2015 changes for organic optimization
TRANSCRIPT
1© 2014 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL
Presented by:
Lauren Polinsky
Associate Director, Merkle, Inc.
@laurenpolinsky
www.linkedin.com/in/lpolinsky
@merklecrm
www.linkedin.com/company/merkle
2© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The New SEO “Rule Book”
• Google’s Search Patents
• Rule #1: Learn Your Audience
• Rule #2: Make Content
• Rule #3: Be Mobile Friendly
• Rule #4: Get In On the Conversation
• Rule #5: Earn Citations
4© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Google Knows
References
Review Sites
News Outlets
Website Info
OTAs
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
5© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Google Learns
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
6© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
Google Learns
Google identifies similar terms and related
phrases from sources
7© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Google Learns
Those relevant terms are compiled within
its algorithm
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
8© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Google Learns
All information gleaned is weighted & organized
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
9© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Google Learns
Information about the brand is
displayed in the most useful search result type for each query
Patent: Assigning terms of interest to an entity 8,589,399, 3/26/12
10© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• SERP layout depends on
unique queries & personal
history
• User actions from SERPs
are analyzed and
incorporated into
positioning
And Google Tests
13© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Content should be created for
your users
• FAQs
• Help/Tutorial Videos
• Infographics
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Wolfram Alpha
• SEMRush ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Segmentation
14© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Content should be created for
your users
• FAQs
• Help/Tutorial Videos
• Infographics
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Wolfram Alpha
• SEMRush ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Segmentation
15© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Content should be created for
your users
• FAQs
• Help/Tutorial Videos
• Infographics
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Wolfram Alpha
• SEMRush ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Segmentation
16© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Content should be created for
your users
• FAQs
• Help/Tutorial Videos
• Infographics
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Wolfram Alpha
• SEMRush ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Segmentation
18© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Educate to purchase
• Detail the products or
services
• Use internal linking
• Describe the non-brand
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Analytics
• Majestic ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Conversion Funnel
Website navigation
should include links
to pages targeting
the highest search
volume phrases
19© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Educate to purchase
• Detail products + services
• Provide business history
• Use internal linking
• Tools:
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Analytics
• Majestic ($)
• Moz ($)
Learn Your Audience: Conversion Funnel
Reference Guide: Google Analytics
Use these menus to view how
users arrive and how they
interact with site content
Understand
which channels
& sites are
most valuable
How many
pages viewed?
What pages cause
people to leave?
Does my site
load fast
enough?
After they arrive, what pages
do they click on next?What URLs
bring people to
my site?
What do they type in
the search box?
Find which
social networks
provide most
engagement
Use Advanced Segments for
custom audience groups
21© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Beef Up Site Content
• Identify and fill in gaps in content based upon keyword research
• Incorporate target search terms throughout Information Architecture
• Use hubs of content to organize relevant pages together
Home Page
Hub2
PR
Request
s
ContactNews +
ArticlesAdvice Teenagers
Product
ReviewsAbout
NAV 1 / All
NAV 2/ Filtering
NAV 3
Single Content
Pages
Suggested
Page
Content Hubs
Ask a
Q
Photos Videos News
Photo
Pages
Video
PagesDetail3
News +
Articles
Co
Parentin
g
For
ParentsBooks
Positive
Parenting
TipsTechnique
s
Our
Writers
22© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Utilize Microformats within HTML
• Schema.org
• Invented in 2011 by Google, Bing, Yahoo, & Yandex
• Open Graph
• Used by Facebook to extract additional meaning
• developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
• JSON
• JavaScript markup
• RDFa
• Markup extension of HTML5
24© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• 91% of adults own a mobile phone of some sort
• 56% of adults own a smartphone
• 83% of US smartphone owners use their phone in stores
• https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/?hl=en
Think.Mobile.First.
25© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Formerly, Google Webmaster Tools; still trends the last 90 days of data
• Major Changes:
• Search Analytics
• Mobile Friendly Tool
• International Targeting
GSC to Find Current Opportunities
© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
- Oscar Wilde
28© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Claim brand on appropriate networks
• Build conversations on the ones you can manage
• Encourage people to create content for you; you curate it against keyword
research
• UGC content doesn’t have to be on-site
• Pinterest boards
• LinkedIn Groups
Build Relationships With Social Networks
29© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Facebook is not good for
reaching quantities of people*
*Unless you pay for it.
• Facebook ad builder guides
through targeting options
• Create unique ads to
target unique users
• PR Tip: Target by “job
role” or “company” to
reach journalists
• Use your KWR to find
audience on FB and amplify
your content
Facebook Advertising Tactics
31© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Gain citations and links for your business:
• Guest post
• Get quoted
• Hold an event
• Use a variety of sources for citations & links:
• OTAs: Yelp, TripAdvisor
• News Sources: N&R, WS Journal
• Local ‘Zines: Yes!, Rhino Times
• Tools:
• Google Search Console
• Moz ($)
• Majestic ($)
Build Your Brand Beyond Your Website
32© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Gain citations and links for your business:
• Guest post
• Get quoted
• Hold an event
• Use a variety of sources for citations & links:
• Yelp, TripAdvisor
• N&R, WS Journal
• Yes!, Rhino Times
• Tools:
• Google Search Console
• Moz ($)
• Majestic ($)
Build Your Brand Beyond Your Website
33© 2015 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
• Provides insights into many aspects of any website
• Trust, Authority Metrics
• Backlink Count & Quality
• Social Sharing
• Page Status
• Chrome and Firefox Extensions Available, as well as APIs
Moz & the Moz Bar
34© 2014 MERKLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL
1. Understand how your audience interacts with you at different times
2. Develop content that solves their problems, easily & quickly
3. Ensure your content can be accessed at any time, on any device
4. Prioritize and build followers on select social networks
5. Earn citations and links back to your site on a variety of phrases
It’s a Two Algorithm World –
Google & the User