This document summarizes an SEO bootcamp presented by Tom Lynch of Astek Consulting. The bootcamp covers SEO basics, best practices, hands-on tools and tactics. Attendees are introduced to Tom and learn the first three steps of SEO analysis: having content on their site, making the content visible to search engines, and optimizing what search engines see when they visit the site. The bootcamp also distinguishes between paid and organic search and the value of SEO for driving qualified visitors and revenue.

1. SEO
Bootcamp
Sponsored
by:
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

2. Free
WiFi
Set
Up
! Network
Name
=
CoH_Guest
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

3. What
We
Will
Be
Covering
! SEO
Basics
! The
First
3
Steps
in
SEO
! SEO
Best
PracBces
! We
OpBmize
an
ExisBng
Page
Together
! 15
Minute
Break
! Select
the
“Right”
Keywords
for
New
Content
! More
Hands-­‐on
Tools
&
TacBcs
! Homework
! You
can
do
it!
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

4. IntroducBons
! Tom
Lynch
-­‐
With
more
than
25
years
experience
in
direct
and
integrated
markeBng,
Tom
has
spent
the
past
15
years
focusing
on
helping
companies
achieve
their
business
goals
by
leveraging
the
efficient
use
of
technology
and
the
Web.
! Tom
takes
pride
in
client
saBsfacBon.
He
believes
that
through
collaboraBng
with
clients
for
the
long-­‐term
growth
of
their
business’
and
developing
creaBve
yet
pracBcal
soluBons
to
their
goals;
both
the
client
and
service
provider
will
flourish.
! Frequently
invited
to
speak
at
naBonal
industry
trade
shows
on
search
engine
markeBng
best
pracBces,
he
enjoys
passing
along
the
holy
grail
of
website
traffic
development.
! In
addiBon
to
being
a
markeBng
guru,
avid
golfer
and
fisherman,
Tom
is
a
graduate
of
the
Second
City
Conservatory
and
co-­‐wrote
an
episode
of
a
Comedy
Central
show.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

5. Who
Is
Astek?
! Website
Design
&
Development
! Search
Engine
MarkeBng
! Social
Media
ConsulBng
! Proprietary
CMS
Webany
! Wordpress
Development
! App
Development
! BBB
A
Rated
! 10
Years
in
Business
! Professional
&
Fun
to
Work
With
! Your
Business
Goals
Drive
our
Efforts
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

6. Who
are
you
please?
! Your
Name
! Your
Company
&
Website
! Your
SEO
Knowledge
from
1
–
3
(3=ninja)
! Using
SEO
now?
! What
you
would
like
to
learn
today?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

7. What
is
SEO?
! SEO
is
the
art
and
science
of
aligning
your
website
text
with
the
search
phrases
that
people
looking
for
your
services
are
typing
into
Google.
Once
these
keyword
opportuniBes
are
idenBfied
through
research,
they
must
be
applied
to
new
content
that
is
created
regularly.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

8. Paid
Vs.
Organic
Search
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

9. SEO
Value
ProposiBon
! Usually
“Bemer”
LisBngs
Get
More
Clicks
! More
Qualified
Visitors
! More
Page
Views
! More
Revenue
! Will
SEO
Outperform
PPC?
! Because
things
change
all
the
Bme
-­‐
neither
is
a
set
it
and
forget
it
strategy…
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

10. First
Three
Steps
of
SEO
Analysis
1. Do
you
have
content?
1. What
is
content,
Tom?
2. Can
the
search
engines
see
the
content?
3. What
do
they
see
when
they
get
there?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

11. What
is
Content?
! A
website
with:
 Text/Copy
 Pictures
 Videos
 PDF’s
 Calculators
or
“Widgets”
 Webinars
 Links
 White
Papers
 Reviews
 What
else
can
you
think
of?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

