This document provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. It discusses why SEO is important for driving organic traffic, outlines an 8-step SEO process including keyword research, auditing a website, creating an SEO plan and link building strategy, and measuring results. It also covers additional optimization techniques like usability, calls-to-action, URL structure, and social media. The overall goal is to help businesses understand how to successfully optimize their websites for first page rankings on search engines.

1. So, you want to do SEO, eh?
Search Engine Optimization 3.0
The good, the bad, the ugly. And how-to be successful at it.

3. Patti Fousek, President & Chief CreativeMind
patti@cmsearchmarketing.com
www.twitter.com/PattiFousek
www.cmsearchmarketing.com

4. Who the heck is Patti Fousek?

5. Patti Fousek is…
• 10 Year SEO Veteran
• Owner of Inbound
Marketing agency in South
Berwick Maine
• Does agility and Dock Dogs
with Aspen, aka, The Nerdy
Dog
• Tweets, blogs, and
“Facebooks”
• Local social media & SEO
speaker
• SEO panelist at IMS Boston
2009 & 2010

6. Why is SEO important?
Millions of Searches (Monthly)
Source: Comscore: http://www.comscore.com; Chart via SEOmoz

7. Why else?
Paid =
AdWords 20% of Clicks
80% of Clicks
Organic =
SEO
Source: Comscore: http://www.comscore.com

8. Why else?
Google: Changing the way we view Search Engine Optimization!

9. SEOmoz is a great resource for all things SEO.

10. Data courtesy of SEOmoz: Data released June 6, 2011
www.seomoz.org/blog/new-edition-ranking-factors-for-2011-live

11. Whatever you do…..
Don’t bother with:
• Search engine submissions
• Meta keywords
Don’t do these:
• Keyword stuffing
• Doorway pages
• Duplicate content
• Buy links
• Hide text
Follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
www.google.com/support/webmasters

12. How do you optimize a site for 1st page results?
In 2011?

13. 75% 20%
5%
Photo of baby: transformationalleadershiphq.com ; image of robot: cas.illinoisstate.edu;
Common sense image: commonsenseuseit.com

14. The SEO Process

15. 8 Steps to SEO
1 Understand the Website History
• How old is the domain?
• How old is the current design?
• Has SEO been done in the past?
• Who is the target audience?
2 What are the Client’s Goals for the Website
• Sell a product or a service?
• Increase website traffic?
• Brand recognition?
• All of the above?
Always do your homework first

16. 3 Conduct an SEO Audit
• Current keyword rankings
• Current organic traffic
• Any visible on-page optimization?
• How many inbound links?
• Current Google page rank
• Current bounce rate
• Other factors: site architecture, usability, calls-to action,
website load time, robots.txt, xml sitemap, search engine
friendly design.

17. 4 Research and Analyze Keywords
• Google AdWords keyword tool
• Keywords with high searches and low competition
• Do actual searches on Google
• Competitor research
• Key phrases rather than keywords
5 Write/Execute the SEO Plan
• Titles/Descriptions by page
• Internal links, H tags, Alt tags
• SEO copyedit the text
• Add robots.txt & xml sitemap

18. 6 Create a Link Building Strategy
• Does the client have content to push? Blog, articles, press
releases?
• Online directories (Dmoz, Yahoo Directory, local directories)
• Blogger outreach, Twitter, Facebook, delicious, etc.
7 Measure & Track
• Increase/decrease in traffic
• Bounce rate increase/decrease
• Keyphrase producing traffic
8 Rinse & Repeat

19. Photo of file folders: revitalizationpartners.com

20. One large goal: Increase Sales

21. The SEO Audit

22. • Website source code
• Google Analytics
• Yahoo Site Explorer
• Advanced Keyword Ranking
• Compete.com
• Advanced Link Manager
• Firefox Rank Checker
• W3C
Website Audit Tools

23. • Home page title tag included one keyword phrase (a
new term they made up)
• Average website traffic 4,000/month – mostly direct
traffic. < 1/4 from organic search.
• Ranked for a few keyphrases, mostly on page 2 and 3 of
Google
• Most keyphrases used were very broad or had low
search volume
• Few calls to action = few leads from website
• No robots.txt file or xml sitemap
• 1,400 inbound links - lots fewer than competitors
• Navigational structure a bit confusing
Website Audit Findings

24. Keyword
Research

25. 1. 3D direct modeling
2. 3D software
3. 3D CAE
4. 3D Mechanical software
Keyword Research starts with brainstorming

26. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Next – use a Keyword Tool to get search volumes
& additional keyphrases
Tip: Export keywords you choose to Excel

27. Other Keyword Research Tools
Blogs, Twitter, News, Wonder Wheel – how others use those terms

28. Neutral Good Bad
Keyword Analysis Guide: (either SEO or Paid) (SEO Specific) (too broad or N/A)
Average Google
Keyword Phrase by Category Average Monthly Searches Competition Keyword Analysis
3D Engineering
3d free modeling software 1,009 16,700,000 neutral
3d engineering software 540 738,000 good
3d engineering models 4 169,000 neutral
3d engineering tool 2 498,000 neutral
3d modeling engineering 2 1,650,000 neutral
3d engineering 1 17,600,000 neutral/paid only
3d engineering design 1 912,000 good
3d engineering mechanical design 1 399,000 good
3D Mechanical
3d mechanical design software 41 420,000 good
3d mechanical design 16 1,050,000 good
3d mechanical software 2 451,000 good
3D Model/Modeling
3d model 270 20,800,000 neutral/paid only
3d modeling 231 270,000 neutral/paid only
3d auto cad modeling 149 4,840,000 good
3d modeling and rendering 143 345,000 neutral
3d cad modeling 141 805,000 good
custom 3d modeling 96 963,000 neutral
create 3d models 90 17,600,000 neutral
Format in Excel to use later in Word or PowerPoint

