Chris Raulf - SEO Tips and Best Practices for Small Businesses

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Chris RaulfInternational SEO | Digital Marketing

ExpertFounder of Boulder SEO Marketingwww.boulderseomarketing.com www.twitter.com/swisschris www.linkedin.com/in/chrisraulf

[Data.com Connect Presents] Search Engine Optimization Tips and Best Practices for Small Businesses: What is Working Today and How

www.boulderseomarketing.com | 720.263.1736 | www.chrisraulf.com | @swisschris

Thursday, August 25, 2016

About Chris and Boulder SEO Marketing

Chris• Born and raised in Switzerland• Moved to Boulder, CO in 1996• Two amazing kids; love soccer, skiing, mountain biking,

hiking, yoga, rock climbing... and crafty Colorado beer• 2 decades in digital marketing, SEO, social media,

content marketing, online lead generation, etc.Services• Affordable SEO Packages • SEO Training and Consulting• International and Multilingual SEO• Content Marketing• Social Media Marketing• And More

• Why Should You Invest into Search Engine Optimization (SEO)• Getting Started: An Introduction to SEO and the “5 Pillars of SEO”

Methodology • Keyword Research:

• How to identify the initial list of SEO keywords that people are actually searching for

• How to identify and take advantage of the “low hanging fruit” keywords that already drive traffic to a website

• Off-page SEO Best Practices• How to use Online Directories and Business Listings for SEO• The Power of Online Reviews

• Questions & Answers

Today’s Agenda

[A Quick Disclaimer] This Stuff Changes all the Time

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”

― HeraclitusGreek philosopher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5RZOU6vK4Q

[Google Algorithm] Important Updates

Today’s Agenda

[Internet Users] The World is Shrinking = Opportunities

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage

[New Websites] More Competition

~140,000 new websites are created every day

[New Websites] More Competition

[Marketing Budgets] A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned

$11.86

[Actual Customer Email] Busier Than a One Legged…

[Numbers Don’t Lie] Busier Than a One Legged…

• The journey from 314 organic Google search visits per month to 3,567:

1000% increase in Google organic search traffic in 3 years!

[Numbers Don’t Lie] Busier Than a One Legged…

[Search Engine Optimization] Starting to Get Excited?

There’s money to be made here!

Today’s Agenda

The Best Place to Hide a Dead Body…

…and monetize…

Demand

Search Engines (Databases) Supply

Keywords and phrases

[A Quick Word About Mobile Usage] We’ve Gone Mobile

Source http://www.gummicube.com/blog/2015/05/mostly-mobile/

[A Quick Word About Mobile] Mobile-Friendly Sites, Apps and AMP

[Google] The Algorithm That Rules the Web (World)

[Don’t Try to Game the System] Blackhat vs. Whitehat SEO

Blackhat SEO Illicit techniques that manipulate search engines to try to rank a site higher are considered blackhat techniques that violate our Webmaster Guidelines. Do not pay for links pointing to your site to be placed on the internet with the intent of passing PageRank and manipulating Google Search. These links may be called sponsored links or paid advertising, hidden in HTML, or inserted as optimized anchors in articles, comments, and footers.

Whitehat SEO These techniques aim to improve a site by focusing on the visitors instead of on ranking higher. Examples of good, whitehat techniques include creating organic, high-quality content and adding good descriptive tags covered in the previous module. They adhere to Webmaster Guidelines, which your site should follow to rank well and organically in Google Search.

Source: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6001181?hl=en

Source: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

[An Introduction] The “5 Pillars of SEO” Methodology

1. Technical Health of Website2. Website Functionality / User

Experience3. On-Page Search Engine Optimization4. Off-Page Search Engine Optimization5. Social Media Marketing

Content Marketing

What is SEO? http://www.boulderseomarketing.com/what-is-search-engine-optimization-seo/

200-250 main ranking signals; potentially 1000s of sub-ranking signals.

[Many Ingredients Needed] SEO is Like Cooking a Great Meal

Search Engine Optimization Requires a Strong Team

Resources: • SEO Manager

– Develop strategy– Manage team and drive process– Analyze date

• Content Creator– Web content, blog posts, in-depth articles,

white papers, case studies, etc.• Social Media Expert

– Draft and publish social media messages – Community management, etc.

