This document provides tips on how to win at search engine marketing (SEM). It emphasizes focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing over pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Some key points covered include keeping technical elements like site speed, security, and metadata optimized; focusing on unique, keyword-rich content; understanding search intent; and staying up-to-date on trends like mobile-first indexing and site speed penalties. Ongoing optimization, social sharing, and monitoring analytics and search console are important for success with SEM.

2. How to Win at SEM
Search Engine Marketing
Friday 27th July 2018
TBEX Europe 2018, Ostrava, Czech Republic
@travelmedia_ie #TBEXOstrava2018

4. michael@travelmedia.ie
www.slideshare.net
search for ‘TravelMedia.ie’

5. Ask Questions?
No stupid questions?
No experts.
This is my experience.

11. Position 1 and 2
33% and 17% = 50%

12. SEO and SEM v PPC
SEO / organic first – CAPITAL SPEND
AdWords / PPC second – ONCE OFF SPEND
AdWords is your safety net, SEO and
Content Marketing is where you need to
be investing, not PPC.

13. • Technical side of SEM. The basics. Get right first.
• Sitemap up-to-date, match urls.
• do not follow/index tag/Google (crawl). developers, not SEO.
• site speed, 3 seconds, mobile (July 2018, penalty).
• 404 errors/broken link, re-direct loops.
• server errors. secure site, https
• plug-ins up-to-date (Google security threat). WordPress, Yoast (Moz, Search Console, speed).
• duplicate content, duplicate urls, meta info.
• missing meta-descriptions.
• Google Analytics and Search Console not linked (Webmaster Tools).
• monthly ‘search visibility’ stats.
SEO

14. • Content, Content, Content.
• SEM. Create truly unique content to be found in organic search.
• Keyword research. Everything starts with keyword research.
• Keyword decisions. Balance. Long-tail versus competitive terms. Site authority.
• Answer questions. Why do people go to Google? Natural language. Voice search.
• Snippets. Position 0/zero.
• Position #1 = 33%. Voice 100%. One answer.
• Voice. Trojan Horse. You are being listened to. Big brother. Google/FB/Alexa.
• Google loves lists?
SEM

15. • Pop-quiz. Biggest search engine in the world?
• Google. 2nd biggest.
• YouTube. Who owns YouTube.
• Google.
• YouTube. No technical SEO.
• Simple on-page SEO. No site SEO.
• TubeBuddy SEO browser plug-in for YouTube.
SEM

17. 200
300
400
500

18. insert screengrab of YT
channel
100,000 views, one week

19. insert screengrab of YT
channel
Keyword research

21. CultureMee example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olv5YDc8iV8

23. HRBR video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx2FyKe82ZI

24. TMB – Tropical Medical Bureau

25. SEM
SEO

27. • SEO/SEM ephemeral, a moveable feast.
• Your content is changing all the time.
• The Google algorithm is changing all the time.
• Competitors will fight back.
• Ongoing task. You don’t optimise a page once.
• Social sharing is important. Ongoing. Keep driving traffic.
• Key to winning at SEM is ongoing social sharing.
• Re-post and re-publish, again and again and again.
SEO / SEM

29. published social sharing
no social, moved to search
1. sharing
2. tagging
3. editing, updating the blog
4. re-publishing the blog
5. adding SEO friendly
content, i.e. video

31. Post TBEX
Tagged 60
50 Engaged

33. STS video - jump to 02.00
https://youtu.be/W3oyXFF_oDQ

35. Current Trends
SEM Tips
What to Watch

36. Search ‘Intent’
• Google is getting better at understanding ‘intent’.
• No keyword stuffing. Avoid at all costs.
• Importance of related content to signal relevancy to searchers intent.
• Silo, link related/relevant content.
• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-
history/hummingbird-update/

37. CMS & plugins
Keep CMS & plugin versions up to date to prevent potential hack.
We’re also recognizing the importance of robust content management systems
(CMSs). A large percentage of websites are run on one of several popular
CMSs, and subsequently spammers exploited them by finding ways to abuse
their provisions for user-generated content, such as posting spam content in
comment sections or forums. We’re working closely with many of the providers
of popular content management systems like WordPress and Joomla to help
them also fight spammers that abuse their forums, comment sections and
websites.

38. https:
• Chrome browser adding a warning,
in Google/search results.
‘can’t guarantee this site is secure’.

39. Site Speed
• Site speed penalty for slow sites – now applies to mobile (July 2018).
https://webmasters.googleblog.com/search/label/speed
• AMP for publishing sites - https://www.ampproject.org/ - serves articles
faster. Is now much further along in terms of development and ironing our
bugs etc. (news sites, less dev input, slow internet connectivity).
• AMP – accelerated mobile pages. Google goal ‘better fast mobile pages’.
• Glue, Yoast plugin for AMP.

40. Mobile 1st
• Google index is now ‘mobile 1st’. (SERP results).
• Desktop is now 2nd. Algorithm built around mobile sites.
• This roll out has accelerated over recent months and is now
almost complete.
• Notifications appear in Search Console when it has been
applied to a site.
https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

41. image search segmented out in GA
• Google is rolling out an update to the referral source URLs for
Google Images to show traffic to your site coming from Google
Image search separately to Web search. This data will be available
in GA (in a few months)
• Some image search info already available in Search Console.
• That traffic will be segmented out in GA.
• Positive/useful segmentation. Ringfence assets.

42. https://haveibeenpwned.com/
How secure is your email?

43. michael@travelmedia.ie
THANK YOU 