This document by Rand Fishkin provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO), detailing how search engines operate, effective site building techniques, and strategies for keyword research and link building. It emphasizes the importance of factors like crawlability, link architecture, and proper use of keywords for improving search rankings. Additionally, it highlights the role of social media and influencers in enhancing link-building efforts and driving traffic.

1. Search Engine Optimization:Understanding the Engines & Building Successful SitesRand Fishkin – August 2010

2. Content in this PresentationThe Search Landscape

3. How Search Engines Work

4. Building Accessible Sites

5. Conducting Keyword Research

6. Link Building Strategies

7. Social Media & the Web’s InfluencersThe Search Marketing Landscape

8. 100 Billion SearchesEach Month!

11. Organic vs. Paid SearchPaidOrganic

12. Organic vs. Paid Search10% of Clicks90% of Clicks

13. Click-Through Rates

14. Vertical Search

15. Local ResultsCompletely different ranking algorithm than standard search resultsProbably doesn’t get traffic like most “#1” results

16. Image Results

17. Video Results

18. News & Blog Results

19. Shopping Results

20. Instant Answers

21. Instant Answers

22. Instant Answers

23. News ResultsInstant AnswersReal Time ResultsLocal ResultsImage Results

24. This Presentation Focuses on:

25. How Search Engines Work

26. Crawling & IndexingWithout links, the engines might never find this page

27. Calculating Query-Independent MetricsVia www.opensiteexplorer.org

28. Many Domains vs. One DomainVS.

29. Domain Authority

30. PageRank

31. The Flow of PageRank

32. PageRank is Split Evenly Between theLinks on a Page

33. PageRank is an Iterative Algorithm

34. Technically, Every External Link“Leaks” PageRank

35. Nofollowing or Removing Links CanAlter the Flow of PageRank

36. Or, at least it used to...www.seomoz.org/blog/google-says-yes-you-can-still-sculpt-pagerank-no-you-cant-do-it-with-nofollow

37. Google Says they use PageRank to Crawl

39. Algorithmic Ranking Factors

40. Query Deserves Freshness (QDF)QDFNormal ResultsQDF

41. Query Deserves Diversity (QDD)

42. Algorithmic Ranking Factors

43. Building Accessible Sites

44. Crawlability / Link Architecture

45. Duplicate Content & Canonicalization

46. Duplicate Content & Canonicalization

47. Canonical URL Tag

48. 301 Redirects302s

49. Duplicate Titles & Meta Descriptions

50. Search Friendly URLswww.nationalgeographic.com/animals/african-elephantsKeywords in page name,separated by hyphenSingle domainShallow folder structurewith relevant words

51. Search UN-Friendly URLsXyz3.nationalgeographic.com/a/?q=31z&mg=vv7z&sd=8No keywords in the URL stringUnnecessarySubdomainDynamic URLs don’t perform as well as static and engines recommend against more than two parameters

