A high level presentation on some of the core tactics and areas of focus that startups should focus on. Not all the best practices in SEO are needed for new sites or businesses. This presentation was given to the MuckerLabs 2013 classes.

1. SEO
for startups
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2. Search Signals 2
google.me/+EricWu
@eywu
ericywu
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3. Search Signals 3
107070727278091110500
@eywu
ericywu

4. C A U S E
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crawlability
accessibility
usability
searchability
engage-ability

5. crawlability is
making it easy for bots
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6. like diamonds,
URLs are forever.
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7. plan and make them clean
yes:
example.com/seo-for-startups/comments
no:
example.com/content/?id=57&title=seo%20for%20startups&cmnts=true
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8. Google
https://developers.google.com/webmasters/ajax-crawling/
http://qz.com/
if you use AJAX
shebang (#!) or push state
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9. there can be only one
<link rel=“canonical”
href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connor_MacLeod” />
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10. accessibility is
making your site available
to everyone & thing
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11. section 508
build for screen readers,
+1 for bots
• <title>
• <h1>...<h6>
• <p>
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• <img alt=“be descriptive”>
• <strong>
• <ul>, <ol>, <dl>

12. HTML5 + linked data
RDFa, microformats,
open graph, schema.org
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13. be responsive
think mobile web
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14. usability is
providing a kick ass
experience
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15. want more juice?
think clicks , not links
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16. page segmentation
where you put stuff
matters
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logo
register
|
sign
in
stuff
|
we
sell
|
and
|
about
us
privacy
policy
|
terms
of
service
©
search
signals,
2012
• bad
“seo”
links
• bad
“seo”
links
• insane
“seo”
links
• insane
“seo”
links
• bad
“seo”
links
• bad
“seo”
links
http://www.huomah.com/Search-Engines/Search-Engine-Optimization/
SEO-implications-of-Page-Segmentation-concepts.html

17. reducing
bounce rate
is good
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18. reducing
search refinements
is better
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19. send users
to other
high quality sites
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20. searchability is
using the words that
people search on the most
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22. take keyword tools
with a grain of salt
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• Google Keyword Tool
• Google Trends
• Google Webmaster Tools
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Keyword Discovery
• KeywordSpy
• SpyFu
• WordStream

23. engage-ability is
activating your audience to
comment and share
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24. facebook comments
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25. Google+ & rel=author
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26. twitter
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27. QDF
Query Deserves Freshness
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28. build links
by building buzz
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use SEO to amplify
your social efforts

30. plan your PR
to maximize success
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31. C A U S E
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crawlability
accessibility
usability
searchability
engage-ability

32. http://bit.ly/mucker-seo
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33. APPENDIX
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34. Resources to Read
Google’s SEO Start Guide
http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/
www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-
optimization-starter-guide.pdf
Moz’s The Beginner’s Guide to SEO
http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
Search Engine Land’s Guide to SEO
http://searchengineland.com/guide/seo
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