SEO for Recipe and Food Blogs : Content is King, but structure is Queen. In this session, Rand Fishkin, CEO & Founder of SEOmoz.org, will cover common search engine issues, how to make your blog more findable, and more!

1. Food Blogs & SEO:
Marketing Made Delicious
Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOmoz @randfish
http://bit.ly/foodbloggerseo

2. Let’s See What’s on the SEO Menu Today:
I. Why Search Matters So Much
II. Making an SEO-Friendly Site
III. Quick Setup Guide for Bloggers
IV. Choosing Keywords & Optimizing Your Pages
V. Link Building Dos & Don’ts
VI. 10 Actionable Tips for Your Blog
VII. Answers to Frequent Questions

3. The Growth of Search
Number of Searches/Day on Google
3 Billion Searches/Day
(announced Aug. 2012)

4. SEO vs. Paid Search Ads
75%+ of all clicks go to organic
results, not paid ads.

5. SEO vs. Paid Search Ads
More than 50% of search
queries have no paid ads at all.

6. Great SEO Builds On Itself
Done right, consistent, quality posts + solid
SEO lead to a natural growth in referrals

7. Making Your Blog SEO-Friendly

8. Using Wordpress? You’re 80% There!
“(Wordpress) is a fantastic piece of software, it makes your site easily
crawlable by search engines, solves some 80-90% of mechanics of
SEO and is the first big step anyone can take towards creating a
popular online business.”
Via: http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/seo/googles-matt-cutts-wordpress-the-best-blogging-platform-for-seo/

9. Wordpress Users: Read This Guide!
http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/ - I also recommend Joost’s plugin “Wordpress SEO”

10. Other SEO-Friendly Platforms Include:
http://drupal.org/, http://joomla.com and http://www.squarespace.com are all good choices if Wordpress isn’t a match.

11. Less Ideal Platforms for SEO
I wouldn’t recommend these platforms as a first choice for SEO-friendly blogging, though some (like
TypePad and Expression Engine) can be customized with enough elbow grease.

12. Quick Setup Guide for Bloggers

13. Step 1: Google Webmaster Tools
http://google.com/webmasters - can help you diagnose and repair issues w/ your site

14. Step 2: Feedburner
http://feedburner.com – create RSS feeds and track your subscribers and clicks

15. Step 3: Google Analytics
http://google.com/analytics - track how visitors get to you and what they do on your site

16. Step 4: Bit.ly to Track Sharing
http://bit.ly – great for determining which shares your fans/followers really enjoy

17. Optional: SEOmoz PRO
http://pro.seomoz.org – good if you’re hardcore into SEO, otherwise less ideal

18. Choosing Keywords &
Optimizing Your Pages

19. Step 1: Go to Google AdWords
http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

20. Step 2: Use “Exact Match”
Don’t Use This “Broad” as Numbers are Way Off
Use “Exact” - These are Much Better
http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

21. Step 3: Choose Keywords Wisely
http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal is nice & free!

22. Step 4: Make Great Titles Using Your Keywords
Note the title doesn’t have to just be keywords, and that you can combine terms, too!

23. Step 5: Employ Keywords Wisely in Your Post
Keyword use in the first paragraph or two is smart, as is including a relevant picture or two

24. Choose Keywords that Aren’t Too Competitive
Strong, popular
sites w/ targeted
titles + content

25. Choose Keywords that Aren’t Too Competitive
Weaker, lesser
known sites and
non-targeted titles

26. Focus on the Long Tail & Chunky Middle First

27. A Few More General Keyword Rules
A) Don’t target more than 2 pgs on your site to a given keyword
B) Never use a keyword in a post more than what feels natural
C) Not every post needs to be keyword targeted
D) Choose keyword subjects that you have expertise in. Don’t
try to force a keyword+post combination that won’t be quality.
E) The better the post, the better your chances for ranking.
SEO is less about the perfect formula and more about people
loving & sharing your work.

