The document outlines the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and its fundamental practices, including optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, and URLs for better search visibility and click-through rates. It emphasizes the need for unique, compelling content that aligns with user searches, while warning against unethical practices like keyword stuffing and cloaking. Additionally, it encourages utilizing internal linking and maintaining quality content to attract inbound links.

1. SOME SEO BASICS Malcolm Coles, 1/9/2010

2. WHY SEO IS IMPORTANT

3. Why SEO matters

4. What SEO isn’t http://powazek.com/posts/2090

5. What SEO isn’t

6. What SEO isn’t

7. What SEO isn’t

8. SEO is about Working out what people search for Optimising your site and its pages for those terms Getting attention for your website Converting the resulting traffic into customers

9. Why SEO matters Source: http://www.redcardinal.ie/search-engine-optimisation/12-08-2006/clickthrough-analysis-of-aol-datatgz/ Based on some data AOL accidentally released two years ago.

10. Why SEO matters http://research.microsoft.com/~ryenw/papers/ClarkeSIGIR2007.pdf

11. What search results look like

12. Anatomy of a search page

13. An individual result You can control this You can control this You can control this

14. How you’re doing

15. How do you look in Google?

16. How do you look in Google?

17. How does Google see your site?

19. I’m so pretty …

20. WHAT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT ON YOUR SITE

21. Html titles

22. Make your page titles There’s a bit of HTML called <title>. It’s not the on-page headline, and you can’t actually see it on a webpage. Most web publishing software defaults to “page headline – site name” But it doesn’t always … and you may not want it to. Google pays A LOT of attention to it

23. Celebrity Big Brother

24. Set them!

25. Make your page titles Make your page titles: descriptive, compelling, unique Put the keywords you want to rank for in the title – preferably at the front This is all good for search engines AND for users.

26. Don’t get carried away … X Factor Dermot O'Leary Jedward death threats Louis Walsh sexuality Britney Spears miming Never Mind The Buzzcocks: 3am

27. Think about what people search for

28. Meta descriptions

29. Make meta descriptions compelling There’s a bit of HTML called the meta description. You can’t actually see it on a webpage. It doesn’t help your site rank. It affects clickthrough rates.

31. Make your descriptions Make them: Unique Compelling Descriptive Include the keywords you want to rank for – google will make them bold Or else don’t bother and let Google decide …

32. Images

33. Help Google out Give the image a descriptive file name Use alt text Use a caption

34. Google can’t understand images

35. Don’t be naughty …

36. URLs

37. URLs: how Google organises the web Don’t have the same content on multiple URLs Don’t delete URLs without directing them

38. … not as Google does Google’s SEO report card

39. Don’t be too helpful These all work: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/HPV-vaccination/Pages/Introduction.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/HPV-vaccination/Pages/Introduction.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/ C o N di T io N s/HPV-va C ci N ati O n/Pa G es/Introduction.aspx

40. Redirect broken URLs

41. Internal linking

42. What words do you link with?

43. How important is a page?

44. Content

45. Technologies Beware of Flash Beware of javascript

46. WHAT NOT TO DO

47. Don’t do any of these things … Hidden text Cloaking Keyword stuffing Irrelevant keywords Get hacked

50. Welcome to our church! We welcome all worshipers. Daily Mass, 8 am, Monday to Thursday. Communion service at 8 am on Friday. Weekend Masses: Saturday, 5:30 pm; Sunday, 10:30 am 101 Main Street, 555-4242

51. Welcome to our church! We welcome all worshipers. Daily Mass, 8 am, Monday to Thursday. Communion service at 8 am on Friday. Weekend Masses: Saturday, 5:30 pm; Sunday, 10:30 am 101 Main Street, 555-4242 CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM CATHOLICISM

52. OFF SITE

53. Links, links, links

54. Links, links, links

55. Links, links, links X

56. Never mention toolbar pagerank

57. Don’t cheat You can cheat by … Adding links to other people’s sites (EG blog comments). That usually doesn’t work. You can buy links. That sometimes works – but long-term penalties can be ruinous. You can set up fake websites to get links. You can do all sorts of things! Or you could have a quality website with content people want to link to and promote that to get links …

58. TOOLS YOU CAN USE

59. Two easy Google ones

60. NEARLY THE END

61. To sum up Have the content people are searching for Focus pages on individual search terms. Make it clear what pages are about – to search engines and to searchers Make sure Google can find your content Don’t cheat Then do your off-site SEO

62. Any volunteers …? For a quick site review?

63. @malcolmcoles www.malcolmcoles.co.uk Me