Taming the Google Monster

Taming theGoogle Monster!

June 23rd, 2010By Paul Mycroft Design

Ladysmith Downtown Business Associationpresents

Questionnaire results1. Do you have a business website?

21%

79%

Yes No

Taken from 17 questionnaire results at LDBA membership meeting

Questionnaire results2. Do you use visitor tracking software?

47%53%

Yes No

Questionnaire results3. If YES, do you analyze traffic?

63%

37%

Yes No

Questionnaire results4. Do you know what “SEO” means?

68%

32%Yes No

Questionnaire results5. Which search engine(s) do you use?

6%

17%

78%

Google Yahoo!Other

Questionnaire results6. Are you happy with the results?

26%

74%

Yes No

Questionnaire results7. Do you have a Google account?

58%

42%Yes No

Questionnaire results8. Do you update your site on a regular basis?

47%53%No Yes

Questionnaire results9. If YES, how do you do it?

38%

63%

SelfOther

1) Free Google Account

1. Email address2. Password

Google sends a confirmation email to that email address with verification link

3. Done!

www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

2) Webmaster Toolswww.google.com/webmasters/tools/

2) Webmaster Tools

1. Verify your site (server access required)2. Set your preferred domain name: www.name.com or name.com.3. Set the geographic target (e.g. .ca domain name will automatically

appear in google.ca but you may want to limit your .com domain name to a country such as UK-only).

4. Submit a Sitemap so Google can crawl your site and identify errors (server access required).

5. Change your web address.6. See keywords used to find you.7. See links to your site and internal links.8. See if any malware has infected the site.9. Request re-inclusion if you’ve been banned.10. Control what Google can crawl.

www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

2) Google Analyticswww.google.com/analytics/

2) Google Analyticswww.google.com/analytics/

1. Install the code correctly on your web pages (i.e. just before the closing </body> tag at the bottom of the page) - use an “include” file.

2. Verify the site is being tracked.3. Set filters and add other users (to just view reports or full access)4. Set the time zone.5. eCommerce?6. Track site search?7. Set Goals! Let Google know which areas on your site are your

“actions” then add a $ value to them (if possible).8. Add more than one website profile so you can see everything in one

convenient place.9. Connect your Google AdWords account to Analytics.10. Start tracking in Excel to identify weak points.

2) Google Analyticswww.google.com/analytics/

2) Other Cool Free Stu!!1. Conversion University - free Analytics videos2. Local Business Center - add your business map location and add

company info, opening hours, logo, photos!3. “URL builders” to track marketing campaigns4. Feedburner to help share and optimize your blog feed5. Merchant Center - upload your product data to Google and make it

available to Google Product Search and other Google services6. Google Checkout - quickly and easily buy from stores across the web

and track all your orders and shipping in one place7. Gmail - access webmail from anywhere!8. Add a search function to your website9. Google Alerts - sent straight to your inbox10. Google AdWords keyword research tool

What is “SEO”?

Search Engine Optimization or “SEO” is the active practice of optimizing a web site by improving internal and

external aspects in order to increase the “organic” traffic the site receives

from search engines.

3) Internal or On-Site “SEO”30% of SEO success

1. Know your keyword phrases!2. Title Tag - under 60 characters3. Meta Description tag - under 160 characters4. Headlines and sub-headlines using the phrases5. Body copy including your keyword phrases6. Page naming and structure (e.g. www.name.com/web-design/)7. ALT tags: text behind an image, very useful for screen readers8. Internal linking to goal pages9. Add Sitemap page with a link to every page10. Push important “actionable” copy to the top of each page

3) Page Title and Meta Description“professional web designer” (#6 from 21.7M)

4) Inbound Links (O!-Site SEO)70% of SEO success

PageRank:“Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are

more likely to appear at the top of the search results.”

“PageRank also considers the importance of each page that

casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus

giving the linked page greater value.”

4) Inbound Links (O!-Site SEO)70% of SEO success

1. Join the LDBA and Chamber(s) to get profile pages and links2. Join your governing body3. Submit an article or press release to industry news site - BUZZ!4. Allow a way for people to easily link to you (“Link to us”)5. Syndicate your site (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, RSS feed)6. Trade articles with other websites7. Submit your site to paid directories—quality matters!8. See if your manufacturers or retailers or other business partners

might be willing to link to your site—relevancy matters!9. Craigslist, Yahoo! Answers, Google Groups, forum signatures, real

blog commenting, start a blog, 10. Swap irrelevant links? WHAT?? Nah.

5) Why Content is Still King!

1. Use real, easy-to-understand language that humans can read2. The search engines don’t buy from you—your visitors do!3. Adding more keyword-rich pages is good for more “organic” tra!c4. “Link Bait”—catch more of your fish with the exact bait5. Become a valuable resource to the online community6. Become an authority/expert in your field7. Add more links to your target pages8. Shows the writer’s personality9. NO MORE “CLICK HERE”—use in-context linking10. Track keywords and visits in Analytics and do more of the same!

Paul Mycroft Design

• www.paulmycroft.com• www.facebook.com/PaulMycroft• www.facebook.com/PaulMycroftDesign• www.linkedin.com/in/paulmycroft• twitter.com/PaulMycroft• www.google.com/profiles/pmycroft• www.paulmycroft.com/newsletter/ - Sign up to receive our email news• Email us at [email protected]• Call us on (250) 245-8777• Stop by the o!ce at 622 1st Avenue, #201, Ladysmith• Talk to us on the street or at the next business meeting

Let’s get together

Are you going to tame the “Monster”?

That’s all, folks!

Talk to you online.