The best tips for DIY SEO strategies. Find the right keywords. Add them to your website properly. Get alerted to the best backlinks. Comment on them with sincerity, relevance, & authenticity Presented at several Silicon Valley conferences.

1. GoPhoto : A Case Study in SEO
Lunch & Learn May 2013
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john.v.schmitt@gmail.com

2. Agenda
Goal:
For you to be able to get more customers
…by learning easy tricks to help boost your
discoverability on organic search.
• Quick Background
• What’s GoPhoto
• Why Google?
• The Formula
• 3-part Easy Strategy for Success
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
2

3. Our Solution
GoPhoto, Go Digital
• For $200 we will scan, color correct and store 400 photos*
online
*photos, 35mm slides, negatives, postcards, etc…, old VHS, Super 8mm movies too.
• Return originals with a CD or DVD
• Provide an online digital album where clients can upload,
share and comment on these priceless memories
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4. Why GoPhoto?
• We’re consistently in the top 5 organic search
results for our keywords
• We’re using a strategy that’s highly transferrable.
• We’ve scanned >4,000,000 images since starting
2 years ago.
And, much credit to Leslie Nuccio
(leslienuccio@gmail.com)
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
4

5. Why Google?
• Google dominates the
US search market.
10x more orders from Google than Bing
Legitimately high reputation for accuracy*
• Powerful Targeting efficiency:
• Who: ~80% of people are in the market for “X”
• When: But, any given minute of the day, only 1%
of them are in the mood to buy “X”.
• Google gets you in touch with people who are
actively looking for “X”.
•
All other channels (facebook) are passive, & missing the “when”
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
5

6. The Formula
• Google ranks search results based on a
secret & changing formula
• The main factors:
• Relevancy
•
Keyword matches your site & content
• Old, but Fresh:
•
Site is old, but it’s updated frequently.
• Others validate you
•
Backlinks: Relevancy & Rank
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
6

7. The 3-Part Strategy
1. Focus Keywords
1. Create Content with those keywords
1. Get Backlinks
…of high quality & relevance to your keywords
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
7

8. Focus Keywords
• Too many keywords = dilution
• Use: Google Keyword Research Tool
• What are the top-searched terms that are
relevant to your business?
• <<DEMO>>
•
https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
8

9. Keywords in Content
• Create Content with those Focused Keywords
• Put Keywords in:
• URL (domain, path)
• Title
• Metadata (description, keywords)
• H1/H2
• Links within & across (blog, LP’s).
• Put up content early & update it often.
•
<<DEMO>> http://www.gophoto.com/photo-scanning
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
9

10. Getting Backlinks
• Setup Google Alerts to match your focused
keywords
• Google Alerts say this link is “relevant, high quality
for this keyword?
THEN COMMENT ON IT!
• Add the relevant keyword in your comment, in a link
back to you.
• Be 100% real, authentic, relevant, or suffer
backlash.
• <<Demo>> google alerts & comment
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
10

11. Be Legit
• Make sure you spend most of your time & money on
your total customer experience
• Happy customers create backlinks too.
• Unhappy customers will over-ride any SEO trick
• Fake comments & link farms are expensive & backfire.
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
11

12. Summary
• If you have a great product/service, & want to get more
customers:
• Focus Keywords
• Create Relevant Content
• Use Google Alerts to find the best backlink
opportunities
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
12

13. Q&A
Marketing Forum
5/8/13
John Schmitt
john@gophoto.com
13