12. Do
You
Have
Content?
! Yes
–
You
can
stay.

! No
–
sorry,
you
need
to
go
home
and
create
content…

! Just
kidding,
you
can
stay.
I’ll
show
you
how
to
make
opBmized
content!
! But
first
let’s
talk
more
about
you.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

13. Can
the
Search
Engines
(SE’s)
See
You?
! Do
a
Google
Search
Now
Please
 site:domain.com
! Put
your
website’s
name
in
place
of
“domain.com”.
! Then
we’ll
see
what’s
indexed
and
what
presents
in
search
results.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

14. The
Minimum
Google
Displays
! HTML
Title
! Snippet
Text
or
Meta
DescripBon
! URL
! Also
–
If
Possible
&
Relevant
 LocaBon
 Site
Links
 Plus
Profile
 Reviews
 And
more…
! Let’s
see
what
that
looks
like
for
your
site.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

15. February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

16. February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

17. Next
Step
Requires
a
Plug-­‐in
! Open
Firefox
! Go
to
www.seoquake.com
! Download
the
free
toolbar
! Then
we’ll
scan
the
page
! And
see
what
gets
pulled
from
where
on
the
Search
Engine
Results
Pages
(SERPs)
! Pick
a
page
to
opBmize
on
your
site
 Not
the
home
page
just
yet
! Let’s
see
how
it’s
doing
in
analyBcs
too
! And
opBmize
it
together
(if
needed)
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

18. Where
Google
Pulls
The
SERPs
Detail
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

19. Open
Google
AnalyBcs
! We’ll
pick
a
page
! Determine
what
keywords
get
traffic
! Determine
if
there
are
bemer
words
using
Google
AdWords
Keyword
tool
! And
then
opBmize
the
page
! Sound
Good?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

20. Open
Your
CMS
&
Let’s
SEO
a
Page
! We
have
selected
the
best
keywords
! We’ll
opBmize
the
Btle
! The
URL
! The
meta
descripBon
! Images,
copy
and
links
if
we
can
! Let’s
start
with
the
Btle
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

21. HTML
Title
Best
PracBces
! Unique
And
DescripBve
Titles
For
Each
! Less
Than
65
Characters
! Lead
With
Targeted
Keywords
&
LocaBon
! <Keyword
Phrase>
in
<City>
|
50%
Off
Today
 Pages
like
home
and
contact
us
are
the
only
pages
where
your
company
name
really
needs
to
be
there.
! Offer
&
Call
To
AcBon
If
Possible
! Avoid
Puns,
Metaphors
–
Literal
Over
Clever
! Contact
Us,
Home,
Info,
Services
Do
Not
Qualify
As
Titles
Alone…
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

22. URL
Best
PracBces
! _
(underscores)
=
not
best
! Domain.com/?ID=1_2_3$%$#*Opu
=
bad
! Not
What
Looks
Like
English
=
bad
! /use-­‐targeted-­‐keywords-­‐here.htm
=
good
! /separated-­‐by-­‐hyphens.htm
=
good
! Domain.com/logical/directory/structure/
! Less
Than
68
Characters
for
SERPs
Display
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

23. Meta
DescripBon
Best
PracBces
! Snippet
Text
=
Meta
DescripBon
! Take
Control
 <meta
name=”robots”
content=”noodp”>
 <meta
name="robots"
content="noydir"/>
! Snippet
-­‐
Do
Not
Exceed
150
! Meta
DescripBons
Must
Be
Unique
for
Every
Page
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

24. Other
Things
to
OpBmize
! Images
! Copy
! Links
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

25. Images
SEO
! File-­‐Name
Them
What
They
Are
! Alt
tags
–
Include
Keywords
-­‐
Don’t
Stuff
! CapBons
Near
the
Photo
In
“Bold”
Text
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

26. SEO
Copy
OpportuniBes
! Boldface
! Bullets
! Underlining
! Links
! Italics
! Color
Change
! Visually
Different
Adds
Prominence
! Think
High
School
Study
Tips
! Don’t
Highlight
Everything
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

