A no-nonsense introduction to making keywords and SEO really work for you.

2. How can you help RGHUG
• Bring your colleagues to events
• Share our news and updates on LinkedIn
• Post questions, thoughts, suggestions to our LinkedIn group
• Link to www.rghug.com
• Give a presentation

3. Amanda McGrath
• Content Strategist, Blend Marketing
• Started editorial career in mixed print/digital publishing
• Moved into digital content creation 2013

4. Keywords
Powering Content and SEO Strategy

5. What we’ll cover
1. A brief history of keywords
2. How keywords work today
3. The tools you can use to manage keywords
4. The results

6. 1. A brief history of keywords
• Back in the 1990s, webmasters would submit their sites to
search engines for indexing.
• Search engines included Excite, Web Crawler and Lycos
• Early search algorithms relied on two elements.

7. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
Keyword
Density
Meta-
tags

8. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
Enter Google:

9. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
Meta-tags
Keyword
Density
Links
• Google’s PageRank algorithm adds in a new
element to the SEO mix.
• It’s Google’s first attempt to identify the best
content on the internet.
• The idea is that people link to content they
find valuable, so pages with more links to
them must be better pages.
• Pages with more links to them rank higher
than those with fewer.

10. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
But there were problems with all three models.
Keyword
Density
• Keyword stuffing - Spam spam spam spamity spam spam
Meta-tags
• Cloaking – masking the true nature of the content behind meta-data
Links
• Link ‘juice’ – pages had limited link value to pass on, so fewer links used to drive page
ranking
• Google bombing – lists of links that had no relevance to the content
• Link selling

11. Fast Forward!
We don’t have all night, Amanda…

12. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
• Other search engines fall by the wayside, and Google comes
out on top for search.
• Google continually updates its algorithms to come closer and
closer to identifying the best and most relevant content for
users.
• Keyword-stuffing, link-selling and a whole range of tactics come
to be dubbed ‘black-hat’, bad SEO practices.
The old tactics fall into disrepute

13. 1. A brief history of keywords cont.
• Over time, the distinctions between bad ‘black-hat’ SEO and
good ‘white-hat’ SEO lose meaning
• At the same time, more marketers are turning to digital, without
the technical understanding to distinguish between the two
approaches.
• SEO becomes a bit of a dirty word, everyone knows success is
all about quality CONTENT MARKETING
The next generation of Search

14. Quality
Relevance
SEO is about striking the right balance

15. Where are we now?
With non-technical marketers now managing websites, big and
small companies alike are losing their way when it comes to
keywords and SEO

18. But technical SEO and keywords are the town crier
Content is King

19. 2. How keywords work today
• Google’s working hard to understand your content – it’s getting
better and better at working out what’s relevant through related
words and topics.
• BUT it is going to struggle, and probably always will, if you’re
not being relevant enough.
Hear ye, hear ye, discoverability

20. 2. How keywords work today cont.
How are brands making keyword mistakes?
Brand
Vision
Metaphor
Storytelling
Missing
Links and
Meta-tags

21. These things are still important, and they still have value for your
visitors once they’ve arrived at your site.
Don’t Panic!

22. 2. How keywords work today cont.
• Keywords need to be shaped by insight: data, personas,
common sense.
• Keywords are fundamental to content strategy – which marries
analysis and creativity.
• Keywords can be inspiring.
A building block of effective strategy

23. 3. Tools for Keyword Use
HubSpot, Moz and beyond…

24. 3. Tools for Keyword Use
HubSpot, Moz and beyond…

25. 3. Tools for Keyword Use
HubSpot, Moz and beyond…

26. 3. Tools for Keyword Use
HubSpot, Moz and beyond…

27. 3. Tools for Keyword Use
HubSpot, Moz and beyond…
• SEMrush
• SERPs

28. 3. The Results

29. Summary
1. Keywords have fallen out of favour, but they’re still important.
2. You need to balance the need for quality and relevance.
3. Be careful with your use of metaphor or ‘voice’ in case it
dilutes your message.
4. Equip yourself with the tools for success.

30. Thank you!