Understanding Search: Techniques for getting sound is a short explanation of how search engines determine their ranking and how you as a company can make changes to your website to increase your results. This presentation talks about SEO, and Web Analytics among other things.

1. Understanding Search
Techniques for Getting Found
Brian Bluff
President & Co-Founder
Site-Seeker, Inc.
@ssiBrian
brianbluff@site-seeker.com
315.732.9281 x 11
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

2. What We Will Cover
- Search Engine Optimization Overview
Breaking it down into phases
- Keyword Research
How prospects really look for you
- Content Writing for SEO
It’s all about relevancy
- Put Your House in Order
Crucial elements of navigation and SEO
- Where Does Social Media Come In?
The new method of getting found
- Return on Investment
What and how to measure
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

3. Vertical
Websites
Social
Media Drive
Your Website
Convert
Your website is a machine….
Measure
and improve
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4. www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

5. Search Engine Optimization
PROGRAM
=
(Rank + Click - Bounce + Conversion)
X
(Measurement + Adjustments)
- Brian (me)
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6. Search Engine Market Share
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7. SEO Program – Phase 1
The Basics
• Keyword Research and Selection
• Title, Header, Keyword, Description, Alt Img
• Content rewrite - keyword density
• URL Structure
• Navigation
• Organization of code and link structure
• XML sitemap
• Robots.txt
• Webmaster tools accounts
• Analytics and conversion funnels
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

8. SEO Program – Phase 2
Ongoing Effort
• Inbound links • Adjust
• Create authority • Content
• Social media • Links
• Micro sites • Vertical search
• Website performance analysis • Local search
• Ranking • Social media
• Traffic sources/volume • Other activities
• Bounce rate
• Conversions
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

9. SEO Programs...
Are NOT a one time deal.
Ongoing process that requires
• Monitoring for cause and effect
• Modification of actions to increase ROI.
Many factors affect strength and positioning
• Addressed a priority basis
• Look for biggest ROI opportunities
• Stay abreast of changes
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

10. Keyword Research
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

11. Keyword Research
• How do prospects refer to those products or services?
• Think longer, more precise, phrases
• Don’t let your website designer pick keywords
• Examine competitor’s keywords
• Don’t jump in the ring with an 800 lb. gorilla unless you are
a 900 lb. gorilla
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

12. What terms do prospects use…?
Global Monthly
Keywords Search Volume
car insurance 1,830,000
auto insurance 673,000
car insurance quotes 301,000
auto insurance quotes 201,000
auto insurance quote 135,000
car insurance companies 33,100
auto insurance companies 22,200
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

13. Content Writing for SEO
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14. Content Writing for SEO
• Not the same game
• 250 – 500 words
• Use bullets
• Use common language
• One subject per page
• Create Keyword Rich Content
• Body
• Headings
• Image tags
• Meta data
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

15. Content Writing for SEO
Break apart content
This is bad
Products
Products
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
Product 1 nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation
ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse
molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero
eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum
zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
Product 2 volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation
ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse
molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero
eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum
zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

16. Content Writing for SEO
Break apart content
This is good
Product 1
Product 1
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
Product 1 nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
Product 2 volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation
ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse
molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero
eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum
zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

17. Put Your House in Order
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18. Put Your House in Order - Navigation
• Navigation Must Be Clear
• Create pages specific to each product or service
• Use keywords in navigation
• Add “breadcrumbs” to your website
• Avoid
• Images as navigational links
• Page jumps
• Instead break the page out
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

19. Clear Contact Points
www.site-seeker.com Products Organized by Type AND Application Site-Seeker, Inc.
© 2010

20. Engage your visitors with easy to use contact forms
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21. Short Form Submission
October 2009
120 Long Forms Submitted
142 Short Forms Submitted
262 Total
114.75%
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

22. Crucial Elements of SEO – On-Page
Meta Data
• Title Tag (65 – 70 characters)
• Description Tag (20 – 25 words: sentence structure)
• Keyword Tags (15 – 20 words)
Page Content
• Header Tag (H1) (primary keyword/phrase)
• Keyword/phrase as close to beginning as possible
• Alt Image Tags
• Keyword density
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

23. Crucial Elements of SEO – XML Sitemap and Robots.txt
file
• Generate a sitemap (www.xml-sitemaps.com)
• Upload to your website.
• Create a Robots.txt file
• Place name of sitemap in robots.txt file
• Create a webmaster tool account on Google,
Yahoo, and Bing
• Add sitemap
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

24. SEO & Social Media
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25. Blogs establish you as the expert and support a strong
search engine marketing plan
Website
Search
(blog)
Rank
Engines
Content
Distribute
Nee
d
Social
Interactio
Prospects
Properties
n
Branding
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26. The Power of a Blog
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27. Technical Content as a Blog
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28. www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

29. www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

30. Measure
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31. Google Insights (Green Beer)
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32. Web Analytics Is...
the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting
of internet data for purposes of understanding and
optimizing web usage.
- Wikipedia
“Web analytics is not just a tool for measuring website traffic but can be used as a tool for business research
and market research.”
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

33. • Free
• Easy to understand data
• Integration with other Google services
• Google AdWords
• Google Site Optimizer
• Custom automated reporting
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

34. Before you start establish a baseline & benchmarks
• What keywords are you targeting?
• How much traffic are you getting now?
• What is a successful visit?
• How many successful visits does my site receive per
month now?
• Where is my traffic coming from now?
• What is my site’s/important page’s bounce rate?
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

35. Vertical
Websites
Social
Media
Return on Investment
Your Website
Your website is a machine….
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.

36. Thank You!
Brian Bluff
President & Co-Founder
Site-Seeker, Inc.
@ssiBrian
brianbluff@site-seeker.com
www.site-seeker.com © 2010 Site-Seeker, Inc.