INTRODUCTION TO SEO
Alli BerryApril 16, 2015
Agenda
• SEO Overview• Why is SEO Important?• How Search Engines Work• SEO and Professional Writing• SEO Jobs• How to Break Into SEO• Q&A
My Background
• SEO Analyst/Specialist for 3+ years– Performics (Chicago)– CDK Global (Seattle)
• Roles: Account Management, Copywriting, Keyword Research, Content Creation, Competitive Analysis, Link Building
• Run my own cooking blog: http://thecrockpotcook.com
• Currently a Marketing Specialist at Kaplan
What is SEO?
What is SEO?
• Search Engine Optimization• Process of improving organic (free) traffic
from search engines• Matching content on website to what
relevant searchers are looking for• Improving websites for users too• No payment; no ads
Source: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
What are organic results?
Local Organic Results
Why does SEO matter?
Why does SEO matter?
• Search engines are the primary method of navigation for most Internet users
• Provide targeted traffic (meaning: people who are already looking for what you offer)
• Publicity, revenue, and exposure – extremely valuable marketing!
Source: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
How do search engines work?
Crawling and Indexing
Imagine the Internet as a network of stops on a subway system. Each page/image/document is a stop. The search engines need a way to crawl the entire city, so they use links as a way to do so.
Source: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/how-search-engines-operate
Crawl Process• The crawl process begins with a list of web
addresses from past crawls and sitemaps provided by website owners
• Search engine bots crawl billions of pages on the internet via links
• Bots pay special attention to new sites, changes to existing sites and dead links
• Take information, store in large databases, and recall later for search queries
Source: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/crawling-indexing.html
How Search Engines Rank Pages• Search engines return only those
results that are relevant or useful to the searcher's query
• They rank those results according to the popularity of the websites serving the information
Source: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/how-search-engines-operate
How do they determine relevance and popularity?
• Use incredibly sophisticated algorithms to sort for relevance and then rank according to quality/authority
• Hundreds of ranking factors and they can vary based on type of query
• SEO experts love to study these and experiment to figure out which ones are most important
Source: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/how-search-engines-operate
Ranking Factors
Some Important Ones:• Domain name• # of linking root domains• Title tags• H1 tags• Alt attributes (images)• Site Speed (especially important for mobile)• Freshness of Content (depending on topic)• Social Shares? (debatable)
Domain Name
• Ideal to have relevant keywords in domain name – need to balance with brand though
http://thecrockpotcook.com
Title Tags
• One of most important factors• Should emphasize primary keyword, secondary keyword, and brand• Ideal format: Primary Keyword: Secondary Keyword – Brand Name• About < 60 characters; 512 pixels wide
Source: http://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag
H1 Tags
Source: http://blog.woorank.com/2013/04/how-to-use-heading-tags-for-seo/
Surround yourself with distinction. Surround yourself with UW-La Crosse.
• Main heading• Should contain primary keyword• Should describe content on page
– search engine bots crawl for relevancy
• Better user experience• Helps with accessibility for screen
readers
Command-u (Macs) or Control-u (PCs) and search for <h1 to find <h1> tag on page.
Alt attributes for Images
Source: http://blog.woorank.com/2013/01/image-alt-text-relevant-for-seo-and-usability/
• Text that describes the image• Important for both accessibility
and search engine bots to be able to understand image content
Command-u (Macs) or Control-u (PCs) and search for image and look for alt tag on shortly after that.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT KEYWORDS YOU WANT TO RANK FOR?
Keyword ResearchFree Tools:
• Google Ad Words Keyword Planner: great for finding search volumes, some keyword discovery
(https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner)• Ubersuggest: great for discovering new keywords and
finding content topics (http://ubersuggest.org)• Top Ranked Websites by Keyword Tool: for competitive
research; can type in a keyword and see the top ranking sites for term(http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/free-seo-tool-top-ranked-websites-by-keyword/)
Google Adwords Keyword Planner
From: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
Google Adwords Keyword Planner
From: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
Ubersuggest
From http://ubersuggest.org
Type in just one keyword and get a slew of suggestions. Drill down into subcategories.
Top Ranking Websites Tool
From http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/free-seo-tool-top-ranked-websites-by-keyword/
HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING?
Content is Everything• SEO used to be about gaming the
system, but search engines algorithms are smarter now
• Quality of content is key to success!• You will be a more enticing candidate
for any job with web writing if you know any SEO
Reading on Content:http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2383683/quality-content-essential-for-seo-success-study#http://relevance.com/content-is-the-new-seo/
JOBS IN THIS FIELD
Common Job Titles• Content Marketing Specialist• Copywriter• Digital Marketing Coordinator• Digital Marketing Specialist• Digital Media Coordinator• Internet Marketing Coordinator• Internet Marketing Specialist• Marketing Specialist• Marketing Strategist• SEO/SEM(Search Engine Marketing) Specialist • Web Content Coordinator• Web Content Specialist• Web Copywriter
Be wary of anything with sales in the title – that will not be a writing job. Companies sometimes combine sales and marketing when they really mean selling ad spaces.
Internships • Content Strategist Intern – Critical Mass, Chi.• Digital Media Intern – Wiley, Chicago• Digital Media Trainee Program – Performics, Chi.• Digital/Social Media Intern – Spring Window
Fashions, Madison• Internet Marketing Intern – Gander Mtn, Mpls.• Marketing Intern – Press Ganey, Chi.• Marketing & Communications Intern – Jones Lang
LaSalle, Chi
I found these on www.glassdoor.com - there are many more if you are willing to spend a semester or summer in a larger city!
Start Your Own Website• You don’t need a job or internship to teach you
SEO – you can learn by creating your own website
Why This is a Good Idea:1. The best way to learn SEO is by practicing it
yourself2. You have something tangible to prove your skill set
to employers3. Employers will see that you are a self-starter and a
bad ass4. It’s an excuse to practice writing about something
you are passionate about
RESOURCES TO CHECK OUT
SEO Resources• The Art of SEO by Eric Engh et al. – best comprehensive SEO
guide out there, IMO• Search and Social by Rob Garner – great read for
understanding how to put together a combined SEO, content, and social strategy
• Moz Guide: http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo• Google Guide:
http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
• Kissmetrics Guide: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/seo-guide/
Resources for Starting a Website
• Site Wizard Guide:http://www.thesitewizard.com/gettingstarted/startwebsite.shtml
• WikiHow Guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog
- To learn SEO well, it’s best to buy your own domain. I bought my domain through Host Gator and use a Wordpress.org template. It is super easy to use!
QUESTIONS
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