Building your blog through Organic SEO, Social Signals, and Image Optimization - presentation given by Nicole Bullock at FitBloggin 2013 in Portland, Oregon on June 28, 2013. In this talk, I discuss rel=author, Google Panda and Penguin, crafting social media updates with keywords, and how to use image titles and alt tags to increase search traffic.

1. BUILDING YOUR BLOG
THROUGH ORGANIC
SEO, SOCIAL
SIGNALS, AND IMAGE
OPTIMIZATION
NICOLE BULLOCK
@CUTECULTURECHIC

2. About Me

3. What we’re talking about
 What is SEO?
 Panda and Penguin
 Rel=“author”
 Linking to your G+ profile
 Crafting great social media updates
 Image optimization
 Keyword Research

4. What is SEO?
 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the
process that affects the visibility of a website in
the search engine page results (SERP)
 Organic vs Paid SEO
 SEO can be used to target different types of
search:
 Websites
 Video
 Images

5. Is SEO Dead?

6. Panda and Penguin
 Panda – February 24, 2011: Penalized sites
with weak content, rewarded sites with quality
content
 Penguin – April 24, 2012: Evaluation of
incoming links to see if your site includes link
schemes to improve rankings

7. rel=“author”
 Rel=Author is HTML markup in the code of a
webpage that allows authors to associate their
Google+ profiles. Once associated, a rich
snippet (such as your Google+ profile picture)
appears next to your result in Google's search
engine results
<a href=“[profile_url]?rel=author”>Google</a>

8. Rel=“author”
Use your Google+ profile number:
<a href=“102155066952444013373?rel=author”>Google</a>

9. Where to Add rel=“author” code
 Into site header (varies by theme)
 Google+ ID in Wordpress Author Bio
 Download plugin (Easy Rel=author)

10. Linking blog to Google+ Profile

11. Verifying the rel=author code

12. Are links the focus?
 According to Google Webmaster Tools, the
key to ranking success has shifted from
number of links to quality content. Notice the
shift in wording:
Before: In general, webmasters can improve the
rank of their sites by increasing the number of
high-quality sites that link to their pages.
Current: In general, webmasters can improve
the rank of their sites by creating high-quality
sites that users will want to use and share.

13. Keywords are still important
 People use search engines, you want to
capture what people are searching for
 You need to understand the users and what
words they use to find your content
 Use keywords that people expect to see
 Add keywords into the text of your website in a
natural way (avoid “keyword stuffing”)

14. Google Adwords Keyword Tool

15. Google Adwords Keyword Tool
Results

16. Soovle

17. Image Descriptions
 Take the time to rename your photos with
keywords
 Use keyword rich file names
 Use alt text for more detail
File name:
one-touch-ultra-mini-monitor.jpg
Alt text:
alt=“monitoring reactive hypoclycemia
with one touch ultra mini monitor”

18. SEO and Social Signals
 Search engines reward quality content, and
social sharing adds credibility
 Users are engaging with brands on social
media and sharing products and purchases
 Make it easy for readers to share your content
through social widgets

19. Social Sharing Widgets
 Make it easy for your readers to share your
content by having visible sharing widgets
 Widgets can be added by HTML code or as a
plugin
 Decrease indecision by offering only 3-6 of the
most popular/relevant social networks

20. Sharing Your Content on Social
Media
 Twitter – Keep it consise (110 characters)
 Facebook – Set an eye-catching meta image
(it will grab more interest than any text
description)
 Pinterest – Add images with text for tutorial
posts, use keywords in your description
 Google+ - Use a more lengthy description with
keywords and hashtags. You’ll get the biggest
bang for your SEO buck in G+ posts of any
social network

21. Create an Online Portfolio

22. My Favorite SEO Resources
 Moz.com
 SEO.com
 SearchEngineLand.com
 SearchEngineJournal.com
 MattCutts.com/Blog
 GoogleWebmasterCentral.blogspot.com
 Distilled.net

23. Let’s Connect!
 Social Media Manager for Lead Media Partners and
DegreeSearch.org
 Board Member for Social Media Club of Salt Lake City
 11 years of blogging and social media experience
 Follow me on Twitter @cuteculturechic
My blogs
 www.cuteculturechick.com
 www.beautyandthebypass.com
 Facebook.com/cuteculturechick
 Twitter.com/cuteculturechic
 Pinterest.com/cuteculturechic
 Linkedin.com/in/nicolembullock