The document outlines strategies for futureproofing SEO, emphasizing a shift from technical focus to marketing relevance, patience, and the importance of creating valuable content. It discusses the evolution of SEO practices, the significance of link diversity, and the need to adapt strategies to changing search engine behaviors. Additionally, it highlights the importance of building a comprehensive digital asset inventory and staying informed about industry trends and competitor actions.

1. Futureproofing Your SEO Strategy Wil Reynolds – SEER Interactive

2. History Relevance NEVER gets old

3. History Meta Tags & Cloaking Keyword Density PageRank Years (Real Content) Linking / Reciprocal Linking / Buying Linkbaiting / Social Media 1998 2007 Tech Savvy Marketing Savvy

4. History

5. History Are all shooting for RELEVANCY!

6. History Video Google Universal Ask 3d Google One-Box Yahoo “One-Box” Linkbait Digg Del.ic.ous Reporting Links Google & Yahoo News Image Optimization Reputation Management Local Facebook / Myspace Social Media Wikipedia Directory Links PR Optimization Stumbleupon

7. Examples (after video / personal, what’s next?) Feedburner – what spammers sign up for it? Google Reader Look at subscribers to blog Growth of subscribers Who subscribes (active blog readers or one timers looking to spam the search engines?) Starred Shared / E-mailed Google is a Registrar Yahoo owns Del.ic.ous and as of Feb just started testing the integration

8. Examples (after video / personal, what’s next?) http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/yahoodelicious.jpg

9. Examples (after video / personal, what’s next?) The search engines KNOW what converts on one site versus another…HOW? YOU TELL THEM! Conversion codes + Google analytics + Microsoft Gatineau + Landing Page Optimizer = FREE for you  & FREE Conversion data for Google. They have data on how well your site connects with their searchers.

10. Examples (after video / personal, what’s next?) http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/yahoodelicious.jpg

11. Examples (after video / personal, what’s next?) Yahoo just bought buzztracker (hmmmm) Data in AdWords / Yahoo / MSN (Conversion rates?) Google Radio / Print Borrowed from Rand Fishkin (SEOMOZ.ORG) Link Traffic (Toolbars) E-mail mentions

12. Futureproofing your SEO strategy Step 1 – Start thinking more like a marketer than a techie Stop worrying about: Keyword density Character limits Meta tags Number of links Rankings Algorithms Patents Traffic PLURALS – NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK Step 2 – Start think in about RELEVANCY & REVENUES Step 3 – Go buy a HEAP of patience

13. Futureproofing your SEO strategy Start Small & Realistic SEOMOZ Keyword Difficulty tool How we did it for ourselves (Local vs. Global) New domains? Stay Relevant Land Grab of keywords = bad strategy Spread yourself too thin Build your theme first Buy links, YES you heard me, if you are starting from scratch, get your directory links! They should help you rank for smaller less competitive terms WHILE you are being patient and building themed links, which comes with time. Evaluating Directories (more than PR)

14. What do these kids have to do with linking?

15. What do these kids have to do with linking? They represent offshore workers from China, Costa Rica, Romania, and Jamaica? They are child laborers who are held against their will and made to get links? By standing next to each other they are building an easily identifiable “ link farm ” NOTE: Should they move to different class c’s? Nothing, as one would have to be Green to represent Google’s Pagerank toolbar They all work on Google’s webspam team and smile for every site they zap from the results

16. What do these kids have to do with linking? They illustrate link diversity

17. Paid Link Kid Hates: Matt Cutts & no-follow tags Likes: Microsoft / Yahoo Less important than he used to be (hiding behind the other kids). Still has value (why he’s in the picture). Getting too many of this shady character can lead to penalties / banning / etc Friends with Florida update kid (RIP)

18. Linkbait Kid Hates: Likes: + Social Media + Video + Stumbleupon + Mixx + Digg algorithm changes Social traffic can bring down a server BE CREATIVE (takes time) Be involved / know the right people Result in legit links that may carry good long term value Big shot in the arm

19. Blogger Kid Hates: Comment Spammers Likes: People who add value to her blog Hard to court Links attained are often on theme The harder to get = the higher the value Has a big ego, play to it Link value likely to last a LONG TIME = most relevant

20. PR KID Hates: Losing his job Likes: Newspapers / traditional media Old school Links are typically high value Likes press releases Not going to drive the same quick value Small but good impact - not in a shady way like paid link kid

21. What do these kids have to do with linking? They illustrate link diversity Bought (Asian) Background, not really out in the forefront Linkbait (Hispanic) Hey everyone look at me, I’m wearing Delicious / stumbleupon / Digg colors Niche Content (African American Girl) Not as in the forefront, but is niche and has a voice (bloggers) Press Releases / Real PR (Caucasian) Smallest smile, tried and true tactics that get attention

22. Link Diversity Trying to rank well for the future is important, but you can NOT forget what it takes to rank well TODAY, ok? Free & Bought directory links are having LESS and LESS value everyday, but they still have SOME value. Use them to rank well for easier terms, but they won’t help as much for competitive terms, to rank well for the long haul for competitive terms you have to have patience and build your profile.

