The presentation by Prashant Puri at the Columbia Startup Lab in July 2014 focused on SEO strategies for startups. It emphasized the importance of optimizing website content, using keyword research, and understanding search engine algorithms to improve traffic and ROI. Adlift, the company represented, provides a range of online marketing services including SEO, SEM, and content marketing to help businesses enhance their online presence.

1. AdLift – Delivering Search ROI
SEO For Startups – Columbia Startup Lab
July 2014
Presented by:
Prashant Puri
AdLift.com
@puriprashant

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@puriprashant
Prashant Puri
Founder of AdLift
In love with SEO since
2004
’05SEAS Columbia

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@puriprashant
AdLift: Driving SEO ROI
48%
10K
# of
Keywords
Optimized
# of
Keywords
Ranking in
top 10
We analyze 1M
pages/month

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@puriprashant
AdLift Is An Advisor to Leading Industry Events and Search Journals
ADLIFT CONFIDENTIAL 4

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@puriprashant
Online Marketing Services that Drive Market Share
PILLAR 1
Search Engine
Optimization (SEO)
• Data Mining & Keyword
Research
• Content Strategy
• Technical SEO and Platform
Architecture
• Content Marketing
PILLAR 2
Search Engine
Marketing (SEM)/PPC
• Competitor Research
• Ad Budget Optimization
• Predictive Modeling
• A/B Multivariate Testing
AdLift’s Pillars
of
Expertise
Tracking & Measuring Performance
Strategy & Planning

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@puriprashant
Agenda
• SEO Fundamentals
• Why SEO?
• Natural Search vs. Paid Search
• Click-Through Rates
• SEO Ranking Factors
• On-Page Optimization
• Technical Optimization
• Content Marketing
• Reporting
• Summary

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Why SEO ?

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Natural Search vs. Paid Search
Natural Search Results
= ~70% of traffic
Paid Search Results
= ~30% of traffic

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@puriprashant
Higher Rankings = More Traffic
36.4%
12.5%
9.5%
7.9%
6.1%
4.1% 3.8% 3.5% 3.0%
2.2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
Page 1 - Natural Search Click Through Rates - AVERAGE
Moving from position #10 to #1 can result in a 1,500%+ increase in traffic
* Data Source: 2011 Optify Study
+60% of users click on
the Top 3 results

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@puriprashant
Longer Term Investment = Higher ROI
AdLift Internal Data
$0.00
$0.01
$0.02
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Jan-13
Feb-13
M
ar-13
Apr-13
M
ay-13
Jun-13
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Aug-13
Sep-13
Oct-13
Nov-13
Dec-13
Jan-14
Feb-14
M
ar-14
Apr-14
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ay-14
Jun-14
SEO CPC
SEO CPC

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SEO Fundamentals

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@puriprashant
SEO in 2007 – Limited Factors
Site
Accessibility
Keyword
Research
Links

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@puriprashant
SEO in 2014 – Increased Areas of Optimization
Site
Accessibility
Schema.org
Sitemaps
Keyword
Research
On Page
Content
Authoriship
Link Baiting
Quality of
Links
Social
Authority
Mobile SEO
Local SEO
App Store
Optimization
Technical On-Page Content Content Marketing Devices

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SEO – On Page Content

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On Page SEO – Anatomy of a Search Listing
Title Tag
Page URL
Meta Description

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Keyword Research
16
•Use a keyword research tool like Google Adwords Keyword Planner to identify search
volume potential for strategic terms:
•https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home
•The key is to include keywords people are using to search for your products in the content
you are creating
Country Selector
Language Selector
Keywords
Search Volume,
Importance of a
Keyword
Other Keyword Ideas

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@puriprashant
Keyword Targeting: UberSuggest
Google Keyword Planner
UberSuggest – Google Suggest
in One Place
Research

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@puriprashant
Keyword Targeting: GrepWords (Paid)

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@puriprashant
Include keywords in your pages!
19
1. Title tag
2. Description tag
3. Header tag(s)
4. Body copy
5. Image ALT text
6. Link anchor text
As Content Creators, you can help ensure strategic keywords appear in these
KEY SEO COMPONENTS of a page:
VERY
IMPORTANT !

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@puriprashant
Body Copy
Quick Snapshot:
1. Pages should have ~100
words of INDEXABLE copy –
this does not include links
2. The SEO keywords targeted
for the page should appear
2-3 times each in the copy
1. Primary goal is to make the
text READABLE for users –
no keyword stuffing or
“forcing”
2. If it’s hard to “work in” the
SEO keywords, the page
might not be appropriate for
those terms
• Keywords Targeted on Body: diapers, eco-
friendly diapers, natural diapers
• Keywords rankings on Google: diapers #4 ,
eco-friendly diapers #6 - , natural diapers - #1

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@puriprashant
Link anchor text
Quick Snapshot:
1. Link anchor text helps communicate
the keyword focus for the
DESTINATION page
2. The primary targeted keyword for the
destination page should be included in
the link anchor text
3. This is CRITICALLY important for SEO
– it helps reinforce the keyword focus
for the destination page
4. Links like click here and learn more
provide NO SEO value
5. Links must ALWAYS point to the same
version of the URL

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@puriprashant
Technical SEO

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@puriprashant
Crawlability / Link Architecture
Home Page
Tablets
Kindle iPad Tablet
eBooks
Comics Teen Fiction
Drama Essays Horror
Accessories
iPad Tablet NOOK Kindle
Apps
Games Children
Ideal Architecture Makes Content Access Easy and Simple
(for both users and bots)
Home
Topics
Category
Sub-
Category

