Sam Michelson's speech for SMX Israel. Basically use SEO tactics to help you build your brand and generate traffic. SEO is not instead of creating a brand and a business.

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SAM MICHELSON
Founder & CEO
SEOS
BIG IDEAS

2. Keyword-rich content with
thousands of low quality links on an
unknown site used to work!
 The keywords provided relevance
 The links provided authority
And that was it.
The money flowed in.

3. Many brands weren’t even in the game.

4. Many brands weren’t even in the game.
We outranked Fortune 100 companies
for their own branded terms!

5. Many brands weren’t even in the game.
But the world
has changed…

6. …and search has changed with it.

7. For competitive terms…
(and other search engines) have the luxury to choose
from millions of sites!

8. Google is fortunate
One Query = Many results

9. Most queries lead to
many answers –
Commercial/
Corporate
Websites
Review sites
& Opinionated
Blogs
Social media
/ Multimedia
News and
Government
Sites
Wikipedia

10. So here
you are
with a
product
to sell,
leads to
generate.
WHAT’S YOUR
BEST BET?

11. Build a site with rich content and
gain lots of links?

12. Build a site with rich content and gain lots of links?
Share on social media, like there’s
no tomorrow?

13. Build a site with rich content and gain lots of links?
Share on social media like there’s no tomorrow?
Hire a PR firm?

14. Build a site with rich content and gain lots of links?
Share on social media like there’s no tomorrow?
Hire a PR firm?
Start a Wikipedia page?

15. Build a site with rich content and gain lots of links?
Share on social media like there’s no tomorrow?
Hire a PR firm?
Start a Wikipedia page?
Reach out to bloggers?

16. Build a site with rich content and gain lots of links?
Share on social media like there’s no tomorrow?
Hire a PR firm?
Start a Wikipedia page?
Reach out to bloggers?
Try to game all of the above?

17. Yes!
Consider them ALL.
Except maybe the gaming part…

18. Yes!
But not as disparate
tactics.
Consider them ALL.
Except maybe the gaming part…

19. Use these techniques
(and many others) to..
BUILD

20. Digital Brands are real companies too!
And they matter to a
variety of stakeholders.

21. So why do established
brands do better online
than my digital brand?

22. What makes any site rank well?
First we need to ask –

23. RELEVANT AUTHORITATIVE
Sites rank well because they are
leading to
and
SATISFIED
SEARCHERS

24. RELEVANT
CONTENT
Commodities can be
manufactured,
they are not the product
of passion.
a commodity

25. not a commodity
To be authoritative, a
site needs to come from
a source that has
TRUST
AUTHORITY

26. As brands
grow, they
(naturally)
accumulate…
news stories
blog mentions
proponents haters
reviews
conversations
Wikipedia

27. Established brands
tend to have
ALL
of these.

28. By serving search results from a brand,
Google can be confident it is providing
results that are
RELEVANT
AUTHORITATIVE SATISFIED
SEARCHERS
&

29. Let’s accept that Google
favors brands in search.
Why is that the case?

30. Brands have
something special.
A branded site is not
just another site with
all the right words.

31. …that comes from being an established company
that actual visitors go to and find what they need.
TRUST

32. In the age of brand building
through TRUST, what tactics
should SEOs use?

33. Don’t just
focus on
their links
and content.
STUDY THE
COMPETITION
Outdo them
in the way
they spread
their brand.

34. If they use Twitter, try
that, but maybe branch
out into video too
Exceed Your Competition When you have enough
traction and are becoming
noteworthy, engage with
the Wikipedia community
and get a wiki page.
Think about review sites
if relevant – they
generate ongoing USG and
relevant traffic

35. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
Anchor text linking:
 Include your brand in Wikidata
 Don’t forget basics
 Run ads to collect data
 Use Fiverr
It is NOT dead! Use anchor texts for
relevance rather than authority.

36. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
 Anchor text linking
Include your brand in Wikidata
 Don’t forget basics
 Run ads to collect data
 Use Fiverr

37. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
 Anchor text linking
 Include your brand in Wikidata
Don’t forget basics:
 Run ads to collect data
 Use Fiverr
Make sure to avoid
duplicate content

38. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
 Anchor text linking
 Include your brand in Wikidata
 Don’t forget basics
Run ads to collect data
 Use Fiverr

39. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
 Anchor text linking
 Get in Wikidata
 Don’t forget basics
 Run ads to collect data
Use Fiverr:
Crowd support to get
campaigns off the ground

40. Seo tactics that will
Move you ahead
Think Pull rather than Push!
 Follow in social media, retweet, endorse on
LinkedIn
 Market to related searches
 Market to Google Alerts

41. Examine your SEO tactics. How would they work in
the real world?

42. If your tactics lead people to an
inferior experience,
time to
build a
better
experience.

43. If your SEO
tactics are
catalysts to a
positive brand
experience (and
making you lots
of dineros!!)
Great!

44. Sam Michelson
CEO/Founder
samm@fiveblocks.com
+1.646.801.8669
+972.54.440.6315