27. Link
Best
PracBces
! Links
are
votes
for
the
content
they
point
to.
! The
link
text
is
what
the
vote
stands
for.
! Use
links
within
your
site
to
build
votes.
! Garner
links
from
other
sites.
 Request
they
use
the
keyword
phrase
you
want
to
score
well
for
in
the
link
text
poinBng
back
to
your
site.
! It’s
good
to
link
to
other
sites
in
your
“neighborhood”.
! Let’s
take
a
look
at
your
inbound
links.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

28. Who
Links
to
You?
! Do
a
Google
Search
! link:domain.com
! Replace
“domain.com”
with
your
website’s
address.
! More
is
usually
bemer
! It’s
OK
to
exchange
them
! Find
like
mined
sites
! Being
part
of
a
community
is
good
! A
link
from
CNN
is
golden
! A
link
from
your
2nd
cousin’s
.cz
personal
kni|ng
blog
is
not
as
valuable
-­‐
but
sBll
nice.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

29. SEO
Best
PracBces
–
Let’s
Review
! HTML
Titles
≤
65
Characters
! Meta
DescripBon
≤
150
Characters
! URL’s
≤
68
Characters
! Copy
≥
150
Words
! Page
Weight
<
150
Kb
! On
Site
Links
<
100
Page
! Inbound
Links
–
Inbound
&
Outbound
Good
! Images
–
Labeled
&
“Web
Sized”
! Meta
Keywords
–
Mostly
Moot
! Think
SemanBcally
Not
RepeBBvely
! First
&
Last
Paragraph
Using
Exact
Targets
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

30. Tom,
SEO
is
SO
easy!
Can
I
go
now?
! Wait,
I
know
where
to
put
the
keywords,
but
how
do
I
know
what
exact
words
to
use
in
my
site?
! Doh!
Guess
I
need
more
training…
! Maybe
Google
has
the
answer?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

31. Let’s
Take
15
Minute
Break
! When
we
come
back
! Next
Steps
 How
to
select
the
“right”
keywords
for
every
stage
of
someone’s
search
lifecycle.
 High
search
and
low
compeBBon
wins
! See
you
in
15

February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

32. How
to
Select
The
Right
Keywords
! Search
is
“Pull”
MarkeBng
! They
have
to
be
words
people
use
! They
have
to
have
a
volume
>
zero
! CompeBBon
is
OK
! Build
an
inventory
and
publish
! But
where
do
I
find
these
“keywords”
Tom!?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

33. Types
of
Search
&
Search
Lifecycle
Types
• NavigaBonal
• InformaBonal
• TransacBonal
• Learn
Stage
• Shop
• Buy
• Get
• Use
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

34. Google
Instant
Drives
Search
Choice
! Saves
2
–
5
Seconds
Per
Search
! Suggests
Search
Phrases
as
You
Type
! Uses
Common
Phrases
You
Can
Find
! Your
Rankings
are
Not
Affected
! Drives
Search
Decisions
! How
Can
I
Take
Advantage
of
That?
! First
-­‐
Understand
the
Search
Stage
! Let’s
do
a
search
and
see
that
in
acBon.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

35. Anatomy
of
Google
SERPs
“Learning/Informational”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

36. “Shopping”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

37. “Buy/Transactional”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

38. “Get”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

39. “Use”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

40. “Navigational”
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

41. Let’s
Review
Types
of
Search
&
Search
Lifecycle
Types
• NavigaBonal
• InformaBonal
• TransacBonal
• Learn
Stage
• Shop
• Buy
• Get
• Use
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

42. How
Can
We
Take
Advantage?
! Understand
the
Search
Stage
! Research
the
OpBons
Via
Tools
! Create
an
Inventory
of
OpBons
! Cra€
Your
Plan
! Implement
the
Plan
! I’ll
bet
Google
has
more
tools
for
that,
Tom.
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

