Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the on-going process of making sure that your web site performs as well as possible on specific search engine searches. This presentation aims to explain the SEO basics that every SEO beginner, website designer, developer, or site owner should know. Learn more about SEO here: http://seoinformationtechnology.blogspot.com/

1. Introduction to SEO 101
SEO Information Technology
By Sam Ambler
20th April 2015
(Updated)

2. • Websites
• Marketing Approach
• SEO Introduction
• SEO Best Practices
• Sample Site Analysis
• SEO Task Checklist
– On Page SEO
– Off Page SEO
• Resources

3. Websites – A Marketing Tool
• Can be a powerful communication tool along
with traditional print & broadcast media
• Used to promote or sell products & services,
or to inform target audiences
• Sites are only beneficial if the audience is
aware of it or can easily find it
– About 50% of browsers use search engines, the
other half type in the URL directly

4. Marketing Approach
• “Organic” search engine listings
– Free listings provided by Google, Yahoo!, MSN
– Utilize “spider” or “crawler” to index page content
• Search directory listings
– Doesn’t use crawlers. Humans categorize and index your site URL and
a short description
– Yahoo! is fee-based, Open Directory Project is free
• Paid listings - $$$
– Called “pay-per-click” campaigns
– Buy your way to the top of the search results page
– Unlike organic, results are guaranteed

5. Marketing Approach Contd.
• Recommendation is to follow a diversified
approach by using a combination of all three
areas for the best results.
• This is known as Search Engine Marketing
(SEM)

6. SEO Introduction
• Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to techniques that
help your website rank higher in organic (or “natural”) search
results, thus making your website more visible to people who
are looking for your product or service via search engines.
• No guarantees with search engines
• There are no specific details since they could be exploited
• The process of analyzing and making changes to a website to
improve search rankings is called Search Engine Optimization,
or SEO.

7. SEO Introduction Contd.
• Consider search engines design BEFORE building site.
• But remember, a website is intended for HUMAN audiences,
not search engines.

8. SEO Best Practices
• Research & select keywords/phrases
– What people type into engines
– One study shows 56% of searchers
use 2-3 word keyword phrases
• Keyword research tools:
• Log analyzer software (e.g. WebTrends)
• WordTracker.com ($)
• Overture.com (free)
• Google AdWords (free with account)
• Place keywords prominently in page copy,
titles, <META> description tags.

9. SEO Best Practices Contd.
• Do NOT spam the search engines or you
could be banned!
• Keyword stacking or stuffing, unrelated keywords
• Hidden text and links, tiny text (under 10pt)
• Duplicating pages and sites (same content, different URLs)
• Doorway/Gateway/Ghost pages – overly optimized, well-
ranked pages that redirect to “real” site.
• Page redirects (with Refresh Meta tag)
• “Link farms” used to increase link popularity scores

10. Sample Site Analysis

11. Sample Site Analysis Contd.
A.
B.
C.
D.

12. Sample Site Analysis Contd.
Page Area Description / Recommendation
Page Title Current page titles are “Complete Wedding and Corporate Events
services in Vienna, VA” Each page should have a unique, focused title
relevant to the content and should incorporate specific keywords.
Make the title read like a newspaper headline. Don’t target your
company name.
Section A If these navigation buttons are graphics and will not be read by the
crawlers. Include a second, text navigation system at the bottom of
the page for the crawlers
Section B This is the only text on the home page that the crawler can read.
Unfortunately it is a 9 point font. Some search engines consider very
small fonts (below 10 point) to be spam and will ignore it. The font
should be increased to 10 or 11 point.
Section C This is the site navigation menu. If navigation menu items are
graphics (rather than text) and are ignored by the crawlers. Then you
have to include a second, text navigation system at the bottom of
the page for the crawlers.
Section D This company contact information is important, it is in plain text. It’ll
not be indexed if it was a graphic. This should be changed to plain
text.

13. SEO Task Checklist
• SEO task have been divided into two parts On-
Page and Off-Page activities.

14. SEO Task Checklist – On Page Optimization
• On Page Optimization: On page optimization is On site
optimization you have to make changes on your site like Meta
Tag Creation, H1 tag, Alt Tag, Internal Linking, Content
Optimization etc

15. Task Checklist – Off Page Optimization
• Off Page Optimization: In off page optimization you
have to submit your site link/Content to other sites. You can
submit your content/link to Directory Submission sites , Social
Bookmarking Sites, Article Submission sites this all are the off
page activity.

16. Resources
• As we all know, the Search Engine Optimization field is
booming day to day with new inventions and innovations.
People may not know that much of what they have learned
yesterday will be out of date by tomorrow. Unless one
updates his knowledge by reading SEO news/articles, there is
no doubt he'll lag back in the SEO race.
• Search engine syntax and extras
– “site:www.yoursite.com”. Shows what the engine has in the index for
the site.
– “link:www.yoursite.com”. Find pages that link to a certain page.
– For a list of Google operators see:
http://www.google.com/help/operators.html

17. • Search engine guidelines
– Google: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
– Yahoo!: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/basics/basics-
18.html
– MSN:
http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBM
ASTER_REF_GuidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm
• Open Directory Project
– http://www.dmoz.org/
• Search Engine Watch – tips, articles, news
– http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
Resources Contd.

18. • SEO In Dept – On Page Optimization
What's Next?