search engine optimization 101: a new hope

Search Engine Optimization 101: A New HopeMay 12, 2010

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Agenda

• Why SEO?

• How Search Works

• Quick and Easy SEO Strategies

• Next Steps


Why SEO?


The Case for Search

• Of anything you do with your website – writing great

content, building a beautiful architecture, adding lovely

graphics – no single factor has a greater potential to affect

your site more than search

• We’re in the business of pushing information into a very

crowded, high signal-to-noise environment

• The dominance of search is indisputable (see: Google)

• For those that don’t know us, that’s how they find our sites

• For those that do know us, that’s how they use our sites

• If you’re not found, you’re wasting your time and energy


Search Meets the Needs of Users

• Task-Oriented – Fits the “get in, get it, get out” utility of the web

• User-directed – Web users get only the content they are looking

for; it answers their questions*

• Easy – Does not require users to learn each site’s navigation or

structure; matches their language to that of the site

• Specific – Search combined with specific content drives use of

the web**

* see http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040816.html

** see http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030616.html


But…• Web users are poor searchers: About 51% of first queries are

successful, 32% of second queries are successful, and 18% of third

queries are successful.

• Lesson: Repetition does not improve results!

• Web users are merciless: About 47% of searchers will give search just

one chance; only 30% will give it a second shot; and just 25% will give it

more than 2 chances.

• Lesson: Searchers getting it “right” the first time is very important.

• Web users demand accuracy: On average, about 70% of searchers will

look at the top search result; 50% will look at the top 3 results; 10% will

look at the top 10; and just 3% look beyond the first page of results.

• Lesson: Getting the highest possible rank can only benefit you;

getting on page one is essential to being noticed.


So…What the Heck is SEO?

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or

quality of traffic to a web site or a web page from search engines via "natural" or

un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results…The theory is that the earlier (or

higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from

the search engine…

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and

what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content

and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific

keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.”

-- “Search Engine Optimization,” Wikipedia, 5/11/2010


“That Sounds Like a Lot of Work”

• It is. It is a process, not a project.

• Really need to balance how you want your site to

perform vs. how it’s actually performing

• Consider your resources and how your key

audiences are already getting to your site first

• Remember, the web team is also doing things to help

move search forward, so holding off a little while may

also be prudent, depending on your short term need


Everything You Wanted to Know

About Search in 2 Slides or Less


The One Page Explanation• Crawler search engines, such as Google or Bing, “read” web pages the way most of

us would – from top to bottom. The stuff that’s higher up on the page is generally

considered more important than what’s lower in the page.

• The difference is that search engines read the HTML code, rather than just the

elements we see (e.g. it doesn’t “see” graphics or pictures, only file locations). You can

simulate a crawler’s view of your page here -

http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php.

• There is an additional layer of data, called metadata because it sits “above” the visible

data in a page, which is there specifically for search engines to read and catalog

• Once a page is read by the crawler, it follows the links from that page to other pages,

which are then read. These links affect the target page’s rating as well.

• All these pieces are then filed into the search index and run through an algorithm to

form a page ranking, which is the search engine’s way of rating the content on a variety

of factors to determine what position it takes in related search queries.


What is a “Successful Search?”

Successful searches, are, in short, ones which return results that

drive traffic to the target site – your site. Hallmarks of strong

search performance are:

•Target page appearing in the top 3 results of a select keyword

search

•Result informs visitors of the page’s content to assist in decision-

making, even if they don’t want that page

•Follows basic best practices for format and presentation


Simple SEO for the

Overworked Web Developer


Assess the SituationBefore you launch into an SEO campaign, first assess how your site’s doing

by:

•Asking your colleagues – is it easy to find our site in Google or Bing? Are

there places you want to be found but aren’t?

•Searching for your site externally using some search queries you would

like to be included in (i.e. Neurological Sciences might want to appear in

searches on “nebraska neurological sciences,” “neurology omaha” and

“UNMC neurology”)

•Googling your site using UNMC’s search engine – is there any difference

between on-campus and global searches?

•Getting some info – You can see where you currently are using tools like

this one: http://www.webconfs.com/domain-stats.php


Identify Keywords“Keywords” here refers to words you would like users to associate with your site (i.e.,

Neurological Sciences might like “neurological sciences,” “neurology,” “nebraska” and

“omaha” associated with their site).

•Start internally – The searches used in the previous step can and should inform the

keywords you want to “own” in search.

•Think externally – Keywords are ideally user-defined, not department-defined. The

more commonly-used a term is (for example, a topic vs. a specific name) the more likely

it is to be searched on.

•Think in phrases – the chances of owning a single word in the explosive web

environment are slim to nil. Use keywords in unison to narrow the search and improve

your chances of “placing.”

•Look to variations – in our example, using neurology in addition to Neurological

Sciences gives you a better chance of being found. Handy utility for comparing terms -

http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-playground.php


Keywords Continued• Assess the competition – Some searches are more sought after than

others; in our example, “neurology” is more competed for than

“neurological sciences”. You can use Google’s Keyword Tool (

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to see

competition for keywords; the new Beta version also offers suggestions

for keywords based on your site’s address and lets you see general

search volumes on those terms.

• Ask outsiders – When you’ve got some keywords, ask folks outside

your unit what they think of when they think of you. This can provide

valuable insight into how a searcher might see you.

