SEO involves optimizing website code, content, and connections to improve a site's ranking in search engines. Code optimization includes ensuring descriptive title tags and meta descriptions, as well as using H1-H6 tags. High-quality content that is keyword optimized and organized is important. Building relevant external links through directories, social media, and other sites helps pass "link juice." Google features like maps, knowledge graphs, and featured snippets can drive traffic, so optimizing for these through semantic markup is valuable. Maintaining white hat SEO tactics and staying up-to-date on Google algorithm changes are keys to success.

1. How do you SEO?
THE BASICS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

2. Understanding SEO
How would you explain Search Engine Optimization to your
grandparents?
Why do we need it?

3. The Basics
◦ Code
◦ Content
◦ Connections

4. Code
• This is what source code looks like.
• Source code isn’t scary.
• It’s simply the code that web
browsers “read” to figure out how
to display a webpage’s contents.
• Google and other search engines
read your source code to find out
what your site is about.

5. Code
Title Tag
The title tag is the most important
element on any web page. If you do a
‘Control + U’ (F12) on any page, you’ll see
the title tag in source code. It’s bounded
by title tags.

6. Code
Title Tag
o You want to make sure you only have
one title tag per page.
o What you put in the title tag is
basically how Google decides what’s
going to be in search engine results.
o Google experiments with changing this
a little bit, but most of the time, they
repeat exactly what’s in your title tag
into the search engine web page.
o It’s really important that you craft your
title tag so that it reads well and
people will click on the link.

7. Code
Meta Description
This is a description of the page.
• Only one per page
• You can elaborate on what the
page is about in more detail.

8. Code
Meta Description
A lot of companies skip over this
&end up duplicating their home
page meta description content on
every page.
Google Search Console (formerly
Webmaster Tools) tells these
companies that there are a lot of
duplicate descriptions.
*Remember: Duplicate content is BAD for SEO.

9. Code
Meta Description
It doesn’t affect your search
ranking (arguably) and isn’t a large
problem, but you’re ruining your
chance at taking advantage of free
advertising.
Also a good place to include
keywords.
*Side note: Only Google knows for sure what
the Google Algorithm ranking factors are. The
rest of us are using context clues.

10. Code
H-Tags
• Heading Tags are essentially your
headlines and sub-headlines.
• Important because Google looks as
these. Don’t try to keyword stuff
• Just make it natural and inviting, but
keywords over cleverness is preferred
for SEO.

11. Code
The Easy Way
Title tags, meta descriptions
& H-tags through a CMS

12. Code
Other important things to know
• HTTP Status Codes - 404 & 301
• Schema.org - structured data on the Internet, on web pages
• Watch for Google Algorithm Updates and make adjustments
accordingly
https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change
Rand Fishkins - Whiteboard Fridays

13. Code (*PROTIP*)
Canonical Tag
• It’s important because if you have a lot of web
pages that have similar content, you can tell Google
that the only page they should page attention to is
a certain page.
• This is a good way to stop duplicate content.
• This is also important to syndicate your content, as
you can have people who syndicate your content
use this tag in their head of their page that they’re
taking from you and pointing back to you as the
original source.
• In essence, canonical tags are useful for setting a
preferred URL for your content.

14. Content
What is Content?
Any information that lives on the web
and can be consumed on the web.
The idea is to create content that
generates traffic.
Class: Give examples

15. Content
1. Blog Posts
2. Articles
3. Lists
4. Guides
5. Videos
6. Infographics
7. Directories
8. Product Pages
9. Etc.

16. Content
Creating Quality Content
Keyword Research: If you want to generate traffic through search, it’s best to do keyword
research before you start writing. This way, you can focus on keywords for which a certain
amount of search volume already exists – in other words, write toward topics that people are
already searching for information about.
Keyword Optimization: Know where and how to use keywords in your content for maximum
searchability. (Keyword stuffing = bad)
Content Organization: The content on your site should be organized in a logical way. This is not
only good for SEO, it also helps visitors on your site find other related content easily. (The longer
they stay on your site, the better.)
Content Promotion: Increase visibility to new content you create by sharing it on social
networks and building links to your content (both internally and from external sites).

17. Content
Keyword Research
Many tools available to research
keywords (AdWords is free)
No right method, just different
oEverything is seasonal
oPay attention to Trends
oGeo is important

18. Content
Keyword Research
What makes a good keyword?
oHigh avg. monthly search
oHigh PPC competition
Opportunities:
oLong tail keywords

19. Connections
Why are links important?
Top SEOs believe that external links are
the most important source of ranking
power. External links pass "link juice"
(ranking power) differently than
internal links because the search engines
consider them as third-party votes.

20. Connections
Internal vs. External links
Follow vs. No Follow links

21. Connections
Types of External Links
Directories/Review/maps
oYelp!, Excite, YP, Bing, Google+
oServices like Yext, Localeze
Social
oDo I really need to list these?
Other websites
o.com, .gov, .edu

22. Connections
Directories and Review
oDisseminate NAP info (name, address, phone #)
oGive more channels for your clients to
find you
oReviews will give a chance for customers
to tell others what they think and
interaction. (can be a double

23. Connections
Link Building
One of the most important
aspects of SEO
(Also one of the most tedious)

24. Google Features
Map Pack
oDrives traffic for Local SEO
oCannot even appear
without a verified Google+
business account.
oConstantly Changing

25. Google Features
Knowledge Graph
oInfo in the Knowledge Graph is
derived from many sources (but from
experience, mostly Wikipedia)
oRarely about a business, not great
for commercial business
oConstantly updating, not as
frequently as featured snippets.

26. Google Features
Featured Snippet
oBlock at the top of the search
results page. This featured
snippet block
oIncludes a summary of the
answer, extracted from a
webpage, plus a link to the
page, the page title and URL.

27. