An overview of search engine marketing prepared by Aaron Bradley for Pinny Gniwish's class at McGill University in Montreal.

1. An Overview of Search Engine Marketing Aaron Bradley

2. Search Engine Marketing Basics

3. SEM, SEO and PPC: Definitions

4. SEM, SEO and PPC: Functional Objectives

5. SEO and PPC: Differences Organic Search (SEO) Position based on algorithmic logic Cannot be purchased Persists as long as relevance holds Paid Search (PPC) Position mostly based on bid price Advertiser pays per click Persists as long as you keep paying

11. Why Search is Important Search is the Biggest Source of Qualified Online Traffic Big: 10,000,000,000 searches are conducted in the US every month Qualified: Traffic to a site is by definition highly targeted

12. Why Search is Important SEO Offers a Potentially High Return on Investment Small cost compared to other marketing efforts In the majority of cases, SEO doesn’t entail additional effort, but performing work already required differently

13. Why Search is Important Search is Focused on Acquisition Most purchases and other online conversion events start with a search query SEO Still Offers a Competitive Advantage Majority of organizations have not yet invested substantially in SEM, and/or do it poorly

14. Characteristics of a Search Engine

15. SNAP QUIZ: What’s more intelligent?

16. SNAP QUIZ: What’s more intelligent?

17. SNAP QUIZ: What’s more intelligent?

18. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Are Stupid Search engine rankings are based on algorithms, not human review – and they cannot reason or make inferences Search engines require continue continual instruction about the topic of any given website, page, image, etc.

21. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Are All About Words Images, videos and other types of multimedia need to be described in words for search engines Users search using words – when there’s a click path that doesn’t require words, that’s only because that words have defined that relationship

25. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Are Secretive Search engine algorithms are closely guarded secrets – if they weren’t spammers would run amok At the end of the day, search engine optimization is based on how we think search engines rank websites (unless you’re a Google engineer)

26. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Keep Changing Search engines change their algorithms in order to extend their reach (more types of results) and/or improve relevancy (better results) Search engines change their algorithms as marketers and/or spammers figure out how to exploit aspects of their algorithms

27. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Believe in Popularity Contests All search engines rely heavily upon linking patterns and/or user click behavior in order to rank websites

29. Characteristics of a Search Engine Search Engines Punish Bad Behaviors Google demands that what its robots see is the same as what a human visitor sees Google uses both algorithms and human-generated reports to identify sites that violate their guidelines Penalties may include decreased rankings or an outright ban

31. How Search Engines Rank Websites

32. IntermissionHow Search Engines Find Things to Rank Finding Websites Google finds websites through links or submissions Finding Web Pages Google finds pages by following links on a site or external links to pages on a site Webmasters can submit URLs (sitemaps)

33. How Search Engines Rank Websites The Short, But True, Version Google ranks websites based on content and inbound links

34. How Search Engines Rank Websites The Short, But True, Version Google ranks websites based on content and inbound links Even Shorter, Equally True Version What’s on your site and who links to it

35. How Search Engines Rank Websites Site Navigation, Global Architecture and Internal Linking Well-structured and consistent navigation Internal linking structure that a search engine robot can follow (spiderablity) No cannibals or orphans

36. How Search Engines Rank Websites Onsite Factors – Site Page Structure Standard and valid code Content defined in semantically meaningful blocks Keyword used in titles, images and other on-page elements

37. How Search Engines Rank Websites Onsite Factors – Content Deep (rather than shallow) content written in sentences (rather than fragmentary) using relevant keywords Unique content (rather than content that’s replicated elsewhere on the web) Content that’s updated frequently

38. How Search Engines Rank Websites Offsite Factors – Links Quality, authority (PageRank/inbound links/domain extension) and topicality of the linking site, and of the linking target Geographical location/domain extension of the linking site Words used in the anchor text of links

41. Optimization Tasks and Techniques

42. Optimization Tasks and Techniques At the end of the day, Google likes sites that are: Well-organized and easy to navigate Load quickly with few errors Contain well-structured, relevant information Are updated frequently Are linked to (recommended) by other websites

43. Optimization Tasks and Techniques At the end of the day, Google likes sites that are: Well-organized and easy to navigate Load quickly with few errors Contain well-structured, relevant information Are updated frequently Are linked to (recommended) by other websites … and so do your users

44. Optimization Tasks and Techniques Keyword Research – Organic Search Use keyword research tools to determine optimization targets based on potential traffic, competitiveness, trends and geography Use internal metrics to determine real keyword traffic (correlated with rankings), conversion and profitability of keywords

45. Optimization Tasks and Techniques Keyword Research – Paid Search Use keyword research tools to determine optimization targets based on potential traffic, ad competitiveness and cost Use internal and ad metrics to determine effectiveness and ROI of keyword campaigns

49. Optimization Tasks and Techniques On-Site SEO – Technical and Structural Ensure URLs are canonical (singular) and semantically meaningful Work towards a site and link architecture that’s consistent, spiderable and semantically meaningful Submit XML sitemaps and use other search-engine supplied tools

50. Optimization Tasks and Techniques On-Site SEO – Page Level Optimization “Tag” each page (HTML elements and select page elements) to maximize keyword focus Ensure keyword content is spiderable, either by using text or text replacement Control number of outbound links and where they’re going

51. Optimization Tasks and Techniques On-Site SEO – Content Update content frequently, as applicable Ensure content is original (unique) and useful (linkable) Use keyword research to frame content keyword universe

52. Optimization Tasks and Techniques On-Site SEO – Optimization for Paid Search Use the same techniques for organic search optimization to ensure that PPC ad target pages provide a good match for bid keywords Test and refine PPC-specific landing-pages for maximum ROI Watch paid search metrics like a hawk

53. Optimization Tasks and Techniques Link Development Create content that’s actually good/useful enough that people will link to it Utilize social media and other engagement strategies to generate links Get listed in directories, buy links and otherwise be creative in acquiring links

55. Thanks! http://www.seoskeptic.com http://www.twitter.com/aaranged