social websites and seo social dev camp chicago2008 by john fairley
DESCRIPTION
SocialDevCampChicago 2008 Comparing Search Engine Optimization of social media websites, including digg, stumbleupon and twitter. Learn SEO best practices and pitfalls to avoid.TRANSCRIPT
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Social Websites and SEO
How Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be used to drive targeted visitors to social media websites in order to:– Attract new members– Increase content views– Make finding social media more efficient for users
By:
John FairleyDirector of Web Services
WalkerSands Communicationshttp://twitter.com/johnfairley
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Agenda
What is SEO, and Why Practice it? Social Media Website SEO Comparison
– Compare Search and non-search traffic statistics– Identify Key SEO Factors– Analyze & Rate Sample Websites– Best Practices
Recommendations
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What is SEO?
“SEO is the study of the factors related to inclusion and ranking in search engine results pages.”
What can be done to make sure that web content makes it into search engine indexes; and that it ranks well for given search queries, in as short a time as possible.
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What is SEO?
“SEO is the study of the factors related to inclusion and ranking in search engine results pages.”
What can be done to make sure that web content makes it into search engine indexes; and that it ranks well for given search queries, in as short a time as possible.
Goal:Make
it here
Yikes!
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Why does SEO matter?
Majority of people are using search– 65% of people turn to search engines to discover new
topics– 52% of people turn to search engines to begin
researching topics they are already aware of
Majority of clicks on a search engine results page are in the top 4 natural results
Sources: Marketing Sherpa/Enquiro B2B Survey 2007 AOL Leaked Search Data 2006
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Search Long TailP
opul
arity
Variety
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Search Long Tail (Broad vs. Niche)P
opul
arity
Divorce
Divorce Attorney
Divorce Attorney Illinois
Divorce Attorney Chicago
Divorce Attorney Skokie
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Should You SEO?
SEO is an accelerator (increased traffic, faster) SEO can attract more/new users interested in
the social website’s topics Won’t magically make a “bad” site “good”
– Isn’t a substitute for value– Website still needs to be designed to convert visitors
into members/buyers/etc.
SEO may be less important if:– The vast majority of your site content is hidden behind
registration/login.– Content meant to remain private
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Best Practices & Pitfalls for Social Media Website SEO Compare & rate SEO for 3 social media websites
– StumbleUpon– Digg– Twitter
Examine what’s working and not working
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Monthly Visits for Social Media Sites
Twitter StumbleUpon Digg
Note: Digg is approx: 4x Twitter, and 8x StumbleUpon
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Social Media Website Stats
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Pages in Search Engine 9,500,000 10,400,000 6,100,000
Back Links 160,000,000 240,000,000 41,000,000
All Visits/month 8,000,000 66,000,000 17,000,000
Search Engine Referrals/month*
680,000 3,600,000 280,000
Sources: Pages (google.com) Site wide back links (yahoo.com) – external to the domain Visits, SE Referrals & Keyword Phrases (compete.com)
Note: Data collected August, 2008 – Sample data is used to calculate totals, actual data likely higher.
1st 2nd 3rd
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Social Media Website Stats
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Pages in Search Engine 9,500,000 10,400,000 6,100,000
Back Links 160,000,000 240,000,000 41,000,000
All Visits/month 8,000,000 66,000,000 17,000,000
Search Engine Referrals/month*
680,000 3,600,000 280,000
Sources: Pages (google.com) Site wide back links (yahoo.com) – external to the domain Visits, SE Referrals & Keyword Phrases (compete.com)
Note: Data collected August, 2008 – Sample data is used to calculate totals, actual data likely higher.
*Digg is the clear Search Engine referral winner(More than 4x StumbleUpon; More than 10x Twitter)
1st 2nd 3rd
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Search Phrases & Google Rankings
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Rank #1 1,693 16,961 1,490
Rank on First Page 46,914 286,706 33,103
Rank on Second Page 60,664 362,149 40,661
Total Phrases (on pages 1&2)
107,578 648,855 73,764
Source: SEO DiggerNote: Data collected June-August, 2008 – Based upon 60,000,000 search phrases checked in
1st 2nd 3rd
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Search Phrases & Google Rankings
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Rank #1* 1,693 16,961 1,490
Rank on First Page 46,914 286,706 33,103
Rank on Second Page 60,664 362,149 40,661
Total Phrases (on pages 1&2)
107,578 648,855 73,764
Source: SEO DiggerNote: Data collected June-August, 2008 – Based upon 60,000,000 search phrases checked in
Digg is the clear ranking winner [all categories]*(10x StumbleUpon & Twitter for #1 phrases)
1st 2nd 3rd
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Key Ranking Factors Matrix
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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Homepage: Google PageRank & Back Links
PageRank: 8
BL: 1,400,000
PageRank: 8
BL: 17,800,000
PageRank 8
1,300,000
PageRank is same for all. However, it’s displayed as an integer, but is probably a decimal.