• Refine, refine, refine – Your keywords will change over time, and you

can make a big impact by tweaking as you go.

• http://www.webconfs.com/seo-tutorial/seo-and-keywords.php


Page TitlesThe page title is not only an identifier in browser windows or tabs – it is the link

people read and click when they get search results.

•Can be set in the new templates using the Foundation Page > “Edit Headline” or

“Edit Page Title Tag”

•Use keywords if possible, but do not misrepresent the page contents

•Keep it tight – 5-7 words if at all possible

•Go specific to general – Start with page name, then unit name, seperated by a

“pipe.” For example:

Faculty & Staff | Neurological Sciences

•Don’t add UNMC – this is added by our web templates


Page DescriptionsPage descriptions are a metatag that let you describe the page’s contents,

replacing the text you see below the link in a search result. They allow you to place

key words and phrases higher in your page for search engines.

•Can be set in the new templates using the Foundation Page > “Edit Page

Description Meta Tag”

•Keep it short – 25-30 words and 255 characters max, preferably less

•Must be descriptive – Do not make these all the same; be honest!

•Insert key terms – If you have key terms you want to include but don’t fit your title,

this is the best place possible to put those out there

•Bring important points to the top – Similarly, if you have a vital piece of info at

the end of your content (such as the dean’s name in an open letter), you can use

description to bring that info up much higher in the page and thus, more likely to be

found in search.


ContentBecause search engines look beyond just metadata when generating page rank

(and metadata’s result on search is slowly diminishing), keywords in content have a

huge SEO impact.

•Follow our writing for the web guidelines!

•Strive to use key words or phrases 5-10 times in important content. You can

test keyword density here - http://www.webconfs.com/seo-tutorial/seo-and-

keywords.php#2. Keyword Density|outline

•Use keywords in page headers (the H1 and H2s within your page) making them

easier to spot

•Tend your content well – Unique, frequently updated content actually improves a

page’s rank in search.

•Break down long content – Long content pushes key terms lower in pages and in

page rank. Break it up to make it search-friendly


Alt-Tags

Alt-tags are small pieces of text used to describe images. While

most often used for accessibility to people with low-vision, they

represent an opportunity for including additional target words and

phrases for search engines.

•Only use if appropriate – Alt tags need to represent the image

they are attached to, first and foremost. Using alt-tags as a way to

spam more keywords will hurt visitors with disabilities

•Relate to the content – You can slip key words related to the

image, however, to tie it all back in.


LinksLinks to your target page, or backlinks, are often overlooked as a resource for

increasing a page’s rank in search.

•Get linked – The more your site is link to, the more trusted and authoritative a

search engine believes your site to be.

•Get linked from similar sites – Links from “the competition” are considered a

vote of confidence by search engines

•Get linked from reputable sites – .edu or .gov is best!

•Get linked from popular sites – This increases the frequency you are found by

spiders and web users.

•Get backlinks to use your keyword(s) if possible

•Use directories – You can add your site to user-managed directories, such as

Yahoo Directory or DMOZ. This page can help ID useful directories –

http://www.webconfs.com/backlink-builder.php


URLsMore recently, search engines (especially Yahoo! and Bing) have started

to incorporate page and file URLs as a very important factor in their

ratings. Adding keywords to URLs can be a powerful SEO tactic.

•Can be set in RedDot sites under Properties > File Name. Default URLs

of pages will be a number!

•Choose a URL and stick with it – Changing page names or addresses

tends to “annoy” crawlers

•Include keywords in filenames – Use a key term or phrase as part of a

file’s name, but remember to avoid spaces or other special characters that

are not - or _


Test, Test, TestThe only way to find out how your efforts are going is to create a starting

benchmark than monitor your progress at regular intervals.

•Run your searches again – Remember those initial searches? Try them again

and see how your page rankings have changed since you last changed your SEO

plan. Have you improved? Are you in the top 10?

•Get analytical – All RedDot UNMC sites are tracked using Google Analytics,

which can provide an (over)load of metric data on site performance. If you have a

Google account, we can get you access – contact Alex Flagg at [email protected].

How to interpret analytics data will be covered in a future training session.

•Use free tools – There are lots of free tools out there to analyze your site’s search

performance. We like http://www.webconfs.com in particular.


More Resources

There are tons of great sites on SEO out there. Recommended

tools include:

•15-minute SEO checklist:

http://www.webconfs.com/15-minute-seo.php

•SEO best practice checklist:

http://seograil.org/seo-checklist.html

•Podcast on managing sites for top tasks/search:

http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2009/09/04/spoolcast-managing-

sites-for-top-tasks/


Next Steps


Is That It?

Not by a long shot! We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of

web marketing. Future trainings will look into:

•Web analytics – the science of dissecting user behavior

•Advanced SEO – More tactics for identifying and tuning your site

for your audience’s needs

•Metrics-based decision-making – Turning numbers into

business goals

Suggestions for topics and issues you’d like to see address are

welcome – please feel free to add these to your evaluation sheets.


Materials Available Online

The contents of this training, as well as other web and

communications trainings, are available for download at

the following web page:

http://info.unmc.edu/brandingresources.htm

An Echo360 video of this training will be available

online later this week.

University of Nebraska Medical CenterUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center

search engine optimization 101: a new hope

Documents

sitespecific search

search works

search engine optimization

search results list

web site

web page

page of results

easy seo strategies