webmarketing123 the myth and math of seo
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Today’s Host:
The Myth and Math of SEO
Alex Dunks
Senior Search Marketing Expert
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Founded in 2004
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Some Practical Matters
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Some Practical Matters
@webmarketing123
Are the slides available?
Yes! Just email [email protected]
Connect with us on Social Media
@webmarketing123
facebook.com/webmarketing123
Want to learn more?
Request a Customized SEO Assessment Today.
You May Qualify for a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card!
visit bit.ly/wm123seo
Some Practical Matters
Myth vs. Truth
There are various myths about SEO out there – How do you know what to believe?
Know your trusted resources
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Myth vs. Truth
There are various myths about SEO out there – How do you know what to believe?
Know your trusted resources Stay up to date with the latest SEO news
• Search Engine Land: http://searchengineland.com/ • SEOmoz: http://www.seomoz.org/ • Search Engine Roundtable: http://www.seroundtable.com/
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www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change
Myth vs. Truth
There are various myths about SEO out there – How do you know what to believe?
Know your trusted resources Stay up to date with the latest SEO news
• Search Engine Land: http://searchengineland.com/ • SEOmoz: http://www.seomoz.org/ • Search Engine Roundtable: http://www.seroundtable.com/ • SEOmoz Algorithm Change History: www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change
Know that your competitors aren’t standing still.
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1 Inbound Links
3 Keywords
4 SEO Results
2 Website Content
5 Long Term Sustainment
How many links do I need? Are all links created equal?
Should I “stuff” keywords into my meta content and site content?
How do you choose the right keywords? Are broad keywords good?
How long does SEO take before I can see results? What should I expect?
How much time per month do I need to dedicate to my SEO campaign?
1 Inbound Links
Myth: All links are equal.
1 Inbound Links
Truth: All links are NOT the same in value.
Develop natural, relevant inbound links over time:
1 Inbound Links
Truth: All links are NOT the same in value.
Develop natural, relevant inbound links over time:
• Do not use reciprocal links
• There is a key difference between 1-way (good) and reciprocal links (bad)
• Create high quality links from different reputable sources
o Directories, Articles, Syndications, Press Release sites, Blogs
1 Inbound Links
Truth: All links are NOT the same in value.
Develop natural, relevant inbound links over time:
• Do not use reciprocal links
• There is a key difference between 1-way (good) and reciprocal links (bad)
• Create high quality links from different reputable sources
o Directories, Articles, Syndications, Press Release sites, Blogs
• Build ~ 30-50 inbound links/month
• You’ll avoid search engine penalties!
1 Inbound Links
Math Behind the Truth: • Tool to Use: Google Webmaster Tools
o See which links are going to your site o Run a ranking report to check on keyword performance
1 Inbound Links
Math Behind the Truth: • Tool to Use: Google Webmaster Tools
o See which links are going to your site o Run a ranking report to check on keyword performance
• Reciprocal links are useless; they do not help and can only hurt • Best Practices:
o Create links within your rich content o Create anchor text o Create links out of keywords o Create links from outside sources, serving as relevant references to your site
1 Inbound Links
3 Keywords
4 SEO Results
2 Website Content
5 Long Term Sustainment
How many links do I need? Are all links created equal?
Should I “stuff” keywords into my meta content and site content?
How do you choose the right keywords? Are broad keywords good?
How long does SEO take before I can see results? What should I expect?
How much time per month do I need to dedicate to my SEO campaign?
2 Website Content
Myth: Your site content should be packed with keywords.
2 Website Content
Truth: Your content should be developed naturally, with a focus on
only a few keywords per page.
2 Website Content
Truth: Your content should be developed naturally, with a focus on
only a few keywords per page.
Create a well-developed home for your keywords in site content:
2 Website Content
Truth: Your content should be developed naturally, with a focus on
only a few keywords per page.
Create a well-developed home for your keywords in site content:
• “Stuffing” keywords is not helpful,
though “Stemming” is recommended.
• To sustain a positive, easy-to-use
interface,
employ a dropdown on the page
Ex: Salesforce
• Include more instances of your keyword
2 Website Content
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Your website pages, source code. • Naturally written copy, free of errors, builds SEO strength, and is a favorite to Google spiders.
2 Website Content
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Your website pages, source code. • Naturally written copy, free of errors, builds SEO strength, and is a favorite to Google spiders. • Best Practices:
o Implement unique, routinely updated, keyword-rich 300 – 500 words per page
o Include 2-3 instances of a keyword on each page of your site for optimal results
o Google spiders don’t spend much time
crawling content in the meta tags anymore
1 Inbound Links
3 Keywords
4 SEO Results
2 Website Content
5 Long Term Sustainment
How many links do I need? Are all links created equal?
Should I “stuff” keywords into my meta content and site content?
How do you choose the right keywords? Are broad keywords good?
How long does SEO take before I can see results? What should I expect?
How much time per month do I need to dedicate to my SEO campaign?
3 Keywords
Myth: You should focus on a few general keywords to rank #1 on.
3 Keywords
Truth: Broad keywords are very competitive and may get you less
qualified traffic.
