Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

How to rank on the first page of Google

Integrated Multi-Media Game Plan

Website Design

Branding & Design

Graphic Design

Marketing Plans Social

Media

Mobile Marketing

Email Marketing

Pay Per Click

SEO

[ This could be YOUR Company ]

Introduction to SEO• SEO is Search Engine Optimization– Otherwise known as getting your website or web

page to the first position of a search engine or increase rank on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

• TIP: You’ll need to remember these acronyms!

SERPSearch Term/Keyword

PPC Ads (PAID)

Google Locations (FREE)

Google Locations (FREE)

ORGANIC SEARCH (FREE)

PPC vs. Location vs. Organic• PPC (Pay Per Click)

– These are Google Ads triggered by keywords. Most typical cost is a “per click” cost.

• Location Results– Based on geography of the person searching and pinpoints on Google Maps. You

MUST have your page “Verified” or “Claimed” first.

• Organic– The Holy Grail. This is the most coveted as it’s free. The #1 position is crucial – it

gets 33% of ALL traffic. Organic results are determined by a complex algorithm that Google constantly changes.

Dig Deeper• Search phrase in TITLE of page

• Search keywords in descriptionof page

On-Page “Visible” TipsURL (Website Address)

PAGE TITLE

H1, H2, H3… TAGS

Keywords matching description

Secure Site (SSL)

On-Page “Invisible”

Description

Page TITLE

Keywords

Alt Description on Images

Off-Page SEO• Recommendation from Friends

– I know Brad Poirier– Brad Poirier is a marketing expert– Tom Ward: Brad Poirier is a marketing expert

• Links are “online” recommendations– A link: www.breezedigitalmedia.com– A link with anchor text:

Rhode Island Marketing Agency– A Link from a trusted website

Off Page SEO Tips• Remarkable Content

– Blogs– Tools– Videos, Photos, etc– Infographics

• Social Media Ecosystem• Online Directories• Partners• Press Releases• Answers, Forums etc (CREDIBLE forums)

Bonus: MOBILE• April 21, 2015 – The world changed– Affects searches that are done FROM mobile– Important since over 60% searches are done on mobile– Penalized if your site is not mobile friendly– AKA “mobile-geddon”

• May 2016 – Doubling Down– Google increases effect of the mobile ranking signal

Bonus: MOBILE• What does that all

mean?– Your website needs

to be RESPONSIVE– No “pinch/zoom”– Desktop search

accounts for < 40%

Measurement• Use an SEO Software Tool– Reporting, Analytical Tools,

Keyword Research• Amount of backlinks• Rank (vs. Competition)• Traffic vs. Leads vs. Customers

Measurement

Measurement

Measurement• Google Search Console

– Webmaster Tools– Sitemap submission– Checks for errors– Search analytics

• Google Analytics– Track conversion– Insights into your audience

• Geo, time spent, page counts etc– Track acquisition sources

• Connects with search console

Why Is This All Important• 64,000 searches every second, Google

alone• #1 Position gets 33% of traffic

– 18% for #2, and 11% for #3• Google REPLACED the phone book• A Search Engine’s #1 job is to provide

the BEST search result for that given search term.

64K33%

How Do Search Engines (SE) Work• The BOTS!

– The SE’s have bots that constantly scan (crawl) the web, looking at various clues on your website. The clues are what we previously discussed, such as TITLES, Descriptions, Keywords, Alt Text etc. They scan your website and index it for content and following links on each webpage and to another

How Do Search Engines (SE) Work• Content (VISIBLE)

– When indexing pages, the bots scan each page of your website looking for these clues about what your website covers and scans the “back-end” code for certain tags, descriptions and instructions

– Humans can see pictures, Google can only see WORDS• Backlinks (SEMI-VISIBLE)

– As the SE bots scan webpages, they also look for links from other websites. The more inbound links a website has, more influence or authority it has. It’s like the friendly recommendation mentioned earlier. It’s basically a “vote” for your website.

– Each link holds a different weight. A link from a highly authoritative website will give a bigger boost than from your mom’s recipe blog. This is referred to as “link juice”.

How Do Search Engines (SE) Work• A few other factors the SE’s consider

– Geographic location of the searcher– Previous performance of a website (clicks, bounce rates etc)– Webpage content (keywords, tags, pictures-alt)– Back end code or HTML of webpage– The way a website is structured in the backend– SSL – Secure Website– Link type (social media vs blog etc)

What It Takes To Rank• Search Engine Indexing– The SE’s probably have already indexed your website

without you even doing anything– Getting your website to rank for specific keywords can be

a little tricky, time consuming and requires some skill – but it pays off! (33% for #1)

– There are three main elements a SE uses when determining where to place your website in the SERP

SERP Elements• Rank

– Rank is WHERE your website is listed when a specific search term is entered. Paid Ads are not part of the ranking

– If you are the first person after the Paid Ads, your rank is #1, and so on.