• Webmaster / Webdesigner

[Start at the End] SEO Is a Buyer-Centric Process

Today’s Agenda

[Keyword Research for SEO] Pick Your Destination

[Keyword Research for SEO] Getting it Right

[Keyword Research for SEO] Initial Keyword Research

1000s of potential keywords

Digestible list of target keywords

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home

Let’s Identify Our “Low Hanging Fruit” Keywords

[Google Search Console] Let’s Identify Our “Low Hanging Fruit” Keywords

[Meta Content Optimization] Tips and Best Practices

Title tag [50 - 60 characters] Description tag [150 - 160 characters] Keywords tag [2-4 target SEO keywords] Alt / Images tags [applicable keyword / don’t “over”

optimize

[There’s No SEO Without Content] Content is King… Optimized Content is King

[Content Development] It’s Challenging

Content development challenges:• High quality content • Resources• Time• Cost

Tips:• Repurpose existing content• Find other in-house content

development resources• Outsource content

development

[Content Creation] Google Docs Template

[Content Marketing] Content Calendar Development

Sadly, a lot of companies don’t do it!

Today’s Agenda

[Backlinks] (Still) The Backbone of SEO

Source: http://searchengineland.com/search-illustrated-google-pagerank-explained-11167

[PageRank] In a Nutshell

[Backlinks] Tons of Benefits

[Backlinks] Strategy and Development

1. Earned1. Active: Write a guest blog post and include a link back to

your site 2. Passive: Someone out there adds a link on their site back to

your site2. Free

1. Free directories2. Press releases (free distribution services)3. SlideShare, LinkedIn, About.me, etc.

3. Paid1. Paid directories2. Press releases (paid distribution services), etc.

Three ways to acquire and earn backlinks:

[Backlinks] Earned (Unsolicited) = Best

[Backlinks] Free = Good to Potentially Very Good

[Backlinks] Paid = From Ok, to Good, to Potentially Very Good

[Directory and Business Listings] Only High-Quality

Google My Business

[So Awesome But…] Never Again

[Think Outside of the Box] It’s Free and Can Work Wonders

[Online Review] Free Endorsements

[Business Directories] Strategies

1. Consistency matters: Name, address, phone number (NAP)– Do a Google search for your company name– Use tools such as Moz Local or Yext.com

2. No mass production; try to manually claim and update your listings

3. Claim, update and optimize your listings (target keyword based)

[Search Engine-Optimized Press Releases] Got News?

[Press Releases] Tons of Benefits

[Search Engine-Optimized Press Releases] What to Announce

• Events• Awards• Promotions• New employees• New services or products • New clients• Partnership• Financials• Success stories and accomplishments• White papers, case studies, etc.• …the list never ends. Think outside of the box!

[Search Engine-Optimized Press Releases] Distribution Channels

Paid PR distribution services:

• Cision / PRWeb: http://www.prweb.com • PR Newswire: http://www.prnewswire.com • Marketwired: http://www.marketwired.com • Business Wire: http://www.businesswire.com• PR Underground: http://www.prunderground.com

Free PR distribution services:

• PRLog: http://www.prlog.org • Kontax: http://kontax.com • PR Urgent: www.prurgent.com/submit_press_release.htm

[LinkedIn and SlideShare] Two Powerful SEO Tools

[LinkedIn] Optimizing Company Pages for SEO

✔ Add an image if possible

✔ 3-4 target SEO keywords✔ 90-100 characters✔ 2-4 target SEO keywords✔ 150-160 characters

✔ 5-7 target SEO keywords✔ Include variations if possible

✔ 10-12 target SEO keywords✔ 256 characters

✔ Make sure to fill in the appropriate information

[What’s Next] Upcoming Online and In-Person SEO Training

Visit: http://www.boulderseomarketing.com/seo-and-social-media-classes/upcoming-events

Thank You!

Chris RaulfInternational SEO | Digital Marketing

ExpertFounder of Boulder SEO Marketingwww.boulderseomarketing.com www.twitter.com/swisschris www.linkedin.com/in/chrisraulf

[Data.com Connect Presents] Search Engine Optimization Tips and Best Practices for Small Businesses: What is Working Today and How Thursday, August 25,

Chris Raulf - SEO Tips and Best Practices for Small Businesses

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