Welcome! SEO Basics Introduction to SEO December 1, 2011
SEO Basics Agenda
• Define SEO
• Why Search Matters
• Organic Vs. PPC
• Search Position
• Blended Search
• How SEO Works
• How to Take Advantage of SEO
• 3 Tips for SEO
• Q/A
Definition of SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “organic” or un-paid search results.
- Wikipedia.org
Where the Clicks Happen
Where Do People Really Click• 28% of all clicks occur in the Paid Search areas
• 72% of all clicks occur in the Organic Search areas
Click Through Rates (CTR)
Click Through Rates | Position MattersResult
PositionAverage
Percentage of Clicks
Fraction of Top Ranking
Results#1 42.1% N/A
#2 11.9% 3.5X Less
#3 8.5% 4.9X Less
#4 6.1% 6.9X Less
#5 4.9% 8.5X Less
#6 4.1% 10.4X Less
#7 3.4% 12.3X Less
#8 3.0% 14.0X Less
#9 2.8% 14.8X Less
#10 3.0% 14.1X Less
#11 - #20 10.1% N/A
Blended Search (Caffeine)
SEO isn’t just words
• Images
• Blogs
• Real Time (Twitter of Facebook)
• News
• Videos
Social is part of search
Social indicators impact search rankings
Your Ranking
How SEO Works• Search engines use spiders to crawl sites
• Sites are ranked (Like getting graded on a curve)
• Data is compiled, and delivered as specificallyas possible to a user via SERPs
• Ranking Factors• General ranking algorithm
• Improvements/changes take time• Google Cache
Maximize Your SEO Efforts
How to Take Advantage of SEO1. Make sure your site is technically sound (for SEO)
2. Identify Keywords
3. Use Keywords on your site• In your content• In Your coding
4. Build Links
5. Incorporate Blended Search
6. Build More Links
Google’s SEO Resources
Tip #2 Use Google Tools• http://www.google.com/analytics/
• https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/
• https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/
• http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
If You Build Links Traffic Will Come
Tip #3 Build Some Links• List your organization in Google Places and Yelp
• Ask a sister organization for a link
• Distribute a press release optimized for search with a link to your site
• Create a Twitter profile and “tweet” a link to ypur site (no followed, but more often than not spawns legit links for legit content)
• List yourself with DMOZ.org (be specific)
• List yourself in Yahoo Directory ($299 yearly cost)