optimizing your content for future success
Post on 17-Oct-2014
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2014 Search Exchange presentation on how to optimize your content, including images and video, for 2014 and beyond.TRANSCRIPT
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
Optimizing Your Content for Future Success
Arnie Kuenn, CEO, Vertical Measures
@ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
About Your Presenter…
• Vertical Measures is a 45 person search, social & content marketing agency in Phoenix, AZ
• Instructor for the Content Marketing Institute & Online Marketing Institute
• Columnist for Marketing Land, Chief Content Officer & LinkedIn
• Wrote the content marketing book Accelerate!
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
What I’ll Cover
• Most common mistakes we see
• How to optimize specific types of content like video and images
• Optimization for the future
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Most Common Problems We Find?
• Unintentional duplicate content • Duplicate title and meta tags • Blocked pages or entire site • Poorly optimized images and videos • Over optimization of anchor text in backlinks
and footer
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Another example… • After 5 months of intense content marketing and no results.
– Identified a penalty back in August of 2012
– Duplicate content issue: same text snippet shows up on 259 pages
– There is wide use of duplicate or near-duplicate content in titles and page content
– A big issue: 100% of their image content and 45% of their HTML/text content is hosted externally (not under the domain).
– Lots of spammy anchor text in their backlink profile
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@ ArnieK #SearchEx
Core Elements to Optimization Web Pages
1. Links pointing to your content (Internal too)
2. Titles & title tags (viewed in results)
3. Description meta tag (viewed in results)
4. H1 Tag (headline tag – only one!)
5. Page load times
6. Freshness of content
7. AuthorRank
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Title Tag An important on-page element (~55 characters).
<title>Your Keywords Need be Here</title>
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Meta Description
• Mainly for conversions • First time a visitor is understanding who you are • ~115 characters
<meta name="description" content=“On this site we talk all about everything you just
searched for!">
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• Should be similar to page title • Tell the bots what to expect on the page • Hard coded into the CSS (H1, H2, H3, etc.) • Only one H1 tag per page
<h1>My Post is About SEO</h1>
<h2>SEO is Awesome</h2> <h2>What is Google</h2> <h2>People Love SEO</h2>
<h3>Matt Cutts Loves SEO</h3>
H Tags
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@ ArnieK #SearchEx
How To Optimize Images • Image files should be compressed as much as
reasonably possible to reduce file size. Smaller files mean faster site load speeds. JPGs generally offer the best balance of file size & quality.
• Use relevant keywords in image filenames. Instead of "DL000031.jpg", use something like "red-sports-car.jpg"
• Make sure <img> tags have their "alt" and "title" attributes defined with descriptive, concise, keyword-related text. Do not stuff <img> attributes.
• Context matters. Google looks at content placed around the image, like titles and captions, for context about your image.
BusinessInsider.com
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How to Optimize Videos • Specific, Compelling Title –Would you click on “XYZ
Company” or “V00023.mov?” neither will your audience.
• Tags –This is where you can help your video appear in the “Suggested” or “Similar” videos section.
• Description - Say as much as you can in the first sentence or two, because many video sites will hide the bulk of your description. Include at least one link placed at the start of the description – with http://.
• Video Quality / Resolution – Shoot, edit and export the video in the highest quality available on the devices and software you use.
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
of all consumers use
search prior to making a
purchase
Source: GroupM
93%
86%
90+%
of searchers conduct non-
branded queries
of buyers click on organic
links vs. the sponsored
ads
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Buyers are searching for information
that helps them make an informed
decision.
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Buyers are searching for information
that helps them make an informed
decision.
Businesses that provide
that information - will win.
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
Because most of our clients are not the NYY, we strongly
suggest playing Moneyball
1 in 4 at bats = hit (a success)
1 in 36 at bats = home run (a big success)
1 in 1,691 at bats = grand slam (viral success)
The Odds of Hitting A Grand Slam
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(
In order to play content Moneyball, you need to come up with
hundreds of ideas so you can create fresh, highly converting,
useful content on a frequent basis.
Here’s how we do it…
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Site Search
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ASK YOUR STAFF!
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• What made you trust us? (About Us)
• What information do you wish we had
provided upon first contact?
• What information do you wish we had
explained upon completion of
services?
• What information were you looking for
when you began searching for a
company like ours?
• What do you wish we would do better?
Flow motion cafe
Ask Your Customers
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Google Keyword
Suggest
Related
Searches
Research Tools
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KeywordTool.io
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@ ArnieK #SearchEx
More than 410
questions about
More than 3,400
using broad match!
“visit the grand canyon”
(exact match)
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Long tail searches are
like hitting those singles.
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List All Content Ideas in a Spreadsheet
This is the kind of content that converts.
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Source: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/keyword-stats.html - 9/01/2013
Longer Search String = More Clicks
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Put Together An Editorial Calendar
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Put Together An Editorial Calendar
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VerticalMeasures.com/calendar
Put Together An Editorial Calendar
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REMEMBER:
1 in 4 at bats = hit (
The key is to keep going to the plate, take your
swings, be happy with your singles, and do it
over and over again!
The Odds of Hitting a Grand Slam
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
@ ArnieK #SearchEx
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• Yale’s traffic has grown from 40,000 visitors
to 150,000 annually
• Leads have grown from 800 to 2,300
monthly!
• Revenue is up by 40% since starting their
content marketing program.
• And according their president Steve
Sheinkopf: “Profitability is up way more
than that, because we eliminated other
marketing expenses.”
The Results…
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Shameless Plug
We offer the best content marketing workshops in the industry and can bring them to you.
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More Traffic. More Leads. More Business.
www.VerticalMeasures.com
Tweet:
@ArnieK’s content marketing book
@AccelerateBook – is FREE on Amazon Kindle – Today only! #SearchEx