This is the No Bull Sh*t SEO presentation from CO+HOOTS Mid-Week Mind Tweak, given by Ryan Knoll on November 13th, 2019. Ryan holds nothing back and shares many tips and tricks learned from 10+ years in digital marketing and SEO. Covering the basics of whether or not SEO is a good fit for your business to how to run a link building campaign using the same tools the professionals do. Check out the complete SEO resource guide here: https://pixelsoda.com/mwmt/

1. No Bull Sh*t SEO
With
1

2. What we’re going to cover
● Basics of SEO
● Is Seo a Good Fit?
● Organic SEO
○ On-site SEO
○ Off-site SEO
■ Link Building Strategies
● Google Maps SEO
● How To Hire An SEO
*Notes:
● SEO is constantly changing. Things covered today may not work next week.
● Each section could be a 2-hour long presentation so we’re not covering everything.
● There’s a lot of links throughout the presentation. Don't worry if you miss one… There's a resource site
at the end.
2

3. Why Listen to Me About SEO?
I did SEO for 10+ years before starting my business.
I built the Phoenix New Times’ Local SEO program which served
over 1,000 clients.
Then, I was an SEO consultant for iCrossing and worked with
companies like Microsoft, Starwood Hotels, and PetSmart.
The lessons learned working with those businesses helped me
grow my own company.
Now, I’m sharing those secrets with you...
3

4. This is a practical workshop
Before we start, choose one product or service to
promote…
There are no limits except to keep it to one.
Having one product/service will help frame SEO
research and questions on the next few slides.
4

5. Is SEO A Good Fit?
Before starting any marketing, ask which strategies make sense.
No matter the marketing channel, each performs differently
depending on the product/service.
Is SEO the right fit?
The empathy maps from last month’s MWMT are going to be a big
help.
5

6. 30 Second Search
Figure out how a potential customer would find the
product/service.
Do a Google search.
Search as if you were a potential client looking for
your product/service.
What did you see?
● Was Yelp or Amazon ranked #1
● Google Maps results
● Google Local Service Ads
Remember what was there...
6

7. 7
What did we find?

8. Anatomy of Search Results
8
Google Ads
Google Local Service Ads Google Maps

9. Anatomy of Search Results
9
Featured Snippets Knowledge Graph

10. Anatomy of Search Results
10
Google News Products

11. Where are the organic results?
Organic Results
11
Organic Results
Why is this important?

12. Types of SEO
It's essential to consider which type of SEO will work best based on what shows up when searching.
The two types of SEO that affect most businesses are Google Maps (Local SEO) and Organic SEO.
Organic SEO focuses on the page relevance with on-site and off-site factors.
Google Maps Optimization or Local SEO focuses on on-site factors as well as Google Maps page relevance
and citations.
12

13. Organic SEO
13

14. How Organic SEO Works
Success in organic search is dependent on search engines finding, reading, and evaluating a site’s content
against other web pages using an algorithm.
Google uses over 200 signals to evaluate the relevance of a site.
14
Crawl & Find
Read & Evaluate
Compare & Index

15. On-Site Vs Off-Site
These 200 signals can be broken down into two camps.
On-site and off-site signals.
Any guesses as to the difference between on-site and off-site SEO?
On-Site factors include any elements within the website. Title tags, page content, and load time all play in.
Off-site includes external factors, like backlinks, site mentions and social signals.
15