(Might be 8.5 for Digg and 8.0 for StumbleUpon)
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Homepage: Google PageRank & Back Links
PageRank: 8
BL: 1,400,000
PageRank: 8
BL: 17,800,000
PageRank 8
1,300,000
Digg has the most back links. (Widespread use of Social Media Buttons)
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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PageRank Fan Out
Homepage
Category Pages
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PageRank Fan Out
Homepage
Category Pages
User Content Pages
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Homepage PR Fan Out
How PageRank is distributed/leveraged from the homepage down to the user generated content pages.
22 category links
5 user content links
15 user profile links
72 category links
15 user content links
15 user profiles
0 category links
0 user content links
0 user profiles
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Digg: 59 Category Links on Every Page
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Digg: +13 More Category-Like Links (homepage)
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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Category Page PR Fan Out
How PageRank is distributed/leveraged from the category pages down to the “user generated” content pages.
8 user content links
30/45 category links
25/8 user profile links
30 user content links
13 category links
10 user profile links
No category pages
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Category Page Rank Fan out – (30 Deep Links on to user generated content)
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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User Profile Page – Link Juice Fan Out
25 user content links
10/35 category links
10 user profile links
14 user content links
7 category links
15 user profile links
20 user content links
0 category links
100 user profile links
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User Profile Page – Link Juice Fan Out
Not only is it important to link to user generated content, but links containing keywords are the most valuable.
25 user content links
10/35 category links
10 user profile links
14 user content links
7 category links
15 user profile links
20 user content links
0 category links
100 user profile links
“123 reviews” - stumbleupon “2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony (Photos)” - digg
“01:33 AM August 06, 2008“ - twitter
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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User Profile Page – Likelihood of external back links (other domains)
Yopp
23 back links
Mr. BabyMan
1,024 back links
Robert Scoble
14,587 back links
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool. Others tend to link to it like it’s a user’s blog
Data Source: Yahoo
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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User Content Page – On Page SEO (Use of Keywords)
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Title
Description
Headings
Body Content
URL
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User Content Page – On Page SEO (Use of Keywords) Practices: Title Good
– “Create Ringtones for free with just iTunes”– “VMware joins Linux Foundation”
Bad– None– “Twitter / Michael Arrington: Apple Considers
Streaming M...”
– “Spices May Protect Against Conseque... - StumbleUpon”
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User Content Page – On Page SEO (Use of Keywords) Practices: Title Good“There are a few different ways to create ringtones for your
brand new, shiny iPhone. While some bystanders might find the playing of your favorite song annoying, it can quickly inform you to exactly who is calling without taking the phone out of your pocket, purse, or man-bag. For instance whenever Clint Ecker hears the song Gin and Juice, he knows”
Bad“Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying
connected in real-time”
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User Content Page – On Page SEO (Use of Keywords) Practices: Headings Good
– “Full Screen Flash Video Demo”– “Spices May Protect Against Consequences Of High Blood
Sugar”
Bad– None– “Digg”– “Reviews of this website”
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User Content Page – On Page SEO (Use of Keywords) Practices: URL Good
– “http://digg.com/apple/Create_Ringtones_for_free_with_just_iTunes”– “http://digg.com/linux_unix/VMware_joins_Linux_Foundation”
Bad– “http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2008/08/080805153830.htm”– “http://twitter.com/TechCrunch/statuses/881894147”
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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RSS – Provides Opportunities for Back Links
RSS Feeds for Profile & Categories
RSS Feeds for Search & Categories
RSS Feeds for Profile & Search
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API – Provides Opportunities for Back Links
No API Multiple APIs API
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Key Ranking Factors
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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Digg – Clearly Best Optimized
Metric StumbleUpon Digg Twitter
Homepage PageRank
Homepage Back Links
Homepage PR fan out
Category page PR fan out
User Profile link juice fan out
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
RSS Promotion Channels
APIs
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Recommendations
Metric Recommendation
Homepage PR fan out Include categories; link from homepage
Category page PR fan out Link using keywords to user content
User Profile link juice fan out
Link to user generated content using keywords of content
User Profile (likelihood for external back links)
Allow users to create unique content that is personal to the user. Personalize look
User Generated Content(on page SEO)
Title 64 characters – focus on keywords;Include keywords in description Use h1, h2, h3 HTML tags w/keywordsUse keyword rich URLs
RSS Promotion Channels RSS: Search, Profile, Categories
APIs Access to categories, users and content
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Final Recommendation
Design your UI to convert Search Traffic to Users
Make it easy and obvious to become a member on deep pages of your website
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New User Sign-Up - User Content Page
Twitter: No sign-up for new users. No Branding
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New User Sign-Up - User Content Page
Stumble: 2 Sign-up Links. Value explained
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New User Sign-Up - User Content Page
Digg: Large call to action. Value explained
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Conclusion
Search Engines can be an effective source of traffic
SEO coupled with complementary features & design can drive large amounts of search traffic.
SEO is a long term strategy for growth