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@puriprashant
Understanding Flow of Page Rank (Link Equity)
A
B
E
C
F
G
PageRank 8
PR (8*.85)/1
6.8 each
PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2
2.89 each
PR
(((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.8
5)/2
1.22 each
PR
(((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.8
5)/2)*.85)/2
0.52 each
D
Lower Number of Clicks to the Deepest Level Results in Higher
Indexation Rate – Better Long Tail
H

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Common Pitfall - Duplicate Content

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@puriprashant
Duplicate Content - Issues
1. Overall PageRank Gets Diluted
A
B
E
C
F
G
PageRank 8
PR (8*.85)/1
6.8 each
PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2
2.89 each
PR
(((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.8
5)/2
1.22 each
D
PR
(((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.8
5)/2)*.85)/3
0.34 each
GH
2. Neither Pages Might Not Rank

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@puriprashant
Duplicate Content – Solutions: Canonical Tags

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@puriprashant
Duplicate Content – Solutions: 301 Redirects

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@puriprashant
When Should I Use a Canonical vs. 301 Redirect
• If you don’t need the duplicate page – use a 301 redirect
• In instances when both pages are required (example: marketing, A/B
Testing) – use a canonical page.

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@puriprashant
Difference Between 301 & 302 Redirects

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@puriprashant
When Should I Use a 301 redirect vs. 302 Redirect
• If the page that you’re redirecting is coming back use a 302, otherwise use
a 301 redirect

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@puriprashant
SEO Friendly URLs

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@puriprashant
http://www.abc.com/p/xyz/color/1100437663
Dynamic URLs don’t perform as well as
static and engines recommend against
more than two parameters
Deeper Folder Structure & Keywords Missing
Search UN-Friendly URLs
Remove numeric characters
http://www.abc.com/s/?aud=tra&dref=9%2C1753%2C2945&sort=SA&store=eBOOK&view=grid

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@puriprashant
http://www.abc.com/tablets/nook-color
Single domain Shallow folder structure
with relevant words
Keywords in page name,
separated by hyphen
Search Friendly URLs
http://www.abc.com/ebooks/fiction/mystery
Shallow folder structure
with relevant words
Keywords in page name

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@puriprashant
Sitemaps

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@puriprashant
Semantic Sitemaps: Taxonomy Based Sitemaps
• Deeper understanding of how Google crawls
your site
• Analyze which section of the site is being
better indexed as compared to other sections
of the website.

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@puriprashant
Semantic Sitemaps Help Determine Categories that Need More
Attention

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@puriprashant
Google Webmaster Tool

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@puriprashant
Google Webmaster Tools – Checklist
1. Add Sites to Google Webmaster Tool.
2. Submit Sitemaps
3. Monitor and Improve
Live Review of the GWT

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@puriprashant
Content Marketing

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@puriprashant
Content Marketing – A 3 Pronged Approach
Research:
Identifying
Target
Keywords
Strategy:
Content
Marketing
Strategy
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Keyword Targeting: What are MY
Customers Looking For & How Do I Begin ?
Google Keyword Planner
Research

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@puriprashant
Creates Search Queries + Pings Twitter for
Relevant Conversations: Content Runner
Research

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@puriprashant
Low Hanging Fruit – Targeting Keywords
Not Ranking in the top 10: SearchMetrics
Research

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@puriprashant
Strategy 1: Competitor Analysis - Topically
Relevant Sites
Drill down and Analyze sites
with high Social Engagement
Strategy

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@puriprashant
Keyword Targeted Content: Google Alert Strategy

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@puriprashant
Strategy 2: Influencer Outreach – Leveraging Social
Media
Topically Relevant
sites
Strategy

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@puriprashant
Strategy 3: Image Attribution: Google
Image Search
Strategy

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@puriprashant
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
The Panda & Penguin We Once Knew…
Mitigating Risk

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…Have Evolved

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4%
27%
18%
13%
8%
6%
4%
15%
2%
3%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
Domain Authority vs Links
Understanding Your Current Link
Distribution: Moz
Sample Size: 0-10k URLs
Further Analysis
Required
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Poor Link Distribution Attributed to Low
Quality Link Acquisition
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Result: Annihilation of SEO Traffic
70% Drop in SEO
visibility
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Understanding Your Current Anchor Text
Distribution: aHrefs
KWs “ceiling fans” & “pendant
lights” drive more links than
longer tail anchor text
“ceiling fans”
“Longer tail”
“pendant lights”
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Understanding Your Current Landing Page
Distribution: aHrefs
Out of ~150k pages – top 7
pages drive 51% of the links
Mitigating Risk

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@puriprashant
Deciding with Data

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Reporting – Measuring ROI

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Dealing with “not provided”
Keyword level data decreased by 80% since Google Encryption

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Rank Tracking – Tracking a Broader Set of Keywords

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Landing Page Analysis – Tracking SEO Traffic for Core Landing Pages

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@puriprashant
Must-Do SEO Checklist
• Know Your Audience
• Leverage Google Keyword Planner & UberSuggest to Dive deep in to
Keyword research
• Install Google Webmaster Tool
• Know your data – Make sure Google’s crawling your pages
• Submit Sitemaps
• Install Google Analytics
• Its Free !
• Create Unique Title Tags/Desc for each page based on keyword research
• Look out for Duplicate Content Issues
• Kick-Start Content Marketing

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Live Site Audits !

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@puriprashant
Acquire
Amplify
Advance
Prashant Puri
CEO & Co-Founder
AdLift
prashant@adlift.com