28. Link Building Dos and Don’ts

29. Don’t Fall for This Crap

30. Or This Other Crap

31. Or This Equally Terrible Crap

32. Or This Magnificently Scary Crap

33. Or This

34. Or This

35. Or This

36. Got it? Good!

37. Chart of Link Tactics & Relative Risk

38. What Elements Matter in a Link?
URL Rel=“Nofollow”
(a tag that indicates search
(the link target)
engines shouldn’t trust/count
this link)
<p><a href=http://www.seomoz.org rel=“nofollow”>
SEOmoz’s Website </a> is a good resource for those
seeking to learn more about search engine
optimization.</p>
Surrounding Text
Anchor text
(may provide context on
(tells the engine what
the link’s relevance)
this link is about)

39. Tactics to Earn Great Links
• Beginner’s Guide: Chapter 7 – Growing Links & Popularity
• Link Building Blog Posts on SEOmoz
• Webinar on Link Building Strategies
• 101 Ways to Build Links from SEOBook
• Link Building Presentations on Slideshare
• The Science of Retweets from Dan Zarrella
• The Noob Guide to Link Building from Mike King
• 1000s of Link Building Tactics from the SEOmoz Blog

40. 10 Actionable Tips for Your Blog

41. #1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time
Where Geraldine Started Her Blog

42. #1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time
Where people usually give up.

43. #1: Be Willing to Fail for a Long Time
2.5 years in, she finally reaches 1000s of daily visits

44. “The only thing that I see that is distinctly
different about me is that I’m not afraid to
DIE on a treadmill. You might have more
talent than me, you might be smarter than
me, but if we get on a treadmill
together, there are two things: 1- You’re
getting off first OR 2- I’m gonna DIE. It’s
really that simple”
- Will Smith

45. #2: Blog Posts Can Be More than Text & Photos

46. #3: Don’t Separate Into Multiple Sites or Subdomains
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites

47. #4: Experiment with Lots of Different Networks
Users: 200mm 900mm 200mm 150mm 20mm
Users: 15mm 30mm 14mm 15mm 15mm

48. #5: Don’t Just Aim for Rankings, Go for CTR
Which one
would you click?

49. #6: Use Google Reader to Find Other Blogs
Whose Communities to Participate In
http://www.google.com/reader/view/#directory-search/travel%20blog//0

50. #7: Use Followerwonk to Find Twitter Influencers
http://followerwonk.com

51. #8: Use FindPeopleOnPlus for Google+
http://findpeopleonplus.com

52. #9: Your Followers Aren’t All Online at the
Same Time. Share More than Once.
Via http://followerwonk.com

53. #10: Use Rel=Author & Google+ to Get Your
Mugshot Next to Your Pages in SERPs
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/how-to-implement-rel-author

54. Answers to Frequent Questions

55. What Was Google’s “Panda” Update? Do I
Need to Worry About That?
Check out http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-googles-panda-update-changed-seo-best-practices-forever-
whiteboard-friday for more on how Panda imapcted SEO and http://www.seomoz.org/blog/beat-google-panda for
tips on how to beat it.

56. What About “Penguin”?
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/penguins-pandas-and-panic-at-the-zoo

57. Should I Worry About Spam Comments?

58. Can Links from Low Quality Sites Hurt Me?
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-if-my-competitors-point-spammy-links-to-my-site

59. What About Image Search SEO?
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/image-seo-basics-whiteboard-friday

60. What About Local SEO?
Normal
Algorithm
Maps
Algorithm
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

61. What About Recipe SEO?
Rich
Snippets
Specific
Filters
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2
011/02/google-recipe-search.html

62. Google’s
smart, but
even they
f#$% up 
Really?

63. Thank you! Let’s do some Q+A!
Download this Webinar:
http://bit.ly/foodbloggerseo
Contacting Me:
@randfish or rand@seomoz.org