Improve your Search Engine Ranking PAULINE RANDALL – FLORIZEL MEDIA LTD
ImproveyourSearchEngineRankingPAULINERANDALL– FLORIZELMEDIALTD
HousekeepingvCoursetiming
v Firealarmsandfireexits
v Toilets
vBreakforcoffee,teaandphones
vWiFiaccess
vDownloadingcourseslides
IntroductionsvWhoyouare
vWhatyourbusinessdoes(orwilldo!)
vAnythinginparticularthatyou’relookingtogetfromtoday’scourse
AbitaboutSEO
WhatisSEO?Searchengineoptimization(SEO)istheprocessofaffectingthevisibility ofawebsiteorawebpageinawebsearchengine'sunpaidresults—oftenreferredtoas"natural","organic",or"earned"results.Ingeneral,theearlier(orhigherrankedonthesearchresultspage),andmorefrequentlyasiteappearsinthesearchresultslist,themorevisitorsitwillreceivefromthesearchengine'susers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
WhydowefocusonGoogle?
MarketshareheldbytheleadingsearchenginesintheUnitedKingdom(UK)asofApril2017
https://www.statista.com/statistics/280269/market-share-held-by-search-engines-in-the-united-kingdom/
Howsearchworks– fromGoogle
https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/
Whatdoesthismeanforyourwebsite?Youneed:vGoodqualitycontent
v Internalandexternallinks
v KeywordsinTitles,DescriptionsandHeadings
v Keywordsinthecontent– enoughbutnottoomanytimes
vQualitywebsite(notspammy)
v Suitableforthedevicebeingused(mobilefriendliness)
Search– fromthesearcher’spointofview
Maps
Detailsandreviews
Theansweryouwerelookingfor
Alternativequestions
Otherwebsiteresults
Advertising
Map,directionsandtimes
Advertising
Websiteresults
Alternativequestions
Noadvertisingthistime
Checklistq Searchforyourbusinessbynameandcheckwhatappears
q RegisteryourbusinesswithGoogleMyBusinesstoensurethatyouhavecontroloverthecontentsuchasopeninghours,phonenumberetc
q Searchforgenericproducts/servicessimilaryourbusinessandseewhatcomesup
q KeepaneyeonAutocomplete– itcangiveyoucluesaboutwhatotherpeoplesearchfor
q SearchonadifferentsearchenginethanGoogleandseehowyouappear
KeySEOTerms
v altTag- Textthatshowsinplaceofanimage
vAnchorText- thevisibletextonahyperlink,thatonceclicked,leadstothedestination,eitheronyourwebsiteoronanother
vBlackhatSEO– underhandactivitiestoimprovewebranking.Whenyougetcaughtyourrankingwillbeheavilypenalised
vHeadings (or<h1>to<h6>tags)– usedtodefinetheimportanceofheadingsonawebpage
vKeyword- asinglewordorphrasethathelpsusersfindyourwebsiteonsearchengines
v Longtailkeyword- phrasesor3-4wordsthatarehighlyspecifictoyourbusiness
v InboundLinks - (alsoknownasbacklinks)linksfromotherwebsitesthatlinkbacktoyourwebsite.
vOrganicornaturalsearch– resultsthatsearchenginesshowthathavenotbeenpaidfor(asopposedtopaidsearch)
vPageTitle– showsastheheadingofyoursnippetinsearch
vPageDescription– Showsasthedescriptionofyourpageinthesearchsnippet
v SEO – searchengineoptimisation
v SERP – searchengineresultspage
v Sitemaps - afile,normallywritteninXML,whichtellssearchenginesabouthowthecontentonyoursiteisorganized.