Target unique keywords and keyword phrases to distinguish your
product / service:
3 Keywords
Truth: Broad keywords are very competitive and may get you less
qualified traffic.
Target unique keywords and keyword phrases to distinguish your product / service:
• The percentage of long-tail search traffic is increasing
• Use the “drill up” method instead of “drill down”
o Optimize from Specific/Exact Broad
3 Keywords
Truth: Broad keywords are very competitive and may get you less
qualified traffic.
Target unique keywords and keyword phrases to distinguish your product / service:
• The percentage of long-tail search traffic is increasing
• Use the “drill up” method instead of “drill down”
o Optimize from Specific/Exact Broad
• Not all traffic is good traffic
o Qualified visitors are the key
o Average Time on Site o Bounce Rate o Page Visits
• Don’t miss the boat by optimizing on broad keywords first – big mistake!
3 Keywords
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Google External Keyword Tool • Long-tail keywords are best to start with, then move up to broader terms
3 Keywords
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Google External
Keyword Tool
• Long-tail keywords are best to
start with, then move up to broader
terms
• Best Practices:
o Long-tail keywords will bring
more qualified traffic to your site
o Closely analyze the trends in page visits, bounce rate, and average time on site
3 Keywords
Math Behind the Truth:
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2,500
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Non-Branded Visits
# of Non-Branded, Traffic-DrivingKeywords
# of Campaign Keywords on FirstPage
1 Inbound Links
3 Keywords
4 SEO Results
2 Website Content
5 Long Term Sustainment
How many links do I need? Are all links created equal?
Should I “stuff” keywords into my meta content and site content?
How do you choose the right keywords? Are broad keywords good?
How long does SEO take before I can see results? What should I expect?
How much time per month do I need to dedicate to my SEO campaign?
4 SEO Results
Myth: I can expect results from my SEO strategy within 1 month.
4 SEO Results
Myth: I can expect results from my SEO strategy within 1 month.
**Food for Thought**
How long would it take you to memorize a report, fully understand it, and file it
correctly in an incredibly large database?
4 SEO Results
Truth: SEO work is never finished.
Turnaround time to see real results is about 3-6 months.
4 SEO Results
Truth: SEO work is never finished.
Turnaround time to see real results is about 3-6 months.
Google is always learning and the world is always changing:
4 SEO Results
Truth: SEO work is never finished.
Turnaround time to see real results is about 3-6 months.
Google is always learning and the world is always changing:
• Your competitors are creating new
content and links (new products, services, updates). This can affect your results! • Google likes to read new content and come back for more visits to learn your full site “theme”. • Your goal should be to consistently improve qualified traffic to your site and grow your conversion rates.
4 SEO Results
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Google Analytics • In your Analytics, you can interpret you goal health and measurable data
4 SEO Results
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Google Analytics
• In your Analytics, you can interpret you goal health and measurable data
• Best Practices
o Identify your trends
o Focus in on your wins
o Investigate your weak spots
o Make hypotheses
o Take action
1 Inbound Links
3 Keywords
4 SEO Results
2 Website Content
5 Long Term Sustainment
How many links do I need? Are all links created equal?
Should I “stuff” keywords into my meta content and site content?
How do you choose the right keywords? Are broad keywords good?
How long does SEO take before I can see results? What should I expect?
How much time per month do I need to dedicate to my SEO campaign?
5 Long Term Sustainment
Myth: SEO is a project that has a starting and ending point.
5 Long Term Sustainment
Truth: To become the king of your castle and
maintain your standing with the search engines, you need to keep SEO going.
5 Long Term Sustainment
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Website cache • In your cache, the date and time that Google last crawled your site is recorded.
5 Long Term Sustainment
Math Behind the Truth:
• Tool to Use: Website cache
• In your cache, the date and time that
Google last crawled your site is recorded.
• Best Practices:
o Google visits your site generally once a week.
o Google needs time to absorb information about your site. o Your competitors are doing the same thing - thus, improvements in your ranking movement will take time. o SEO is a natural process.
Key Takeaways
1 Myth – There are many myths out there that can be misleading.
Key Takeaways
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Myth – There are many myths out there that can be misleading.
Truth – It is important to demystify the false beliefs in order to get real results.
Key Takeaways
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Myth – There are many myths out there that can be misleading.
Truth – It is important to demystify the false beliefs in order to get real results.
Math – Take advantage of the tools and knowledge you have at your fingertips (most of it is free!) to give you the insight you need to move forward and closer to achieving online success.
• Request a Customized SEO Assessment Today.
You May Qualify for a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card!
• Email [email protected]
• Or visit bit.ly/wm123seo
- “Cost of the Problem” Analysis: Discover the cost of not ranking
in the top positions on search engines. How much revenue is being
lost to competitors with the best rankings?
- Take a hard look at your competitors: Find out where you rank
against your top competitors and what tactics they’re employing.
- Comparison of different digital strategies: Paid Search, Organic
Search, Display Advertising, Social Media Marketing.
Or visit bit.ly/wm123seo
@webmarketing123
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