@MostlyAboutCho c @JudithLewis How to use SEO & Social media to get more traffic
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
How to use SEO & Social media to get more
traffic
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Who Am I Obligatory Slide
• Got on the Internet in 1986 at my school lab• Working online with search since 1996• Paid & Natural Search – all aspects plus social• Worked in-house within e-Commerce, Publishing & High Tech• Have worked with Google (SEO for product sites), Orange, COI,
NatWest/RBS, National Gallery, CIPD, Fidelity, GalaCoral, NBC Universal, Readers Digest, Bayer, Virgin Trains, Family Search, Amadeus, AMD, AmEx & more
• Chosen as a founding Modern Muse, contributed to a book on promoting websites among others, 2x judge of the UK Search Awards, one of the SEO Chicks, write for HuffPost
...and blog at MostlyAboutChocolate(.com)
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Organic/Natural search
Algorithm to determine relevancy
Spider is let loose on the web, following links from site to site Spider indexes web pages And then creates a copy of that web page in
its database (index)
A user carries out a query in the search engine (Algorithm based)
Results displayed from index
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
• Title Tags • Meta Description• ALT Tags • URL/Page Title • Keywords in the
content • Internal Links (images
vs. keyword rich text) • URL
Structure/Categories
• Advanced Linking• Authority• Age of domain• H1, H2, H3 (and
accompanying CSS)• Image Optimisation• On Page Text• Internal Links• Links to External Sites
Elements of Ranking – 200 factors including:
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
SEO Trends & Techniques• Traditional techniques still best
– Keyword research & mapping– Optimised on and off-page assets– Lower importance on title tag– Myth of optimal density
• Site architecture– Site load time more important
• Increasing importance of social footprint• Bad link penalty• Fresh & unique content boost• Continued importance of links
– Link profile changes– Focus on natural– Brand links = brand boost
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Keyword Research
• Check that the words are what everyone uses and not just internal/personal jargon
• Check you are using a more frequently searched term for roughly the same meaning – “social media” vs “social networking”
• Go for a longer tail – 3 - 5 words convert better• Each page needs an individual focus• Write naturally but with awareness of target terms• Too: https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Search Results
Title Tag
URL of page
Site links
Meta Description
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
2nd page for “Raaka Chocolate”. Better title:
“Raaka Chocolate: Seasonal Shopping for
Raw Chocolate”Or
“Raaka Chocolate: Why oh why do people like to
eat unroasted moth eggs?”
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
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@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Where to Put Links
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@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
KEYWORD PROXIMITY
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
How Links Work• Every link has a value• The bigger the circle, the more
value/authority the page has• The arrows are links• The more links leading out from a
page, the less value they pass on• Blogroll links are not good
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
How PageRank Works... Sort of (the math is wrong in this example but is used for simplicity)
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
PAID LINKS
• Any link not editorially given technically should be no-followed
• If an up-front request is made as part of the approach, that means the link is no longer editorial
• If you get something in exchange for a link, it is paid for - but no-follow and disclosure are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS
• Google & the ASA are DIFFERENT – Google says you need to no-follow links that are paid, the ASA says you have to disclose payment if you are swaying consumer opinion
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
GOOGLE+
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
HOLY COW!!!
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Referral Traffic from Social
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Traffic Comes from Everywhere
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
Rules for Blog Success
• No such thing as minimum keyword density• No such thing as minimum or optimal word count• No such thing as optimal styling (i.e. bold, italics, etc)• No such thing as optimal inbound link count• No such thing as the ‘right way’• No such thing as the ‘only way’• 450 – 600+ updates to the algorithm per year – there
will never be an absolutely ‘right’ way• DO NOT CHASE THE ALGORITHM – You’ll always be
miles behind and waste energy & effort doing so
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
QUESTIONS?
?
@MostlyAboutChoc@JudithLewis
You Can Stalk Me Online...
Twitter: @JudithLewis@MostlyAboutChoc
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/judithlewisGoogle+: https://plus.google.com/117564004595435401158/Work: http://www.BYND.comPersonal: http://www.decabbit.comBlog: http://MostlyAboutChocolate.comOther Blog: http://www.SEO-Chicks.com
...and the list goes on