Presented by Karen Porter UM School of Business Administration & ImpactOnlineMarketing.com The Importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

What is SEO? “A methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a web page by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) – including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.” Used as both a noun (as above) And a verb – to “SEO” a page, post, media ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

The 3 Components of SEO On-site (on-page) – what you do on the web page itself Linking – quantity and importance of links coming into a site (inbound linking) Social signals – how important is the site to those who visit ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Focus Today Primarily on Google 2013 Search Volume Stats Google 67% Bing 17% Yahoo 12% 4% AOL, Ask, others ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Google SEO Algorithm Weight Changes Originally primarily on-site SEO Move to emphasize linking too (50/50) Addition of social signals (40/40/20) Movement more toward social (weight unknown) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Keywords: The Foundation of SEO What is a keyword What makes a “excellent” keyword – one worth optimizing? Enough search activity to drive sufficient traffic to site Not too much competition (is there a chance to move onto the first page of Google?) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Determine Keyword Search Volume Use Google Keyword Planner Must open an Adwords account to use the Keyword Planner (no spending necessary) Only use EXACT match to explore Look at search volume column only (ignore competition and Adwords columns) Which words have most search volume? ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Keyword Match Type Only use EXACT match to explore keywords Exact match = tennis shoes Phrase match = tennis shoes for women –or- blue tennis shoes size 9 Broad match = shoes for tennis –or- tennis rackets and shoes Keywords must be compared “apples to apples” Google Keyword Planner delivers Exact Match results Other tools may offer a Match Type option ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Keyword Example: “visit montana” ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Determine Strength of Competition Install MozBar on Firefox or Chrome Monitor bars under each site listed on the first page of Google DA = Domain Authority PA = Page Authority Look for results that have both DA and PA = or < than 40 If two or more results meet this criteria, good chance of getting ranked on page one of Google (assuming you use best practices of SEO) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Using MozBar (Firefox & Chrome) Search Google for “install Mozbar” Will deliver PA and DA results for each result on the first page of Google (BOTH must be = or < 40) Need 2 or more qualifiers from 10 results on 1 st page ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

On-Page Elements of SEO ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Meta tags (fields in code specifically added for search engines) Title tag MOST important – by far Description field important as verbiage in Google / search engine results Meta keywords NOT important at all

On-Page Elements of SEO (cont.) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Page title (headline on website page) – different than the Meta Title TAG H1, H2, H3 headers Page URL ( Use of keyword in page content (1-2% density) Photo titles and alt tags

Inbound Links ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Quality of inbound links more important than quantity Links from important sites provide credibility to yours Large, well-respected sites (high PA/DA numbers) Government sites (.gov) Education sites (.edu) Links from link exchanges / low quality / brand new sites offer little value Links from plethora of article sites, directory sites, etc. not helpful

Social Signals ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Content shared socially from your website / blog Traffic from social sites into your website / blog Time on site / time on pages (Google Analytics) Page views (Google Analytics) Bounce rate (Google Analytics)

“Sleuthing” to Check Competitor SEO ImpactOnlineMarketing.com What are your main competitive sites? Which sites own the first page of Google for your KWs? Which keywords are they trying to optimize? What are they not doing well? You can capitalize on things they are missing After doing keyword research: Visit sites that are ranking well for your best keywords Visit those sites’ source code to “sleuth”

Sleuthing Source Code ImpactOnlineMarketing.com On any website: In white space on page, do a right click > drop-down Select “View Source” or “View Page Source” option If on Google, see clickable link (this is page’s Title Tag)

Using Analytics to Monitor SEO ImpactOnlineMarketing.com From a keyword perspective, it’s not as easy as it once was to monitor keyword SEO in Analytics “Unspecified” is now the most common keyword result Google WebMaster Tools now better for monitoring keyword driven SEO Referring sites (under Traffic) is helpful in monitoring effectiveness of off-site SEO Key metrics to watch that can affect SEO Time on site/pages, page views, bounce rate, load time

Google Analytics Example ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

Google Analytics Example 2 ImpactOnlineMarketing.com

When to Use PPC (Pay Per Click) ImpactOnlineMarketing.com While waiting for first page Google organic rankings When ranking toward bottom of Google’s first page Even when holding top organic spots IF there is positive ROI In Google, use Analytics to set “goals,” monitor conversions, and study metrics

Retail Website Keyword Example ImpactOnlineMarketing.com One keyword example: organically ranked #1 CPC (cost per click) averaging $.22 each Cost per conversion was roughly $9 (CPC x # clicks to net a conversion) Average website sale was $47 – ($26 net after all expenses, including cost of AW) Positive ROI for this keyword Continue bidding on keyword with positive ROI Eliminate those not returning required results

Keywords – Not Just for Web Sites ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Examples of Keywords/SEO on Social Sites (Quick tips for getting found and ranked for keywords) Facebook – keywords vital in short and long page descriptions Linkedin – keyword use in summary and profile is how others will find you for your skills and expertise YouTube – keyword use in channel name, video name, video description is critical to coming up in YouTube search (and in Google search)