29. The SEO Plan

30. • Create Unique Title Tags for Top 20 pages
o Titles should be under 60 characters
• Create Unique Meta Descriptions for Top 20 pages
o Descriptions should be under 150 characters
• Copy edit the content for keywords
o I call this “SEO copyediting”
• Create an internal linking structure throughout
• Create an inbound linking campaign
• Consult on placement of calls-to-action
• Consult on site architecture/navigational structure
Tip: Organize your thoughts before you start

31. CHAR CHAR
PAGE NEW TITLE LENGTH NEW DESCRIPTION LENGTH
Home SpaceClaim|3D Direct 69 Deliver products to market 168
Modeling Software for FAST with SpaceClaim 3D
Engineering, Direct Solid Modeling
Manufacturing and CAE software. Process more
ideas quickly and interact
directly with your customers
with SpaceClaim.
COPY EDITS INTERNAL LINKS
Additional keywords are in red. Keywords to be bolded, are bold. "3D direct modeling software" will
Internal links are underlined. link to the Products Overview page.
SpaceClaim - the world’s most innovative 3D direct modeling "capture fresh ideas" will link to the
software solution - gives engineers and designers the freedom and Conceptual Engineering page
flexibility to capture fresh ideas easily, make dramatic edits to
models from any CAD system, and simplify models for simulation "any CAD system" will link to Using
analysis, digital prototyping, and manufacturing. SpaceClaim Overview page
Tip: Google is only showing 54 Title characters now

32. Title Tag Tips
• Each page has a unique Title
o Represent the content of that page
• Most important keywords go first
• Include City/State for local audience
• No more than 2 keyword phrases in Title
• Keep short – under 55 characters for 2011
• Try to avoid stop words or symbols (and, in, of)
• Dashes and divider symbols (|) are ok
• Put company name at the end if it takes up lots of
character real estate

33. Examples
Global PR and Communications Agency|Boston, DC, NYC, NH, AZ|
Brodeur Partners
o Total characters actually 77
o This is what Google will show:
Global PR and Communications Agency|Boston, DC, NYC, NH …
Children Literacy Enrichment Programs in NH – Amity Publications
o Total characters actually 66
o This is what Google will show:
Children Literacy Enrichment Programs in NH – Amity …

34. Meta Description Tips
• Each page has a unique Meta Description
o Describes the content of that page.
• Most important keywords go first
• Include City/State for local audience
• Keep short – under 150 characters for 2011
• Write it as if it were an ad
o Entice a visitor to click – include calls-to-action

35. Examples
EnviroKid™ eco-friendly children’s products. Our
children’s products are always PVC and Phthalate
free! Buy online today. – 122 characters
Plan your next Charity Golf Event or Corporate Golf
Tournament at New Hampshire golf courses with
The Botts Group, professional golf event consultants.
- 150 characters

36. Link Building
Site Google Type of Listing Cost Suggested Listing Page
Page Rank
Dmoz (Google Directory) 8 general directory Free http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Softw
Dmoz (Google Directory) 8 general directory Free http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Technolo
Dmoz (Google Directory) 8 general directory Free http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Softw
Yahoo Directory 8 general directory $299/year http://search.yahoo.com/search/dir?ei=
Targeting the right sites for inbound links is crucial

37. Other ways to get links: Publish content everywhere!

38. Measure &
Track

39. Website Traffic 2010 vs. 2009
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000 2009
10,000 2010
5,000
0
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
30 day trials increased from a few a month to over 200 a month.
346% increase in traffic in year one. 15% increase in year two.

40. 12.28% increase in organic traffic!
Dec 2010
Dec 2009
Tip: Best to track over a long period of time to see trends in data.

41. Other Aspects
of SEO

42. Usability & Calls-to-Action!
• Usability
o Visitors should be able to find what they are looking for as soon
as they land on the site
o Navigation should be clear
o Site should have a natural hierarchy
o Fonts, font sizes, and colors should be consistant
• Calls-to-Action
o What do you want the visitor to do upon arriving?
o Be very clear with your calls-to-action
o Calls-to-action are measureable

43. Usability & Calls-to-Action Example!
•Confusing navigation
• Different font colors and
sizes
• Confusing design
• Hard to read
• Call-to-action at the
bottom, below
the fold

44. After…!
•Straight forward navigation
•Cleaner design
• Much easier to read
•Call-to-action stand out

45. URL Structure!
•A good URL structure:
www.example.com/category
OR www.example/category/product-name
•A poor URL structure (for search engine
"friendliness") :
www.example.com/IWCatProductPage.process?
Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=691&Product_Id=143
9522&Parent_Id=302&default_color=BLACK&sort_
by=§ioncolor=&sectionsize=
URL rewrites or fixed with CMS

46. URL Canonicalization
• Canonicalization is the process of picking the best
URL (to present to the search engines) when there
are multiple choices available:
o www.example.com
example.com
www.example.com/index.html
example.com/home.asp
• Add the Canonical tag inside the <head> section of
the duplicate content pages
<link rel="canonical"
href="http://www.example.com" />

47. Social Media and SEO
• EVERYTHING is indexed by Search Engines
o Twitter posts, Facebook pages, Facebook profiles, Facebook
likes, LinkedIn profile, Social Bookmarking profiles, blog
comments, blog posts….
• Be aware of keywords in all you do social
• Builds brand awareness

48. Social Media and SEO

49. Local SEO
Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, City Search, etc.

50. Conclusion

53. Questions?
Patti Fousek, President
CreativeMind Search Marketing
www.cmsearchmarketing.com
patti@cmsearchmarketing.com
www.twitter.com/PattiFousek
207.704.0237
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