DomainnamesandpageURLs
Ifyoudon’thaveadomainnamevItshouldmatchyourbusinessname– aimforauniquenamevEasytorememberandtotypeintoabrowservAvoidhyphensvTrytomakeitpronounceablevAimforqualitytopleveldomainslike.comand.co.ukvBecarefulwith‘cleverspelling’e.g.mcplummer.co.ukvKeywordsindomainnames– canmakesearchenginessuspiciousvAvoidinfringingexistingtrademarks– thetrademarkownercouldseizeyourdomain
vMakethenameintuitive– someonelookingatitshouldknowwhatyoudovIfyoucan’tgetthenameyouwantthinkofprefixesorsuffixesyoucanadd
PageURLsvMakethemreadable
v Shorterisgenerallybetter
v KeywordsinURLs(butdon’toverdo)
vMatchURLstopagetitles
vBewaryofcasesensitivity– insomesituations:◦ /page1◦ /Page1◦ /PAGE1
canbeseenasthreedifferentpages.Thiscouldgiveriseto404errors(pagenotfound)
vUsehyphensorunderscorestoseparatewords
https://moz.com/blog/15-seo-best-practices-for-structuring-urls
Checklistq Ifselectinganewdomain,thensearchforthenameyouwanttouseandseewhatcomesup.
q Doyouhavecompetition?q Isyourdesirednameunique?q Aretheretrademarkissues?
q Ifyouhaveanexistingsite,checkyourpageURLsq CanyousimplifypageURLs?q Ifyouchangeanythendon’tforgettoputaredirectinplacesothatyoudon’tbreakinboundlinksq Moreaboutredirectshere:https://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection
KeywordsIT’SNOTJUSTABOUTVISITORSTOYOURSITE– IT ’SABOUTTHERIGHTKINDOFVISITORS
Keywordsareimportant…vMostvisitorswillsearchusingwords
v Searchenginesindexusingwords
v Knowingwhatyourpotentialcustomerssearchforisvital
vUnderstandingchangesinterminologyiscrucial
v Searchenginesunderstandcontextsotheywillunderstandthat“highqualitydining”and“upmarketrestaurants”areonthesametopic
FindingkeywordsvMoz– KeywordResearch – paidaccount
vGoogleKeywordPlanner – freewithadwordsaccount
v KeywordTool– free(ish)
vWordtracker – freetrialandthenpaidaccount
vGoogleTrends– worduseovertime
GoogleTrends- Golf– since2004
Don’tdothisvDon’tbotherwiththekeywordmetatag– thesearchenginesdon’ttakenoticeofit(apart
fromBaiduandthen,onlyinMandarinChinese)
vDon’tstuffyourpagewithkeywords– ifitsoundslikeyou’rerepeatingyourselfthenyouhaveprobablydonethis.Forexample:◦ “Cometoourgolfshopandbuygolfclubs,golfbags,golfballs,infacteverythingforyourgolfingneeds.Wearethegolfexperts- talktousaboutgolfandeverythingtodowithgolf”
Checklistv Spendtimeresearchingyourkeywords
v Lookatthealternativewordsthatpeopleuse
vGothroughyourwebsitecopyandmakesureyouhaveidentifiedauniquekeyword/phraseforeachpage
vCheckthatyouhaven’toverusedyourkeywords
Titles,descriptionsandheadings
Title
Description
TitletagvOneofthemostimportantpiecesofon-pageSEO(theMOSTimportantiscontent)
v Itappearsinsearchresults,browsersandexternalwebsites
v Itshouldbeanaccuraterepresentationofthepagecontent
v Idealformat:◦ Primarykeyword- Secondarykeyword|Brandname
vDon’trepeatwordsinthetitleeg◦ Redwidget,yellowwidget,bluewidget
v Eachpageshouldhaveauniquetitle– noduplicatesonyoursite
v 70-71characters
DescriptiontagvNotsoimportanttothesearchengine
vVeryimportanttothesearcher– hastobeattractiveenoughtomakethemclickthroughtoyourwebpage
v Itshouldmatchthecontentofthepage– ifyoutrickpeople,Googlewillpenaliseyourpageinsearchresults
vApproximately160characterslongalthoughlongerdescriptionshavebeenseenonGoogleSERPs(approx 250characters)
ChecklistqCheckallthepagesonyoursiteforuniquetitlesanddescriptions
qRewriteiftheyaretoolong(searchengineswillchopofftheexcessinmidsentenceotherwise)
q IfyouuseWordPressthenconsiderinstallingYoast(oranotherSEOplugin).ThiswilltellyouifyouhavepreviouslyusedatitleoradescriptionandwhetherthelengthisOK
OrderingcontentonthepagevHeadingsandsubheadingsmakereadingpagecontenteasierbybreakingitupintosmall
chunks
v ThereshouldonlybeoneH1tag(Heading1)onthepage– thisisthemainheading(thinknewspaperheadline)
v Youcanhaveseveralsubheadingsandsubsubheadings(usingH2toH6
vDon’tskiplevels
ChecklistqCheckyourpagesandblogpostsforheadingstyles
qMakesurethatyouhaven’tjustusedalargerfonttomakeaheadingappearbigger– youneedtherightformatting.Searchengineswon’tworkouthierarchiesbyfontsize.
qDon’tforgetyourpage’skeywords!
