VIDEO:
How
Google
Uses
Meta
Tags
in
Search
Results
hUp://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35624#1
Why
Flash
&
SEO
Don’t
Mix
hUp://www.seomoz.org/blog/flash-­‐and-­‐seo-­‐compelling-­‐reasons-­‐why-­‐search-­‐engines-­‐flash-­‐sKll-­‐dont-­‐
mix
Google
Keyword
Tool
hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Best
Free
&
Affordable
Press
Release
Services
hUp://www.bestonlineadverKsingstuff.com/2009/11/best-­‐free-­‐and-­‐affordable-­‐press-­‐release-­‐services/
Page
Rank
Checker
hUp://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
More
resources
for
online
markeKng,
adverKsing,
and
social
media
hUp://markeKng.leadtail.com/resources/

27. Thank You, Monsters

28. Leadtail
helps
marketers,
adverKsers,
and
business
owners
navigate
the
cluUered,
confusing
world
of
online
markeKng.
We’d
love
to
talk
about
how
we
can
help
you,
too!
Karri
Carlson
karri@leadtail.com
@heykarri,
@Leadtail
Marke/ng.Leadtail.com
www.facebook.com/Leadtail