7 Simplistic SEO Tips for 2017

7/20/2017

Introduction

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• SEO Director

• Digital Marketing Expertise since 2005

• A passion for analytics and technical SEO

• Bragging rights:14 digital marketing certifications

http://www.linkedin.com/in/swebermarketing

Steve Weber

Email: sweber@pepperjam.com

Agenda

• Cover 7 Simple Tips To Improve Your SEO

• Answer Your Questions

What is SEO?

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SEO is Search Engine Optimization

It is otherwise called Organic Search or Natural Search:

• Our goal is to optimize websites so that they rank well in the free

listings of search engines.

Yes, SEO Is Still Important

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• 1.17 billion people use Google for search

each month

• 2.7 million blog posts are published every

day

• 15% of all queries searched were never

searched before.

• There are more than 2.3 million Google

searches per minute.

• More than half of Google searches come

from mobile devices.

• https://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/index.html

• http://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-engine-facts-2016-3

• http://www.slideshare.net/NewsCred/50-best-stats-presentation/

• http://www.socialfresh.com/marketing-statistics-every-cmo-should-know-in-2014/

• https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/study/2355020/organic-search-accounts-for-

up-to-64-of-website-traffic-study

Remember: Search engines are in

business to deliver the BEST result.

Tip 1 – Stay Current With The State Of SEO In 2017

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• Top 3 ranking signals are released by Google: Links, Content, and the RankBrain machine learning

algorithm

• Google is slowly rolling out their mobile first algorithm. All ranking factors will be based on the mobile

version of your landing pages

• Google now displays up to four paid search ads above organic queries for “highly commercial queries”

• Google have officially released their confidential quality raters guidelines, and it includes an entire section

about user intent on a mobile device

• HTTPS is getting promoted in both search engines and browsers

• 2017 Algorithm Update – The Penguin 4.0 algorithm is released “in real time.” This Algorithm is focused

on spam and paid backlinks

• 2017 Algorithm Update – The Fred Update is said to affect sites not following Google’s quality guidelines

Tip 2 – Swear Off The New “Fred”

Algorithm Update!

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Google’s Quality Guidelines:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35

769?hl=en&ref_topic=6002025

"Following the General Guidelines below will help

Google find, index, and rank your site.“

All of your page’s content must add value to your

visitors!

Gary Illyes is a webmaster trends analyst at

Google. His tweets are helpful for understanding

SEO. He tweeted that there are no problems with

affiliate links. The problem is when a site’s sole

purpose is to be a “shallow container for affiliate

links.”

Tip 3 – Content Creation Can Begin With Research

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1. https://moz.com/explorer

2. http://adwords.google.com/keywordplanner

3. http://www.google.com/insights/search/

4. http://advertising.microsoft.com/small-business/adcenter-

downloads/microsoft-advertising-intelligence

5. https://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

6. http://www.keywordshitter.com/

7. https://ubersuggest.io/

It all begins with words typed into a search box.

Before writing content, decide the topics and terms you

want your pages to rank for.

Fortunately for us, there are several free tools to help us

learn how often a keyword is searched per month.

Research Tools

Tip 3.5 – Choose Keywords Based on User Intent

Determine the Action You Want Visitors to Take on Each Page

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Awareness

Interest

Consideration

Awareness Keywords• Broadest terms – highest search volume

• Question terms that center around general topic or

customer needs

• Categoric comparison terms

(the Best… or Top… )

Interest Keywords• More specific terms (longer tail non-brand) & branded

terms

• Question terms that focus around specific product

or service offering

• Comparison shopping terms (product x vs. product y)

Consideration Keywords• Predominantly branded & singularly focused

• Specific product reviews or images

• Product name or model number terms

• Long tail specific terms (non-brand)

What good is a first position ranking if it

never gets clicked?

Best Blue Widgets 2016 | Widgetsource

Tip 4 – Earn the Click By

Optimizing Your Page Titles

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Earn that click! RankBrain exists to ensure Google

is returning results searchers want. Google knows

what its users are clicking on.

• First and foremast write a title that makes sense

for the page and entice people to click.

• Less than 60 Characters for Mobile

• All titles should be unique to the page.

In the source it looks like this:

<title>Best Blue Widgets 2017 | Widgetsource </title>

Tip 4.5 – Earn the Click By

Optimizing Your Meta Descriptions

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• Write a description that makes sense for the

page and entices the visitor to learn more by

clicking through it.

• Less than 140 Characters for Mobile

• All descriptions should be unique to the page.

In the source it looks like this:

<meta name="description" content="Our blue widgets

are the best plain and simple. Want to know why ours

are the best? Read this!" />

Tip 5 – Use Google Search Console’s

Search Analytics

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Sign up for Google Search Console!

https://www.google.com/webmasters/

Get to your Search Analytics by clicking: Search

Traffic > Search Analytics

This is where you can view which search queries

or landing pages are bringing you traffic and

learn exactly how you can optimize them for

more traffic.

Monitor your click through rate by comparing

date ranges and fine tune your titles to improve.

Tip 5.5 – Add the Keywords

Everywhere Browser Extension

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Add the “Keywords Everywhere” Chrome

Extension or Firefox Add-on for more info.

https://keywordseverywhere.com/

Search Console will show you the exact phrases

your landing pages are getting clicks or

impressions for.

Keywords Everywhere will bring in the monthly

search volume to help you gauge if the page is

optimized for phrasing that will earn you traffic.

Other Google Search Console Benefits

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Watch Our Webinar on Google Search Console: http://bit.ly/PJ-SearchConsoleTips

1. Monitor your site's performance in Google Search results.

2. Ensure Google can access your content.

3. Submit new content for crawling and remove content.

4. Maintain your site with minimal disruption to search performance.

5. Monitor for errors so your site stays clean.

6. Learn which queries caused your site to appear in search results?

7. Are your product prices, company contact info, or events

highlighted in rich search results?

8. Which sites are linking to your website?

9. Is your mobile site performing well for visitors searching on

mobile?https://www.google.com/webmasters/

Tip 6 – Compress Your Images

• Compressing images will dramatically

improve load times and conversion

rates.

• Before images are uploaded to your

site, they should be compressed.

• Use the free tool on

https://compressor.io/ to compress

images without degrading any of their

visual clarity.

Original Image

Compressed Image

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Tip 7 – Audit Your Sitemap.xml

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Sitemaps are an easy way to inform search

engines about the pages on your site:

http://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

If you don’t have a sitemap.xml, inquire with your

dev about building one or get a plugin to help.

How To Audit:

Download Screaming Frog SEO spider

https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

Click Mode > List > Upload > Download Sitemap

> Paste in the URL to your sitemap.xml file.

What to look for:

Any pages that have a status code other than 200,

should be removed from your sitemap.

For More SEO Tips, Check Out our Blog Post for 7 SEO Slam Dunks

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https://www.pepperjam.com/blog/seo-slam-dunks

Any Questions?