43. Google
AdWords
Keyword
Tool
! Open
up
a
browser
please…
! hmps://adwords.google.com/select/
KeywordToolExternal
! Let’s
try
it.
! Enter
base
keyword
[EXACT]
! Cull
the
list
! Export
to
Excel
or
Google
docs
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

44. Working
the
List
in
Excel
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

45. Sort
Columns
for
Low
Hanging
Fruit
! SBck
with
me
-­‐
you
can
do
it!
! Sort
Ascending
-­‐
CompeBBon
! Sort
Descending
-­‐
Local
Search
! Sort
Ascending
–
CPC
! Let’s
Try
It!
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

46. What
That
Sort
Should
Look
Like
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

47. Let’s
Find
Out
the
Real
CompeBBon
! Using
Google
Advanced
Search
! Add
These
Columns
 Anywhere
 Text
 Title
 Links
 URL
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

48. Keep
Adding
to
the
List
! Once
Complete
! Re-­‐sort
Columns
 Links
–
Ascending
 Title
–
Ascending
 Text
–
Ascending
! The
lowest
hanging
fruit
appears!
! Try
other
combinaBons
! It’s
about
most
search
&
least
compeBBon
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

49. The
Keyword
List
! Add
a
column
for
the
search
lifecycle
! Label
each
keyword
with:
 Learn
 Shop
 Buy
 Get
 Use
! Do
you
have
at
least
one
for
every
stage
for
each
product?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

50. Editorial
Strategy
! Build
an
inventory
of
keyword
phrases
organized
under
topics.
[TAGS]
[Lifecycle]
! Write
about
the
low
hanging
fruit
in
each
category.
! Set
a
schedule
and
religiously
publish.
! Build
your
arBcle
inventory,
grow
your
traffic
and
authority
for
each
topic
and
keyword
phrase.
! Use
sharing
widgets
to
encourage
backlinks.
! Farm
for
sites
that
are
willing
to
link
back.
! If
there
are
less
than
10
pages
that
come
up
for
a
keyword
phrase,
you
are
just
about
guaranteed
a
page
one
lisBng.
! You
can
do
it!
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

51. Now
What?
Are
We
Done?
! Not
Yet
-­‐
You
have
to:
 Get
an
editorial
calendar
going
 Create
new
content
to
support
targets
 Must
use
the
words
people
are
searching
for
 If
we
don’t
-­‐
traffic
suffers.
 Where
do
we
do
that
again?
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

52. The
Key
to
SEO
–
“ The
Right
Keywords”
In:
! HTML
Title
! Meta
DescripBon
! URLs
! Links
to
and
within
your
site
! The
words
in
the
copy
! The
words
in
the
images
and
capBons
! Images
names,
capBons
&
alt
text
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

53. Free
AnalyBcs
EssenBals
&
Tools
! AnalyBcs
 Google
AnalyBcs
 Google
Webmaster
Tools
! Tools
 Google
Keyword
Tool
 SEO
Quake
 RapidKeyword.com
 SEMrush.com
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

54. The
Hidden
Key
to
SEO
–
The
CMS
! A
search
engine
friendly
CMS
Allows
for:
 EdiBng
of
all
the
aforemenBoned
elements
 Easy
to
author
and
post
new
content
 Easy
to
edit
and
change
exisBng
content
 Has
social/bookmarking
share
widget
 Automates
the
XML
sitemap
 Anybody
that
can
type
should
be
able
to
do
it
 Allows
search
engines
to
spider
the
site
 That’s
premy
much
it
except
for…
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

55. You
Can
Do
It!
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC

56. THANKS!
SEO
Bootcamp
Sponsored
by:
Tom Lynch
VP ( ) Astek ( ) Reach through the web.
773.486.6666 ( ) tom.lynch@astekweb.com ( ) http://www.astekweb.com
February
25,
2012
By
Tom
Lynch
-­‐
VP
www.astekweb.com
©2012
Astek
ConsulBng
LLC