Heidi Harner Morrill

Terms to Know SEO – search engine optimization (Organic results) SEM – search engine marketing PPC – pay per click (Paid results) CPM – cost per thousand (impressions) SERP – search engine results page Search Engine – Google, Bing, Yahoo! Bot or Spider – gathers data for search engine Index – consolidation of data gathered by bot or spider Algorithm – program used by search engine to rank websites in SERPs

Fundamentals! Type A(DD) SEO – sprinting to the latest and greatest tactic, trying to keep up with competitors instead of setting the pace. Type B SEO – learning the basics, practicing, sticking with it and finally leading the pack!

On-Page SEO Site Title – this is the title that is shown as the clickable link text in search results, make sure its descriptive. Description Meta-tag – this is the short description that is shown in search results, make it count! If you dont have one, the search engine will make one for you. Webpage URL – are your URLs SEO Friendly? Sometimes with content management systems (CMS) they arent – talk to your website designer. Content – should be well written and pertinent, words per page is ideal.

Some On-Page Items

How Searchers See Them

Off-Page SEO Link building (DONT BUY LINKS!) Social Media: blogging, Facebook business page, Twitter, YouTube Channel Submit to market specific directories Google Places page Bing Local page Yahoo! Local page Foursquare, Yelp, Merchant Circle – coupons if they apply to your business

Some Easy Fixes Is your site (Section 508) compliant or accessible? Watch Code to Content Ratio – move javascript and styles to linked files rather than inline. Make sure your site titles are descriptive. If you saw your sites description in search, would you click it? Lose the jargon. Concentrate on keywords your clients are using for search – a great source of ideas is your sites analytics or search data.