Integrate tactics such as linking, blogging, publishing, authorship markup and technical SEO into your overall online marketing mix; whether a small business or an enterprise.

1. SEO For Small
Businesses
LOREN BAKER, VP, FOUNDATION DIGITAL

2. SEO in 1998

3. SEO in 2003 to 2010
• Linking – BUY LINKS! TRADE LINKS!
• Keywords Only
• Article Directories! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM!
• Fooling Google (or Bing)
• Ranking #1 or #2
• # of Pages Indexed
• Brute force exact match anchor text
• Excessive title over-optimization
• Internal anchor text and link over-optimization

4. WHAT IS SEO IN 2013?
• Human Engagement
• Audience Optimization
• User Experience
• Content
• Cross Device
• Localization
• Citations

5. BUT HOW TO APPLY
THIS TO SEO
TACTICS????

6. BUILDING YOUR SEO FOUNDATION
SEO 101 Tactics
• Homepage Defines Site
• Nested Navigation: Floors > Hardwood
Flooring > Bamboo Hardwood Flooring
• URL Structure & Breadcrumbs
• Content, H1, H2

7. BUILDING YOUR SEO FOUNDATION
Indexing & Performance
• Duplicate Content
• Site Specific Search (site:copyblogger.com)
• Duplicate Titles & Meta (Descriptions)
• Duplicate Posts/Pages (Read/Print/Archives/Email…)
• Indexing Errors
• 404’s and Broken Pages
• Thin Content (Real Estate Listings, Profiles)
• Page Load Speed

8. TECHNICAL SEO RESOURCES
• Raven Tools Auditor
• Quick Sprout SEO Audit Guide

9. DEFINE YOUR SEO MARKETPLACE
• Local? Then define competitors who are
competing in your area.
• Google Localization is in the SERPS and
the Local 8 Pack
• Learn from other businesses in other local
markets
• How does your site look & function on
Mobile Devices? [~50% mobile]

10. GOOGLE’S LOCALIZED SERPS
• Localization has different effects
depending on query & metro
• Local vs. Big Local [Pack vs. Full Organic]
• Big Guys [YP.com, Trulia ..etc.] out-
performing in local due to authority and
link volume

11. GOOGLE’S LOCALIZED SERPS

12. GOOGLE’S LOCALIZED SERPS

13. GOOGLE’S LOCALIZED SERPS

14. GOOGLE’S LOCALIZED SERPS
Make sure your location(s) are listed in places where other local
companies are, and most importantly, are not.
Tools for finding opportunities:
• Whitespark Local Citation Finder
• Localeze
• Sweet IQ
• Claim all social profiles for your office(s):
o Foursquare
o Yelp
o Plus pages
o Other third party sites with review opportunities

15. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP & CONTENT

16. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP & CONTENT
• Build your brand, authority, name …etc.
• Your headshot in the SERPs can help increase CTRs to your
website & where you contribute
• Related articles will appear next to your result (“more by…”)
• Tying your name to high quality and highly engaged content-
Author Rank improvement
• Authoring content on local sites is another geo-signal
• Author Rank and authority- can be leveraged for guest
blogging
Don’t forget Rel=“Publisher” – Build out Google Plus business
page and verify

17. RECRUITING BLOGGERS
Before allowing guest posts on your site, make sure you’re
digging into where they’re sharing content and what
they’re sharing.
• Work with bloggers who have a long history of
engagement with their content
• Ones who invite comments and engage with readers
• Aren’t authoring content on extremely low authority
blogs
• Write consistent and relevant content in your vertical or
the local community

18. GUEST BLOGGERS

19. WORKING WITH PUBLISHERS
• Cobranded Content
• Tap into their Active Audience
• Natural Syndication = Co Citation Map
• Trickle Down Effect
• Comments, Shares, Tweets
• Share within their Facebook Groups and Others
• Email? That’s the Golden Ticket
• DON’T FORGET LOCAL PUBLISHERS

20. WORKING WITH PUBLISHERS

21. DUDE, THAT’S MY CONTENT!
• The Art of Link Reconciliation
• Google Queries and Alerts for the Title of
Your Work
• Be Picky, Only Reach Out to the Sites with
Value
• Ignore sites in Bad Neighborhoods
• Don’t ask for Exact Match
• Just Ask for Proper Citation
• Google Image Search is your Friend

22. LINK REPO – THAT’S MY CONTENT!

23. LOCAL OUTREACH
Local Links offer geo-signals to further validate your local presence
• What is your unique value proposition? Why should they consider you
an authority in the local space?
• Google News- Leverage it for timely industry related news you can
provide your authority on.
• Just like links need to be topical, local links should point to appropriate
city pages. Don’t cross signals.
• Grow and Nurture Local Publisher and Newspaper Relationships-
Always add value

24. LOCAL OUTREACH
Also take time to understand where your competitor’s are getting
links, and what specific local pages they’re strengthening to help them
compete.

25. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS EMAIL?
Hi Steve
We are interested in producing editorial content for your site.
We can pay you $100 for a guest editorial referencing my client's
site _________ (_______.com), a provider of ___ products for
both men and women in the US (NSFW).
I know time is valuable these days and I appreciate yours.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX
Marketing Assistant

26. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS EMAIL?
Hi Steve My Name is Not Steve.
We are interested in producing editorial content for your site.
We can pay you $100 for a guest editorial referencing my client's
site _________ (_______.com), a provider of adult products for
both men and women in the US (NSFW).
Thanks for telling me it’s NSFW after clicking the links!!!
I know time is valuable these days and I appreciate yours.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX
Marketing Assistant

27. DO YOUR RESEARCH

28. SEO For Small
Businesses
LOREN BAKER, VP, FOUNDATION DIGITAL @lorenbaker