SEO For Digital Media

Presented by :

Ron Williams@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io/

Search Engine Optimization with Graphics, Video, and Interactive Assets

Began developing Wordpress, phpBB, MediaWiki, etc integrations 11 years ago. When needing reliable data migration, I moved to Drupal for use as a cohesive integration service between multiple applications. I founded the Maryland Drupal Developers group in 2007 and was hired to develop the GNSI.org website in 2010. I worked as Sys Admin for CU-Boulder from 2012-2015.I currently work for Heartland Technology Group at USDA Enterprise Application Services.

BackgroundExperience

Web App Development

Drupal Dev

SEO

Sys Admin

11 yrs

10 yrs

7 yrs

6 yrs

Ron WilliamsDevOps Specialist

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

What is SEO?

SEO History

Ranking Factors

Asset Practices

Performance Analysis

Continuous Improvement

Overview

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

What’s SEO?Search Engine Optimization: Enhancing content and website structure

to increase organic search visibility on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Search Engine Monetization Structure

Monetization Structure

Gmail / Outlook, MSN / Yahoo News drive traffic with potential for revenue

Services / Technologies

Pay-per-click search results and website advertising placement

Paid Advertising

Indirect profit: Most users seek organic results

Organic Search

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Paid advertising is an ongoing circular business expense

Why Organic?

Customers visit website and purchase services or follow acquisition flow

Acquire Customers

Gaining new customers requires purchases of additional advertising

Advertising Lock-in

Purchase advertising units from Adwords, DoubleClick, or similar ads

Acquire From Ad Market

History of SearchModern search optimization transformation

1998

Google founded, first index to heavily rely on incoming links

2001

Backlinks are heavily ranked (and abused) for SEO

2004

Semantic web: Resource Description Framework (RDFa)

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

2007

Content analysis and search friendly structure (sitemaps)

2010

Mobile optimization and performance

2013

Social media and content relevance

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

On and off-site factors impacting website rankings

Ranking Factors

Frequently updated keyword rich authoritative content directed to targeted audience

Content

SEO friendly HTML output leveraging content within important metadata and tags

Code

XML sitemaps, single mode transfer (https), distribution of content, site performance

Technology

Google+ integration, Facebook integration, and reviews on sites such as Yelp

Social Media / Reviews

User behavior when interacting with your site links impact future results ranking

Search Engine Data

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Improving rankings for embedded visual content

Asset Practices

Leverage external video services (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.) to present and caption audio content to a captioned format

Video

Avoid embedded applets due to security, performance, and optimization difficulty

Embedded Apps

Apply alternative description tags (alt) and ARIA alternate text information; Use HTML5

Images

Include descriptive text when linking external content. Consider using modal overlays which

render document on page

Documents

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Tools to verify and objectively test search engine optimization

Performance Analysis

Google Webmaster Tools consistently scans websites to ensure continuous, accurate indexing of the site; Check out Bing Webmaster tools

Webmaster Tools

Reviews links directed to your site, content crawling, and site reputation

Moz Open Site Explorer

Define search keyword ranking goals and track trends for improvement

Self Review / Raven Tools

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Plan for ongoing updates and advancement of search engine rankings

Continuous Improvement

Analyse Site / Rankings

Develop / Implement Strategy

Repeat!

Determine current site rankings and content quality. Objectively quantify outside opinions and determine current website optimization state.

Modify website content, functionality, and code. Perform updates based on recent data (maximum 90 days) and quickly implement content changes based on research.

Continue implementing agile upgrades to websites. Include strategic sales and marketing goals within future projects.

@Ron_Williams - http://ronwilliams.io

Takeaways, lessons learned, where to go.

Review

Apply effective descriptive text content to digital assets. Avoiding flash, silverlight, etc.

Asset Management

Evaluate change necessary before modifications are applied. Use objective reviews / tools to define priority

Analyze Before Change

Building a successful website requires ongoing updates to consistently rank highly in search indexes.

Continuously ImproveConsider content, code, technology, social

media/reviews, and search engine experience when updating site

Address Ranking Factors

Historical shifts in search engine site evaluation and ranking means old recommendations may not apply

Search Indexes Evolve

Enhance website content and programming to increase organic search

visibility

Search Engine Optimization

Connect on Social MediaFollow technology, ask additional questions, learn new strategy as it’s released

@Ron_Williams

RonWilliams.io

Also e-mail hello@ronwilliams.io

Personal blog, portfolio, and technology banter.