current trends and best practices in search marketing
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Get answers to your SEO questions in this compelling presentation developed by our seasoned strategists. Learn the what, when, why, and how of launching a successful SEO campaign in a competitive market.TRANSCRIPT
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Digital Insight
Current Trends and Best Practices in Search Marketing
Digital Insight
Current Trends and Best Practices in Search Marketing
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Search MarketingSearch Marketing
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
What is SEO?As defined by Darren Rowse, co-founder of one of the world’s largest blog networks:
1. The right answer - SEO is something that helps a website to increase it’s ranking in a search engine.
2. My ‘historical’ answer (ie what I would have answered a few years ago)
• SEO is about manipulating Search Engines in order to get them to send you as much traffic as possible.
3. The ‘in practice’ answer (ie how it impacts me these days) - SEO for me these days is a combination of:
• About knowing some of the general principles that help a site or page to rank well in search engines
• Building the best quality site that I can with content that meets the needs of readers (and as a result attracts links from other sites)
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Why SEO?
SERPSearch Engine Results Page
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Why SEO?
Heat MapClick Trends
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Factors That Affect SEO
On-Page Keywords Unique Content Relevance
Off-Page External Links Domain Authority
Measurement Visits Traffic Sources Ongoing Optimization
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
When SEO?Development Process
1. Strategy2. Keyword Discovery3. Design 4. Production5. Launch 6. Ongoing Optimization
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
On-Page SEO FactorsOn-Page SEO Factors
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Start with the Keywords
Find the most relevant keywords
• Tools such as Google Keyword Tool, Wordtracker, Microsoft Adcenter, Google Insights
• Check the competition Balance Popularity, Competitiveness and Relevance
• Long tail – represents 75% of all search queries Target to optimize 1-3 keywords per page, minimal duplication among
pages Use targeted keywords consistently throughout each relevant area of the
page for optimal impact
• Titles, URLs, Content, etc.
• Do not Keyword Stuff
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Where to Use Keywords
In Order of Ranking Importance
1. Title Tag
2. Body Text
3. H1 Tag (Header)
4. Domain Name
5. Page URL
6. H2, H3, Hx Tags (Sub-headers)
7. Alt Tags (Image Titles)
8. Bold/Strong Tags
9. Meta Description Tag (no affect on ranking)
10. Meta Keywords Tag (no affect on ranking)
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Title Tag
Each page should have a unique Title Tag specific to the content on that page featuring the targeted keywords
Should be short and to the point – succinct and targeted as possible
Do not stuff with keywords Should not exceed 70 characters in length Place important keywords at the beginning
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Content
Write content for your visitors, not search engines (but keep them in mind)
Mention keywords within content when it makes sense Write for conversions
• Have a clear call to action• Be descriptive, not just “click here”
Do not copy content for similar pages, changing only the product name.
• Each page should be as unique as possible Use “Anchor Text” to link to other pages within the site Write meaningful content that people want to link to
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Other Keyword Opportunities
H1 Tags• Headers normally very similar to the Title• H2, H3, Hx not as important
Domains and URLs• Utilize keywords• Dashes instead of underscores
Alt Text• Used with images and graphics (ex. logo)• Include keywords• Most useful for sites with many images
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Meta Data
Meta Description• Unique for each page, relevant to page content• Not relevant in rankings, but engines will use it as a
descriptor in listings, so important for click-throughs• Sentence format• A properly written description can get more traffic
Meta Keywords• Listing of keywords, separated by a comma• Use most relevant keywords first• Not a factor in ranking
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Site Architecture
Make your site easy to crawl Try to keep it flat – no more than 3 levels or 3
clicks away from the home page Internal linking structure Site Map
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Off-Page SEO FactorsOff-Page SEO Factors
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
PageRank
According to Google
“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important".”
A B
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PageRank
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
PageRank & Backlinks
YourSite.com
Passing “Link Juice”
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Link Building Directory listings
• Can help site gain visibility• Both free and paid can be useful
- DMOZ- Yahoo & BoTW
Social bookmarking• Process of saving web addresses (bookmarking) to social networking
sites thereby creating a one way link• Free and (relatively) simple• Sample sites: Reddit (PR7), Digg (PR7), Delicious (PR8)
Submit original articles to article submission sites• Link back to site using anchor text• Links from high PR “dofollow” sites contribute to higher rank
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Backlinks
Important Inbound Link Attributes
Domain Authority/Importance of Linking Site Anchor Text of Inbound Link Relevance of Linking Page Age of Link Internal Popularity of Linking Page Top Level Domain of Linking Site - .edu, .gov, .org
CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Levels of Indexation
The more important your domain, the more likely Search Engines will crawl and index
your site
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CURRENT TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES IN SEARCH MARKETING
Thank You
Thank You
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