23. Does Stuffing a KW Tag make you an SEO?

24. NOPE….Then…. Adding a digg / del.ic.ous button isn’t social media optimization Writing a blog isn’t blogging Developing a whitepaper isn’t promoting a whitepaper Recording a video and putting it online isn’t video optimization Doing a press release isn’t PR SEO

25. Wake up, you don’t have anything worth linking to! Digg, del.ic.ous, stumbleupon, facebook, myspace, blogs, RSS, blah blah blah won’t mean SQUAT if you don’t have something worth linking to. FREE is always good, giving something VALUABLE for FREE is HUGE…build a Digital Asset Inventory and keep building, some will strike out, some will catch on! Again, Patience - some will strike out, some will catch on! Become a marketer!

26. Asset Inventory Promote Whitepapers Syndicate Whitepaper of the day Paid search Press Releases / Press Contacts Understanding buying cycles / keywords used by analysts vs. developers vs. CIOs Blogs Development Blog roll / link to / collaborate with influential bloggers in the space Participation, build reputation, get to know them Speaking events / tradeshows / career fairs at colleges (get the .edu link;)

27. Futureproofing your SEO - Google How do you get here? What just happened to the value of this #1 Ranking and the Traffic it drove? How do you classify your info by Main Ingredient & Cuisine?

28. Futureproofing your SEO - Yahoo How do you get here? What just happened to the value of this #1 Ranking and the Traffic it drove?

29. Jock Itch, Google and your search strategy Here we go again. How does this affect mayoclinic.com traffic? What will they do about this?

30. Jock Itch, Google and your search strategy Look at what happens when you click on “treatment” How does this affect mayoclinic.com traffic? Puts them in #2! Uh oh

31. Jock Itch, Google and your search strategy

32. Integration of Video into the SERPS

33. What happens to the top SERP Value? So what do we have here? Who is allowed here? Can you get there? What industry is next, hotels? What does it do to the value of a top SERP? What if they did this for cheap tickets?

34. What happens to the top SERP Value?

35. Gord Hotchkiss – Eye Study – Impact

36. How do you optimize your digital assets? Say something powerful, stop regurgitating the same information everyone else is Remember the Internet is about FREE (NY Times) Don’t be scared to give GOOD secrets away (someone else will) Build a “theme” by raising your prominence on industry blogs / forums Comment on popular blogs Link to popular blogs in your blogroll Become a “guest” blogger on those blogs Build tools for the industry and give them away for free Troll blogs for problems people have in your industry and develop solutions, marketplaces, whitepapers, instructional videos, etc

37. Optimizing Video Video Upload to Youtube / Google Video Revver, Myspace, Metacafe TUBE MOGUL – Save time (Thanks Shawn) Podcast Transcribe Videos Embed tags into the video Solicit syndication Respond to comments

38. Fear Yahoo/MSN/ASK, well kind of These sites are content developers as much as they are aggregators. Google doesn’t develop content! Partnerships? Local reviews in SERPS (Google) Fantasy Football Travel (already) Hotels Eco-Friendly items Google co-op If Yahoo / MSN develops content it increases the likelihood that they may place their own content above yours, pushing it further down.

39. How to Win? Do what you need to do TODAY to rank well ( http://www.youtube.com/wilreynolds ) PREPARE for what you need tomorrow!

40. Picking the right keywords – My Favorite Tool Who here has used MSN ad Intelligence?

41. Picking the right keywords Wouldn’t it be great if you could: Get REAL number of searches for terms Determine if a search is more likely to be done internationally Get the male/female split for search terms, along with age? Be given related keywords for the main terms you type in (flaws with Google Suggest, use Yahoo for broader research) SEE what related words your competitors are likely to bid on Get reports on areas of the web that are catching a lot of search buzz based on dates you select? Understand trends with real numbers not relative Audit the trends graphs in Google trends Get paid search clicks relative to position for all keywords and match types, also get pricing

42. Picking the right keywords And you can do it all in EXCEL (2008)

43. How to Win - Tools Always know what your competition is up to: Ranking Reports on your competition (Digitalpoint) Touchgraph - How are you doing building a theme? Are you competitors building the theme better? Review their links, determine value and follow Google Alerts Copernic Tracker (keep up with changes) Link value tools Competitive analysis Press mentions, what sources? Social Media Mentions Youtube Spyfu / quantacast / keyword volume on brand name (Google Trends or msn adlab) Mentions of SMEs at the sites of your competitors Mentions in forums: http://www.boardtracker.com/

44. How to Win? There are two constants with search 1 – It always changes 2 – the search engines are always looking to get the most relevant answers to people’s queries. How do you stay ahead? 1 – Read, Read, Read, experiment, experiment, experiment 2 – Develop a suite of digital assets around your business theme and continue developing them, when the next thing gets “hot” you’re covered