Seo, Caffeine, What Does it All Mean?

hello@wojodesign.com (989) 750-1544

SEO ... Caffeine
What Does it All Mean?


Webinar Outline
1. Understanding Search Engines
2. Google’s “Caffeine” Update
3. Understanding Search Engine Optimization
1. On-Page SEO

2. Off-Page SEO

3. SEO Strategy

4. Action Steps - How Do We Apply It?
1. 5 Things to Ask Your Web Developer

2. 10 Actions You Can Start Doing Tomorrow


Understanding Search
Engines


10% of Clicks

90% of Clicks


Understanding Search Engines
 Originally, search engines contained
relatively basic calculations to determine
which websites were the most relevant.
 A few simple techniques used.
 Keywords
 Number of Links (to and from)


“Tricks” used to increase rankings.
 Link Farms
 “Invisible” Text
 Keyword Stufﬁng
 Irrelevant Keywords


 Search Engines started penalizing for
spam.
 Today, Google analyzes more than 200
factors to determine rankings.


The Goal of Search Engines


The Goal of Search Engines
Locate the most relevant content.


The Golden Rule of Effective SEO
• Content is King.

• Don’t trick them; deserve your ranking.

• This means developing quality content.


The Importance of SEO

Courtesy of SEOMoz.org


The Importance of SEO


Trends in Search Engines

 “Universal” Search (a.k.a. Vertical Search)
 Real-Time Search (a.k.a. Social Search)
 Personalization
 “Query Deserves Freshness”


Universal Search
 Images
 Videos
 News
 Maps
 Books
 Shopping



Real Time Search

“Results from people in your social circle.”


Personalization

 Some search results customized. Consider:
 Browsing history
 IP Address (localization)
 User Search Settings


QDF - Query Deserves Freshness
QDF - Queries that seem to be in the news will
display very recent results, even if these pages
aren’t good by traditional SEO standards.



Understanding Google
“Caffeine”


According to Google...

“For the last several months, a large team of
Googlers has been working on a secret project: a
next-generation architecture for Google's web
search. It's the ﬁrst step in a process that will let us
push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy,
comprehensiveness and other dimensions.”


What This Means...
 Google is indexing more web pages.
 Google is updating index and results continuously.
 Several factors have more prominence in ranking.


Search Ranking Factors...
 More prominence on site speed.
 More focus on fresh, relevant content.
 Site authority a more important metric (i.e.
Wikipedia, Amazon, etc.)
 Linking to spammy sites more likely to lead to a
penalty.


The Bottom Line...
 Just one of many updates. Google updates the
algorithm almost daily.
 Will have some impact, but does not completely
change SEO.
 SEO best practices still apply.
 This advice will likely be “future-proof” because
these strategies focus on developing great content.


Understanding Search
Engine Optimization (SEO)


Search Engine Optimiztion (SEO) - The use of
various techniques to improve a web site's
ranking in search engines in the hopes of
attracting more visitors


Major Pillars of SEO


 On-Page SEO - Everything you do on your actual
web pages to improve your rank.
 Content

 Structure


 On-Page SEO - Everything you do on your actual
web pages to improve your rank.
 Content

 Structure

 Off-Page SEO - Everything you do off the page to
improve your rank.
 Link-Building

 Sitemap Submission


On-Page SEO
 Content
 Site Structure


Content
 Text content is absolutely critical for SEO
 Choose the right Keywords


What Keywords Do Your Customers Use?



Low Fares Cheap Flights




49,500 Monthly Searches 11,100,000 Monthly Searches




49,500 Monthly Searches 11,100,000 Monthly Searches

224 Times as Popular!


Content
 Choose 1 to 4 target keywords/landing page.
 Avoid jargon, write clear and compelling copy.


Google Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal


Keyword Strategy
 Balancing Act
 Relevance

 Search Volume

 Competition Level

Don’t be obsessed with huge, coveted terms.
Try going after the long tail!