Content,imagesandvideoWHATIT ’SREALLYALLABOUT
Pagecontent– THE mostimportantthingonyoursitevMostimportantbothforsearchenginesandforyourhumanvisitors
v Searchenginesreadthecontentand,togetherwithalltheotherpartsofthesite,makeajudgementastowhetheraparticularpageisthecorrectonetoshowtoasearcher
v Keepontopicandrememberyourkeywords(andvariants)
v Easytoreadtext
vMostimportantcontentatthestartofthepage
v Fresh,newcontent(don’tcopyfromothersites)
vWriteforyourhumanvisitors
ImageandvideooptimisationvWhichmakesmoresense?◦ Dogreadingnewspaperor◦ IMG45639-452
vGiveimagesandvideoclear,descriptivenames
vUsealttext– thiscanbereadbyascreenreaderforvisitorswhohavevisualdifficulties
vAddacaptionifappropriate
v Keepfilesizessmall(fasterloadingandbetterSEOranking)
vUploadtherightsizeofimage
vUseyourownimages/videoifyoucan– thisgivesthemuniqueness
VideovVideogetsahighbiasinsearch
v ‘Howto’isaveryhighlysearchedphrase
v Ifvisitorswanttoknowhowtodosomethingtheywilloftenoptforavideowhichshowsthemratherthantellingthem
vCanyoucreateany‘howto’videosforyourbusiness?
vYoudon’tneedtoaimforhighproductionvalues,yoursmartphonecancreateexcellentvideo
vYoucanalsomakeonefromstillimages
vDON’Tsetthemtoautoplay!
ChecklistvGothroughyourcontentandmakesurethateachpageisontopic
vBeconsistentwithterminology
vGetsomeoneelsetoreadthroughyoursiteandgetthemtotellyouwhateachpageisabout
vUseacopywriterifyouaren’tgoodwithwords
v Takeoriginalimages/videoforyoursite
vCheckyourimages/videohavebeenoptimised
LinksINBOUND,OUTBOUNDANDINTERNAL
Islinkbuildinggood?“Ingeneral,I’dtrytoavoidthat.Sothatyouarereallysurethatyourcontentkindofstandsonitsownandmakeitpossibleforotherpeopleofcoursetolinktoyourcontent.Makeiteasy,maybe,putalittlewidgetonyourpage,ifyoulikethis,thisishowyoucanlinktoit.MakesurethattheURLsonyourwebsiteareeasytocopyandpaste.Allofthosethingsmakeitalittlebiteasier.Wedouselinksaspartofouralgorithmbutweuselotsandlotsofotherfactorsaswell.Soonlyfocusingonlinksisprobablygoingtocausemoreproblemsforyourwebsitethatactuallyhelps.”
JohnMueller,GoogleWebtrends Analyst
vArticleandvideo
LinkJuice– sharingthegoodandthebadv Inboundlinkspassqualityvaluetoyoursite
vValuableiftheycomefromhighqualitysites– someofthegoodnessrubsoff
vDetrimentaliftheycomefrompoorqualitysites– someofthebadnessrubsoff
v Sameeffecthappenswhenyoulinkfromyoursitetoanotherwebsite– youpassonsomeofyourqualitytothem.
