I presented this to an undergraduate class in marketing at the Information School of the University of Washington, on January 29, 2015. The lecture begins with an overview of the basics of SEO, and then delves deep into a technical SEO audit of the non-profit website www.ontheboards.org, which was the website that the class was using to learn about and deliver recommendations on for their class project. The lecture talks a lot about duplicate content and how to deal with it appropriately.

1. SEO for On the Boards
Kaitlin McMichael
SEO Strategist, Portent. Inc
January 29, 2015

2. About Portent
We are a leading integrated internet marketing
agency set in Seattle, serving world-wide clients
We are 30+ strong
Founded in 1996 (pre-Google)
We rally around the definition of “Portent”: the
forecast of something big on the horizon
Admittedly, we are total nerds
With 19 years in the industry,
you can trust our expertise.
Greetings from
the #smithtower

3. 5 Years of SEO & Marketing
Experience in-house & agency
Specialize in International SEO
Really into Salsa Dancing
Kaitlin McMichael
@kakefin

24. z

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31. •
•
•
Disallow: /css/
Disallow: /js/
Disallow: /img/

32. Beware

35. z
http://www.rei.com/
http://www.rei.com/index.html
http://www.rei.com/default.aspx
http://www.rei.com/home

36. http://www.ontheboards.org/blog?page=228&p=742
http://www.ontheboards.org/blog?page=228
These two URLs have the same content.

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All pagination links on the blog should not have “p”
parameters in the URLs. The “p” parameter has no
apparent use and should be removed. Alternatively,
all paginated pages can be “noindexed” by adding the
noindex meta robots page tag to those pagination
pages.

42. z
http://www.ontheboards.org/blog?page=166&attach
ment_id=290
http://www.ontheboards.org/blog?page=166
These show the same content.

43. z
All attachment_IDs should not have new URLs
created. This can be solved within their CMS. Also,
they should 301 redirect the attachment_ID URLs to
the main URLs. Alternatively, these pages can be
“noindexed” by adding the noindex meta robots page
tag to each attachement_ID page.

44. z
http://www.ontheboards.org/calendar
http://www.ontheboards.org/calendar/2015-
01?mini=calendar%2F2015-01
These show the same content.

46. z
In this case, the parameter mini=calendar does not need
to create separate URLs. Change the internal links within
the mini calendar and the settings within the CMS so that
these URLs are no longer generated. Alternatively, all
mini=calendar pages can be “noindexed” by adding the
noindex meta robots page tag to those pages.

48. All URLs with a trailing slash should be 301 redirected to the
page without the trailing slash. All internal links should point
to the version without the trailing slash.
301 Redirect
http://www.ontheboards.org/blog/2009/12/02/whim-whim
to
http://www.ontheboards.org/blog/2009/12/02/whim-whim/

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There are over 30 different versions of the home page. All the
parameters at the end do not change the content of the home
page. In this case, the best solution is to add a canonical tag to
the home page’s header code, like this:
<link rel=“canonical” href=”http://www.ontheboards.org” />

51. Use the Google PageSpeed Tool to figure out how the site can load faster:
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

53. Look at:
• Title Tags
• Meta Descriptions
• Headings

54. Are there any:
• Duplicates
• Missing Fields
• Using the same
keywords

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Current Title Tag: Home | On the Boards
Do they want to rank for the keyword “Home”?????

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Better Title Tag:
Seattle Theatre, Music & Dance - On the Boards
Pro Tip: Use the Portent SERP Preview Tool to test out title tags:
http://www.portent.com/serp-preview-tool

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Meta descriptions do not directly influence rankings, but a good meta
description can dramatically increase click-through rate.

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61. H1 – There can be only one
H2 – Multiple, Related to H1
H3 – Multiple, Related to H2

62. <h1>Cars</h1>
<h2>American Cars</h2>
<h3>Ford</h3>
<h3>Chevrolet</h3>
<h2>Japanese Cars</h2>
<h3>Toyota</h3>
<h3>Honda</h3>

63. z
Image alt tags are always a good idea.
This could be:
<img src=“/logo.jpg” alt=“On the Boards
Logo” >

67. z
None of the title tags include “Seattle theatre” or “Seattle
Theater.” There should be a page dedicated to this keyword.
Ditto for “Seattle Dance” (or “Dance Performances in Seattle,”
etc) and “Seattle Music” (or “music shows in Seattle”).
These should be main category pages linked from the main
navigation.

68. •
•
•

71. z
Each blog post should be include clear call to actions
to purchase a ticket, find out more information,
share the post, read another post, or complete some
other action.
Never allow “dead ends”!

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76. just your competitors

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Look for: sharp
increases in backlinks

78. Look for: sharp
increases in backlinks

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OntheBoards appears to have a healthy backlink
profile and does not have to worry about over-
optimized anchor text. But they do need more
domain authority. To achieve that, they need to get
more quality links from trusted sites.
Quality over quantity!

80. Analytics: Google Analytics, Adobe Omniture
Rank Checking Tools: Moz, AWR
Webmaster Tools: Google & Bing
Link review sites: AHREFs, Majestic, Moz
Web Crawlers: Screaming Frog
SERP Preview Tool:
http://www.portent.com/serp-preview-tool

81. Prepared by
Kaitlin McMichael
SEO Strategist
@kakefin
YOU