52. Fixing Broken Links & 404s

53. Blocking Robots

54. Blocking Robots

55. XML Sitemapswww.sitemaps.org/protocol.php

56. Webmaster Tools (Google)

57. Webmaster Tools (Bing)

58. Search Engine Guidelineswww.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

59. Important Tags & Signals

60. Title Tags

61. Meta Descriptions

62. Tag Length Recommendations

63. Anchor Text

64. Page Copy

65. Image Alt AttributesGood keyword usage in the alt tag

66. Not So Important

67. Meta Keywords Tag

68. H1, H2, H(x) Tags

69. Search Engine “Submission”

70. Keyword Research + Targeting

71. The Goals of Keyword Research

72. Determine Relative Volume Levels

73. Identify High Value Keywords

74. Predict the Effort Required to Rank Well

75. Choose the “Best”Words/Phrases to Target

76. The Keyword Demand Landscape

77. The Long Tail of Keyword Demand

82. Tools & Tactics for Brainstorming& Refining Your Seed List

83. Salespeople & Customers

84. Google AdWords ToolBe Wary ofMatch Typehttps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

85. MS AdCenter Excel Plug-Inwww.seomoz.org/blog/using-the-adcenter-excel-plugin-for-keyphrase-research

86. Google TrendsSign In for Y-Axis NumbersNot Very Accurate

87. Internal Site Search Stats

88. Competitive Keyword ResearchRestrict queryto competitor’sdomain

89. The Keyword Research Process

90. Start with Your Seed List

91. Create Spreadsheet w/ these Columns

92. Get Google Search Demand Numbers

93. Guesstimate Conversion Rate Numbers

94. Or Use PPC Campaign Data

95. Add Keyword Difficulty Data for Top TermsWe like using a weighted average ofthe Page Authority metric

96. Target High Volume, High Value, Low Difficulty Terms First

97. Measuring KeywordDifficulty & Competition

98. Run Queries for Desired Term + EngineWatch for verticalresults, which can skewCTRs & visibility

99. Conduct a Competitive Analysis of Metrics

100. Tools Can Help Provide Scores

101. Tools Can Help Provide Scoreswww.seomoz.org/mozbar

102. Link Building Strategies

103. What Goals Can Link BuildingHelp Us Achieve?

104. Bolster Individual Rankings

105. Improve a Domain’s Ability to Rank Pages

106. Achieve More Complete Indexation

107. Drive Traffic & Branding Awareness

108. Send Converting TrafficImage Credit: websiteoptimization.com

109. The 8 Basic Kinds of Link Building

110. #1 - Manual Link Submissions/Requests

111. #2 - Competitive Link Research/Acquisition

112. #3 - Links via Embedded Content

113. #4 - Linkbait & Viral Campaigns

114. #5 - Content, Technology & API Licensing

115. #6 - Partnerships, Exchanges & Trades

116. #7 - Paid Links

117. #8 - Link Reclamation

118. Matching the Right Link Building Strategiesto Your Organization’s SEO Goals

119. Links for Individual Rankings

120. Links for Domain “Authority”

121. Links for Indexation

122. Links for Traffic & Branding

123. Links for Conversion

124. Using Tools & Processes to Ease theChallenges of Link Building

125. Tools for Competitive Link Research Yahoo! Site Explorer & Link Commands

126. Open Site Explorer

127. Top Pages

128. Google Blog SearchYahoo! Site ExplorerDirectionally indicativewithin ~50%Not necessarily followed & in a somewhat random order

129. Yahoo! Link CommandsLess “accurate” than Site ExplorerLots of cool, useful modifiers available

130. Yahoo! Link CommandsFull list available in PRO Guide to Advanced Search Operators:www.seomoz.org/article/the-professionals-guide-to-advanced-search-operators

131. Open Site Explorer

132. Open Site ExplorerHighly Correlation w/ RankingsData updates monthly from the Linkscape web index (approx. 60% the size of Yahoo!/Google/Bing)

133. Open Site ExplorerPoor Anchor Text Spells Opportunity

134. Link IntersectLink Intersect uses the same principle – sites w/ links in common that don’t point to you.

135. Top PagesFind which pages are earning links (your own & competitors)404s? Reclaim them!

136. Metrics for Evaluating a Link’s Value Numeric (Objective) Metrics

137. Subjective Metrics

138. Attainability and EffortNumeric Metrics for Link Valuation # of Linking Root Domains to URL

139. # of Linking Root Domains to Domain

140. Homepage PageRank vs. Domain mozRank

141. URL PageRank vs. URL mozRank

142. # of Links to the Page (Yahoo!, GG Blogsearch, Linkscape)

143. Twitter mentions (Backtweets.com)Numeric Metrics (Backtweets)Results count(in a weird location)

144. Subjective Metrics for Link Valuation Brand name reach/recognition

145. Quality of other links on page/site (Bing - Linkfromdomain)

146. Attainability and EffortJumping through Hoops (via WKA on Flickr)

147. Scalable Link Acquisition Processes Written Process + Checklist

148. Tools + Metrics for Quick Analysis

149. Training & Incenting Link Builders

150. Building & Refining a Link Acquisition Funnel Written Process/Checklist Run through the link building process yourself

151. Document every step thoroughly

152. Pass it on to others (w/ some training time)Checklist (via adesigna on Flickr)

153. Tools for Quick AnalysisGet usable metrics quickly as you surf

154. Tools for Quick Analysis

155. Training & Incenting Link Builders Do link building together

156. Create consistent metrics

157. Reward like a sales team

158. Record reasons why links didn’t happen (like objections to sales) and work on these (things like design quality, affiliations, language, etc. will come up)Training Camp (via Gil Searcy on Flickr)

159. Building a Link Acquisition FunnelVisit Link-Targeted ContentGrab Link CodeLink to the Site

160. Social Media & the Web’s Influencers

161. Influencers on the Web

162. The Power of the “Linkerati”

163. Content that Appeals to Influencers

164. Making Content Easy to Share

165. Making Content Easy to Share

166. Incenting/Rewarding Link Behaviors

167. Cannibalization of the Link GraphMMM… LINK GRAPHS ARE DELICIOUS!

168. The Rise of the Social Graph

169. You have to do these right, before you can do these rightAlgorithmic Ranking Factors

170. Learn More w/ the Free Beginner’s Guide:http://guides.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-search-engine-optimizationFeel free to distribute this presentation for educational use. We love to help SEOs learn!