– Your rank is an indicator of how relevant and authoritative your website is, as it relates to the search term used

– Jumping 1-4 spots is expected and not your victory dance– Jumping 10, 20, 30 spots is when you do your best. Every

10 spots is a page increase

SERP Elements• Authority

– Inbound links are the authority. How many links you have from a CREDIBLE website’s content is what’s important

– The number alone does not increase authority– The SE’s look at where the link is coming from – Is it another

authoritative website or were you just dropping your website address to a bunch of bogus comment section that have nothing to do with your own website

– The anchor text that’s used is also important– A smaller but still important factor is the age of your domain and

also when it expires. Renew your domain as far out as you can!

• Relevance– Most critical factor– Not just looking for what keywords you are using, looking for

other clues on how RELEVANT the content is to that search term.

– Besides the actual content (text) on the webpage, the SE will review your site structure, use of the keyword in your URL, page format (i.e. bold text, italics) and what keywords are in the Heading of the webpage (H1, H2, H3 etc)

SERP Elements

SERP Bottom Line• Search Engines are complex– The SE is trying to think like a human being– CONTENT is KING (words, words, words)– Provide content that is designed to engage a human

audience that matches your target, not the bot– 100% of your work should be for your audience, not

the search engine

What are good keywords?• Long-Tail phrases vs keyword

– Best approach is not the broad terms– Lots of precious time wasted for broad terms– Traffic generated is often low quality

• Snowflakes– Every search term is a snowflake – all different and lots of them– Billions more unique search queries than generic ones– This is the theory of long-tail

Long-Tail vs. HeadChoosing the right keywords for optimization is critical• Head Term

– “cupcake shop”– Likely found on your home page or one page of services

• Long-Tail Term– “cupcake shops that are gluten free”– Will need several pages optimized for each long-tail term, instead of

one page– Also better because of the uniqueness, this search user is ready to buy

Again… Content is KING• Rich Content

– Without it, difficult to rank for specific keywords– If its not valuable or engaging, it won’t produce leads or customers

• Predictable– Impossible to predict what people will search for– Just keep creating content! Lots of it!– Inner pages, blogs, infographics, videos, CONTENT!– Think of lottery tickets

How To Create Content• One-Page (scrolling) websites are a bad idea– Need multiple pages of content, don’t duplicate– Homepage – best place to optimize– Products/Services – create a page for EACH product you

offer– BLOG – stay current and fresh, quick and easy. Blog

regularly, twice per month minimum, weekly or twice weekly is prime time

On Page Strategy• Split into two buckets – OnPage / OffPage• On Page

– Headline, sub-headline, bold text– URL – yourdomain.com/this-is-a-specific-url-for-a-keyword– Pictures – gluten-free-cupcakes.jpg is better than IMG_7289.jpg– Alt Tag – “Gluten free cupcakes in Rhode Island”– Title Tag, Descriptions, and Meta Keywords

• Besides the headline, your website page has a title tag, keep under 70 characters• Descriptions are the brief summary that appears in the SERP ( < 155 characters)• Keywords are less important but needed, keep between 5-7 keywords. Don’t overdo it

On Page Strategy• On Page– Headline Tags• Most important keywords for your page in here

– Internal Links• Much like inbound links from another website, use of

anchor texts from within your website is important

Off Page Strategy• Off Page

– On page was easy, Off page is more challenging– Building relationships with other websites– Called “link building”– Create unique content that’s relevant to that website, that they’ll want to

share• Not every link is created equal

– While getting a bunch of inbound links from your friend’s blog or website or your mom’s recipe page is cool, getting one link from a major publication or major website is worth more than all the rest

Off Page Strategy• Social Media

– 16% of all time spent online is from a social network– Amount of social activity a webpage has is a ranking factor

• SE’s know that content SHARED on social media is influential.• That is, shared by another user, not just your own facebook page

– Include a share button on your website• Email Marketing

– Email Marketing is “new direct mail”• Much more cost effective

Integrated Multi-Media Game Plan

Website Design

Branding & Design

Graphic Design

Marketing Plans Social

Media

Mobile Marketing

Email Marketing

Pay Per Click

SEO

[ This could be YOUR Company ]

What’s Next?