Search Engine Optimization – An Introduction • What is SEO? • Three Major Factors • Popularity • Link Building • Content • SEO and Social What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization is the practice of increasing the visibility of a website within search engines in a natural, non-promoted or advertised way. A holistic approach to the development of a website. Design & content, social media, and beyond are all required to truly take advantage of SEO Three Major Factors of SEO • Popularity of a site • Link Building • Content & Keywords Site Popularity • How many people have previously searched for (and clicked on) your site vs. another website with similar content? • More unique visitors = higher priority in search results • Amount of control: Low • Strategy? = Link building Further Resources: • Google Analytics - http://www.google.com/analytics/ • Alexa - http://www.alexa.com/ • Wildfire - http://monitor.wildfireapp.com/ Link Building What’s linking to you? What are you linking to? • Embrace relevant and meaningful social media platforms • Build a community of fans and with others in your industry • Embrace blogging • Encourage others to link to you • Amount of control: Medium Content • Add content to your site that is useful, descriptive, informative, and relevant to what people are searching for. • Content should be useful (and keyword rich) • Site Design should be clean and as simple as possible from a codebase perspective • Your site should load quickly. (No big images or laggy script) Content (Continued) • Amount of control: High (It’s your site after all) • • • • • • • <Title>: Untitled Document = Bad!!! <Meta> Descriptions Text: Keep it direct and to the point Keyword rich content Links: Keyword rich as well <img>: Don’t get lazy Video & Audio: Use Schema’s Update content on your page over time! If your don’t, your page rank will drop. Content (Continued) Further Resources: • Google Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool • Google Webmaster Tools www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ • Schema - Schema.org Source: HTML & CSS – Design and Build Websites Copyright John Wiley & Sons 2011 Social SEO Social media platforms provide a unique arena to post content, drive traffic, and continue link building. If social isn’t a part of your SEO strategy, it should be. YOUR SITE Social SEO Your social media SEO strategy should mirror your traditional web SEO strategy for most intents and purposes. • Popularity – Official page > Fan page • Link Building – All social media should point back to your homepage • Content – Content should be similar in tone and utilize similar keywords in posts Facebook • Add keyword rich content (Mind blowing right?) • Links: Add additional keywords to link descriptions • Commonly link to you main page in general posts Facebook • Complete your About and Info Pages • Add links to your main website • Descriptions and links on ALL images Twitter • • • • • • Create a concise and focused bio blurb Location? URL Mix it up with text, image, and video/vine tweets. Again, be descriptive (as best you can in 140 characters) #UseHashTagsResponsibly Instagram • • • • Complete your profile Add image descriptions Links within image descriptions #UseHashTagsResponsibly Linkedin • Complete your personal account • Fill out your skills section • Add a keyword rich bio • Link to your other social platforms and websites • For brands, create a Linkedin Business page with company info, contact resources, and links to employee profiles. Pinterest • Hash Tags • Alts Tags • Add to descriptions Social Location: Foursquare, Yelp, Etc. • Make sure YOU have control your business page • Add a basic description, address, URL, and any other relevant info for your business. • Encourage reviews and tips • Give people a reason to check-in Additional Resources • Google SEO Intro Guide - PDF • Bing Webmaster Guide – http://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/ • Search Engine Land - searchengineland.com