SocialMediaBacklinksAlthoughtheyareusually’nofollow’andthereforedon’tpassqualityvaluetoyoursite,theyarestillworthdoing:
vMakesurethatallyoursocialaccountshavealinkbacktoyourwebsite
vOnyourpersonalFacebookpageyoucansetlinkstoyourwebsiteaspublic
vConsidersigningoffyourpostswithalinktoyourwebsite
v PutabuttononyourFacebookcoverimagewithalinktoyourwebsite
InternallinksvCrosslinktootherrelevantcontentonyoursite
vDon’trepeatthelinktext(like‘clickhere’)
vOnlyuseaparticularlinkonceonapage
DirectoriesvGenerallyspeaking– don’tdoit
v Theycancausedamagetoyoursite’sSEO
WhenisitOK?
v Ifyouareamemberofaprofessionalbody,youcanlinktoyouronlineentry
v PossiblyYellforsomelocalbusinesses– butrememberthatmostpeoplesearchusingGoogleratherthanYell
MeasuringResults
AnalytictermsTerm Definition
Hit Anitemdownloadedfromthewebserver.Canbetext,animage etc.Asinglepagewillcomprisemanyhits.Bewareofanyonemeasuringyourtrafficinhits.
Pageview Thenumberoftimesapagewasseen.Thiscanbedistortedbyavisitorhittingtherefreshbuttonorthebackbutton.
Session Asessionisagroupofinteractionsthattakeplaceonyourwebsitewithinagiventimeframe.Forexampleasinglesessioncancontainmultiplescreenorpageviews,events,socialinteractions,andecommercetransactions.
Pagespersession Theaveragenumberof pagesviewedduringa session onyourwebsite.More pagespersession meansthatusersaremoreengagedandexploringmoreofyoursite.
Bouncerate Thepercentageofvisitorstoawebpagewhonavigateawayfromthesiteafterviewingasinglepageandwithoutinteractingwiththepage.
AnalytictermsTerm DefinitionTimeonpage/timeonsite
Averageofhowlongavisitorspentonapageoronthesite.Bear inmindthatwecan’tyetmeasurehowlongsomeonewasengagedwithyoursite– theymayhaveapageopenandbereadingabookoronaphonecall.
Directtraffic Directtraffic is defined asURLsthatpeopleeithertypeindirectlyorreachviatheirbrowserbookmarks.
Referring sites AnynonadvertisingwebsitesthathavesentyoutrafficOrganic Trafficthatcomesfromsearch listingsPaid TrafficthatcomesfrompaidadvertisingNewvisitor/returningvisitor
Visitorswhoarecomingtoyoursiteforthefirsttimeorthosewhohavevisited before.Thismetriccanbedistortedifvisitorsclearcookiesfromtheirbrowserastheywillthenbeseenasanewvisitor.
MeasuringandanalysingtrafficvMostwebhostswilloffersomeformofanalytics
v Findoutwhichpagespeoplevisitthemost
vHowlongdotheystay?
vWhichbrowserdotheyuse?
vHowmanyvisitsareonmobile?
vWhatsearchtermsdotheyuse?
v FormoreinformationconsiderinstallingGoogleAnalytics
Don’tdothat– dothis!
AfewthingsNOTtodo!vBuylinks
vBelievethatemailthatpromisesyounumber1onGoogle(orthephonecall)
v Stuffyourpagewithkeywords
vDuplicatetext,eitheronyourownsiteorfromsomeoneelse’ssite
vBetemptedby‘blackhat’practices– gettingbackintoGoogle’sgoodbooksishard
Dothis!v Keepyourcontentuptodate,relevantandaccurate
vCheckyourtitlesanddescriptionsandupdatefromtimetotime
v Keepaneyeonkeywords– aretheychanging?Don’tgetstuckinthepast
vCheckforbrokenlinks– internallyandexternally
vMakesureyourimagesarealttaggedandnamedproperly
v Keepaneyeonyourcompetitors!
ResourcesvGoogle’sSearchEngineOptimisationStarterGuide
vMoz – Beginner’sGuidetoSEO
vGoogleWebmaster
vGoogleAnalytics
v SearchEngineWatch– SEOtipsforsmallbusiness
Whatnext?vMeetwithaBusinessAdviser
vAttendotherBusinessGatewayevents– eventprogrammesareavailable
vUsetheBusinessGatewayInformationService– call08456096611
vCheckouttheBusinessGatewayFifewebsiteatwww.businessgatewayfife.co.uk orfindusonFacebookandTwitter.
v Keepintouch– calluson01592858333