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