Google Trends
http://google.com/trends


Content Development
The Hard Work!

 On page copy
 Blogging
 Images, Videos, PDFs
 User-Generated Content


User Generated Content
% of Users Generating Content in U.S.


47

45.75

44.5

43.25

42
2008 2009 2010 (pred.)


47
 Comments

45.75
 Product Reviews
 “Guest Posts”
44.5
 Testimonials
43.25

42
2008 2009 2010 (pred.)


Site Structure



Off-Page SEO
 Links
 Sitemap Submission


Links
 On Your Site
 Internal

 External

 On Other Sites (Incoming)
 Reciprocal

 Paid

 One-Way


Links
 Text of the link is very important.
 Context of link -> what words surround it?
 Links vary in value
 Credibility of source

 Link text

 Link context

 Reciprocal?


Links
 Getting Incoming Links
 Link exchanges?

 Ask for them (must be relevant)

 Participate in forums, blogs

 Article Directory Submission (ezinearticles.com,
goarticles.com, articledashboard.com, isnare.com)


Linkbait - web content created with the primary
intention of generating multiple inbound links to
a website.


Linkbait Ideas
1. Provide a step-by-step blog post on technical aspects
2. Provide a step-by-step video post on same topic
3. Issue press release announcing new series
4. Create a free online tool (mortgage calculator, etc.)
5. Write abbreviated versions of articles for article directories
6. Write guest posts for other blogs/websites
7. Interview someone in your ﬁeld


Sitemap Submission

Sitemap - A page which contains an organized
listing of links to all pages within the website.
Having a well structured sitemap will help a
search engine spider and index the pages.


http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/


SEO Strategy

Algorithmic Ranking Factors

SLIDE MASTER – COVERPAGE



5 Things to Ask Your Web Developer

1.) Has the canonicalization issue
been addressed?


Canonicalization - Making a single URL as the
location of a web document. Ensuring that
although you may be able to arrive to a page via
multiple paths or addresses, there is only one
ﬁnal address which will be resolved by the server.


Which Domain is the Real One?
 http://yoursite.com
 http://www.yoursite.com
 http://www.yoursite.com/index.php
 https://www.yoursite.com



2.) Have you implemented 301
redirects for deleted pages?


http://www.redirectchecker.com/

Text



3.) Do you have an account set up
with Google Webmaster Tools?



4.) Have you installed a good web
analytics package?


Google Analytics



5.) Have search engine friendly URLs
been used on the site?


Bad URL

yoursite.com/ﬁlename.php?id=F98ZF4&productId=39222

Good URL

yoursite.com/products/large-picture-frame


10 Actions You Can Take

1.
Use the Google Keyword Tool to
ﬁnd great keywords.



2.
Write informative title tags for your
pages.



3.
Write informative headings at the
top of the page.



4.
Submit your website to free local
search directories including Google
Places.


Local Search Engines
- Yahoo Local - http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/
index.php

- Google Local - http://www.google.com/local/add/
analyticsSplashPage?gl=US&hl=en-US

- Bing Local - https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

- Yelp - http://www.yelp.com/business



5.
Submit your website to a handful of
reputable directories.


http://www.directoryrate.com/free-directory-list.php



6.
Start a (relevant) social media
proﬁle.


Major Players



7.
Make a list of potential link
partners.


Potential Link Partners
 Customers
 Suppliers
 Distributors
 Business Partners
 Friends/Other



8.
Rewrite major content with at least
one use of the keyword.



9.
Make sure you have alt text on
each one of your images.


Alt Tag - HTML tag that provides alternative text
when non-textual elements, typically images, cannot be
displayed.



10.
Subscribe to a few good blogs to
learn more about SEO.


Popular RSS Readers
 NewzCrawler (PC)
http://www.newzcrawler.com/

 NetNewsWire (Mac)
http://netnewswireapp.com/

 Google Reader (Internet)
http://www.google.com/reader