rise to the top: seo basics for landscape design professionals

Rise to the TopSEO Basics for Landscape Design

Professionals

Chris Heilerlandscape industry writer, speaker & social media consultant

www.LandscapeLeadership.com

There has been more innovation the last 3 years than in the previous 30

We also have more roles to play in our businesses

How do we know what is most important?

How much SEO expertise do you really need to have?

We’re going to focus on what’s practical and actionable

1. An overview of search engine optimization basics

2. The top 7 SEO tasks and practices to focus on

The (very) basics of SEO

Website Design

Link BuildingContent

The top 7 SEO tasks and practices to focus on

1. Updating your website regularly2. Updating your domain name registration3. Determining your most important geo-specific keyword

phrases4. Claiming your business listing in the most important online

directories5. Optimizing your website for speed6. Link building within your website7. Social networking and content creation

Task 1: Updating your website regularly

KEY POINTS:

Update your website at least once each month.

The best way to keep your website fresh is by blogging on a regular basis.

Task 1: Updating your website regularly

What you can do right now:

Create a calendar listing the various updates you can make to your website on an annual basis.

Check out Posterous.com—the easiest way to start blogging—then write 5 blog posts in 5 days.

Task 2: Updating your domain name registration

KEY POINT:

The search engines see websites as being more credible the longer the domain name is registered for.

Task 2: Updating your domain name registration

What you can do right now:

Renew your domain registration for at least two years into the future. Use GoDaddy.com “WHOIS Domain Check” to find details regarding your domain registration.

Task 3: Determining your most important geo-specific keyword phrases

KEY POINTS:

Include the phrases people are actually using to search for your services.

Use geo-specific keyword phrases.

Task 3: Determining your most important geo-specific keyword phrases

What you can do right now:

Use my keyword phrase spreadsheet as a general guideline.

Use Google’s free keyword tool to analyze geo-specific keywords that may work best for you.(Google, “Google keyword tool” to find it)

Task 4: Claiming your business listing in the most important online directories

KEY POINTS:

Take control of your business listing on directories like Google Places.

Make sure company information is accurate and filled out completely.

Task 4: Claiming your business listing in the most important online directories

What you can do right now:

Visit Google.com/Places to claim your listing on Google Places.

Complete your profile on APLD’s website.

Get your business listed on LandscapingNetwork.com

Task 5: Optimizing your website for speed

KEY POINTS:

Search engines don’t want to send someone to a website that takes forever to load—it makes them look bad.

Task 5: Optimizing your website for speed

What you can do right now:

Visit http://fpt.pingdom.com/ to test the load time of your website.

Task 6: Link building within your website

KEY POINTS:

You need to let the search engines easily crawl your website—the deeper the better.

Task 6: Link building within your website

What you can do right now:

Find and fix any broken links on your website (Wordpress plug-in “Broken Link Checker” or http://validator.w3.org/checklink.

For Wordpress users, install the plug-in “Google XML Sitemaps” and another plug-in that will display “related posts” after each blog post.

Task 7: Become active in the social networks

KEY POINTS:

When you are active on a social network like Facebook, the search engines see you as an invested, engaged participant in a hugely popular online community. This gives you credibility and relevancy beyond just your website.

Task 7: Become active in the social networks

What you can do right now:

Install social share plug-ins on your blog

Install Facebook and/or Twitter widget on your website

Add social buttons to your website

Share content across the social networks

How much SEO expertise do you really need to have?

How I can help you:

Get in touch with me…

Chris.Heiler@landscapeleadership.com

(616) 953-0774 (voice or text)

Twitter.com/chris_heiler

Facebook.com/cjheiler