16. On-Site SEO
16

17. Page Canonicalization Issues
Canonical Tags Improperly Used
URL Structure Issues
Unnecessary Sub-Folders
Unnecessary Subdomains
Generic Folder Structure
Tracking Parameters in the URL
Session IDs in the URL
Broken Images
Broken Links
Page Load Speed
Switchboard Tags
Missing Breadcrumbs
Missing Custom 404 Page
404 Error Page Does Not Return 404 Status Code
Site Requires Session IDs to Function
Site Requires Cookies to Function
JavaScript Navigation
Flash Navigation
On-Site Ranking Factors
17
Images Used in Navigation
302 Redirects
Meta-Refresh Redirects
JavaScript Redirects
Unnecessary Redirects
Unnecessary Internal No-follow Links
Generic Desktop to Mobile Site Redirection
Duplicate Content
Frames are Being Used
JavaScript Used to Control Site Content
Site Constructed in Flash
Pop-up Windows
Relevant Content Contained within PDF or Other Formats
Splash Page
Main Entry Page Requires User Action
Buried Deep / Island Pages
Search Engine Incompatibility
Cross Browser Incompatibility
Webmaster Tools Are Not Available
Shared IP Address Issues
Site Not Hosted in Same Country as Target Audience
Cloaked Content
Questionable Content
Vary HTTP Header – Same URL
Vary HTTP Header – Different URL
Robots.txt File is Missing
Robots.txt File is Blocking Content
Robots.txt File is Missing XML Sitemap Location
Robots Meta Tag
Consumer Facing Sitemap Missing
XML Sitemap Missing
XML Video Sitemap Missing
XML Sitemap is Too Large
XML Sitemap is Malformed
Inline / On-Page CSS
Inline / On-Page JavaScript
Invalid HTML Markup
Page Title Formatting
Duplicate Page Titles
Page Titles Missing
H1 Tags Missing
Multiple H1 Tags
Meta Descriptions Missing
Meta Descriptions Too Short
Meta Descriptions Too Long
Video Transcripts Missing
Missing Micro Formatting
Lack of Body Content
Text Contained Within Images
Missing ALT Tags
Generic Anchor Text

18. What On-Site Factors to Focus On?
Each website is different and has different needs.
There are a ton of signals, and they change regularly, so finding what you need to focus on and where to
start can be hard.
To know what needs to be fixed, the best place to start is with a tool.
An excellent and easy to understand tool is called WooRank.
18

19. More On-Site SEO Info
There is a lot involved with on-site SEO as stated before. Far too much for this presentation.
If anyone really wants to get into the weeds with on-site SEO.
Start with a WordPress site.
Use an SEO plugin like All In One SEO or Yoast SEO.
Follow these guides
● On-Site Basics: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/on-page-seo
● Wordpress Guide: quicksprout.com/wordpress-seo/
19

20. Off-Site SEO
20

21. Terms To Know
A backlink is any incoming link from one web page to another. These drive off-site SEO in a HUGE way and
help determine how well a website ranks for any given keyword.
An anchor refers to the “anchor text” of a hyperlink.
21
<a href="https://backlink.com/" title="Backlink">Backlink</a>
Anchor TextLinked URL

22. Penguin
This is practical advice on building backlinks. If done wrong,
there’s a potential for harm.
History Lesson
In April of 2012, Google launched what was called the Penguin
update.
This punished sites who spammed search results by stuffing
keywords into links.
Penguin is still in effect and can hurt a site with spammy
backlinks.
22

23. Proper Backlink Profile
Any website ranking well has mostly branded,
generic, or URL anchors.
Here is an example from TidyCasa.com.
If the keyword is “pizza.” The temptation is to build
backlinks that say “Pizza” or “best pizza in Phoenix.”
The strategy is to build up the authority of the
website with quality links.
Then, have great content on the site about pizza.
Bonus: If the linking page also talks about pizza.
23
URLBrandedGeneric
Screenshot from ahrefs.com

24. 24
Great...How do I make links?

25. 25
Editorial Mentions
Guest Posts

26. Guest Post Backlinks
Guest Posts involve writing articles on someone else's website or blog. IE: posting as a guest.
Most sites that allow guest posts will also include backlinks within the content.
These links are a reliable way to build trust and authority through influential publications.
26

27. How To Get Guest Posts
Guest posts are great but how do we get them?
There are a few methods:
● Leveraging current relationships
● Blog outreach
● Buy them!
27

28. Buying Guest Posts
Most of us don’t know a ton of site owners who will
let us guest post on their blog.
This means spending a lot of time doing outreach
and writing posts.
That said, there are resources for easy guest posting.
Authority Builders (authority.builders) is a
marketplace for guest posting.
28

