SEO Misconceptions held by Small Businesses and Startups. Google is ever changing and this talk's goal was to open the eyes of small business owners, but also SEO Professionals.

1. Top Misconceptions about SEO
Top Misconceptions about Search Engine Optimization
As held by Small Businesses and Startups
Grant Morrow
@Granto101 - Twitter | grant@burningroot.com – e-mail

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Meet Me
I consult with traditional brick & mortar
retailers on how best to get into
eCommerce, and consult with online
retailers on how best to improve their ROI
through better marketplace utilization,
merchandising and SEO.
eCommerce
SEO
Logistics
Analytics
Grant MorroweCommerce Program Manager, Orgill, Inc.

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SEO Jargon
Of course you should learn these, right?
Term-Frequency Inverse Document
Frequency
TF-IDF
Are you cleaning up your 404s and
making them into 301s?
301s and 404s
Search Engine Result Page(s)
SERPs
Query Deserves Freshness
QDF
Seen your Knowledge Graph lately?
KG
Information Retrieval Score
IR Score

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Overview
Misconceptions Review – Top 5 Misconceptions
The Evolving SEO Spaghetti
What Should You Do?
1
2
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SEO Secret
Sauce?

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Top Misconceptions
SEO is really Search Engine Marketing. Just like Marketing,
you are never done.
Takes Months & Years of Effort
“I’ll hire an SEO firm and then in a few months,
I’ll be on the top of Google”
#5 SEO Is Easy

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“All SEO has become pay to play”
While Google is becoming more pay to play, this is far from true.
.
#4 SEO is Snake Oil
Google patents, Google statements, correlations and
reverse engineering of ranking factors, there is mounds of
data and articles to draw on.
There are hundreds of verifiable techniques

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“I need to hire experts to take care of the whole thing.”
#3 SEO is too
complicated to
understand
It’s not overly complicated, time is the problem. Keeping up
with new changes is a constant battle..
Time is the enemy

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“If experts have to do it, I can’t afford it.”
#2 SEO is too
expensive.
Strategize what your objectives are and do those first,
yourself or in-house with tips from blogs
Many elements can be done part time or
in-house

10. #1 Misconception
“I need to be #1,
#2 or #3 rank for
X keyword”
Search Engine Optimization
and Search Engine Marketing
doesn’t work this way
anymore.

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The Evolving SEO Spaghetti
SEO is becoming SEM – Search Engine Marketing.
Ever changing picture
Constantly evolving
Google has LOTs of Data
Knowledge Graph proves it
Changing Google Results
SERPs are changing because
Google is moving away from 10
blue links
Content Aggregators
Yelp, Zillow, FindLaw,
Angie’s List
SEO is not just Google
Everything is becoming a Search
Engine

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Example
Search Engine Result Pages
(SERPs)

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“Lawyers in Memphis”
Map dominates above the fold even
though this is a service based business

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“Plumbers in Memphis”
Map dominates above the fold even
though this is a service based business
Content
Aggregators or
Review sites

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“Real Estate Agent Memphis”
Map dominates top half, above the
fold here, along with content
aggregators
Content
Aggregators or
Review sites

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“Locksmiths Memphis”
Map dominates top half, above the
fold, hours are extremely important

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Conversion Applets

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Flight Status Card

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Knowledge Graph - Question

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Knowledge Graph - Sports

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Knowledge Graph – People, Places, Things

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Knowledge Graph – Celebrities + Recency

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Knowledge Graph – Carousel

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SERPs Review
Sorry, I used jargon!
Content Aggregators are King1
We aren’t in 10 Blue Links Land anymore,
Toto
.
2
Actual Data & Content Matters.3
Aggregators are King
Google Change
Make Content!

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It’s SEO, not GO (Google Optimization)
Google is still important, but consider!
Search Engines are everywhere now
From Quora to Pinterest, Search Engines are everywhere
Shopping
If you do any eCommerce—
Amazon is a search engine, Etsy is a search engine,
and Google is just as much part of it
Analytics
Do not stop analyzing, ever
Facebook is a Search Engine
Don’t under utilize other sources such as Facebook,
Google has no effective social media presence
Twitter
Twitter is extremely important for the ebb and
flow of recency of events and online
communication
Strategy
Involve all elements of your online strategy not just SEO

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What Can You Do?
Constant Examination, Improvement and Content Creation
Examine
Look around, just use Google
to see what the landscape
looks like
Create Content
Content is king, create as
much as you can
Continue Examination
Double down and expand
original emphasis Continue!
Explore and Grow!
Unlock more potential
Capitalize on new-found
search terms and nichesNew Explorations
Find verticals and queries
which are underservedResearch
What content do I need or
what aggregators do I need
to be on?

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Thanks for Watching!
Don’t forget to give your opinions about this presentation & Rate it!
grant@burningroot.com @Granto101
Contact info:
Questions?