29. Editorial Mentions
The best links come from editorial mentions.
An editorial mention is when a website refers and links to a site in a piece of content.
Editorial mentions may include
● Citing someone as a content source
● Referring to the website for additional information
● Citing a website as the creator of an infographic
● Including a website or content in a link roundup
● Interviewing someone associated with the website
29

30. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a sourcing service
connecting journalists and bloggers with expert
sources.
Sign-up for their newsletter.
It’s free...
HARO sends stories journalists are looking for
sources for.
Send a reply and get featured!
helpareporter.com
30

31. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
After signing up, HARO will send two-three emails a day with
people looking for sources.
Pro-Tips
● Don’t just pick categories directly relevant to the
business
● Respond to these quickly (1-3 hours)
● Look for anonymous outlets. Those are the WSJ, CNN,
Washington Posts of the world
● 1 in 5 will reply, 1 in 10 pick up the source
● When sending advice, think outside the box
● Save responses
31

32. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
A great response to this query would be…
Hey there,
I’ve been a Texas resident for the past 20 years and have been
stifled by student loan debt for the past 15 years.
I’d love to connect and give some insight.
Here’s my contact info.
32

33. Google Maps SEO
33

34. Ranking In Google Maps
Google Maps optimization has several benefits over traditional
SEO.
Businesses like home services, restaurants, beauty salons, and
spas all benefit from this type of SEO.
Pros
● Cheaper
● Less moving parts
● Less competition
● Appears higher in search results
34
Organic Results
Maps Results

35. Google Maps SEO Signals
There five main signals Google looks for when ranking a business in Google Maps.
Google Maps Ranking Signals
● Optimized Google Maps listing
● Website linked with relevant content
● Citations - Anywhere a businesses Name, Address and Phone number (NAP) appear online
● Consistency of NAP information.
● Location relevant to the searcher
35

36. Google Maps Listing Optimization
● Set up a Google Business Listing
● Choose a relevant category. Be as specific as possible
● Fill out everything possible
○ Website
○ Phone number
○ Well written business description
● Use quality high-resolution photos
● Make sure the information provided matches everywhere
● Use a local number
● Start encouraging reviews
36

37. Citations
Once the business has been claimed and optimized, the next step is to build citations.
A citation is anywhere a business Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) appear online. These need to
be consistent across all platforms.
Tools
● Bright Local - brightlocal.com
● Moz Local - moz.com/products/local
● Press Releases with NAP information
It takes around 150 - 200 citations to dominate most cities.
37

38. Hiring an SEO
38

39. Delegating SEO
Even knowing all the tools and techniques, SEO takes time. When I started Tidy Casa, I hired a company to
help with SEO because of how much work it is day-to-day.
For those of us who need to hire help. Here are some pros and cons and pro-tips for hiring an SEO company.
39
Pros
● They can adjust for changing algorithms
● They keep an eye on things month to month
● Less likely to stop link building
Cons
● More expensive
● Still need to keep an eye on KPIs to make sure
we’re making progress.

40. What They Should Provide
Organic SEO
● Keyword Search: This should be a discussion. No SEO will know your business as well as you do.
● On-Site SEO: There should be time initially spent reviewing the current site and making updates.
● Off-Site SEO: Link building is still super important. Some companies focus on a select number of
backlinks. The most important thing is building QUALITY links.
● Reports: Pick one set of KPIs and stick to it. The best KPI for SEO is organic site traffic. Never focus on
the “number of keywords.” Even keyword positions can be tricky.
Local SEO:
● They should be managing the GMB page and building citations.
● Don’t do this for more than six months to a year per location. There are diminishing returns.
40

41. Red Flags
Too Cheap
When an SEO company is cheap, it’s a good sign they’re not building links.
Some SEO agencies charge per-month and only do a one-time on-site update.
If they’re not doing ongoing link building, don’t pay per month.
Fast results
Doing SEO right takes time.
If a company promised results in weeks or even months, it’s a red flag.
A proper SEO campaign should have slow, steady results over six months to a year.
41

42. Q&A?
42
pixelsoda.com/mwmt/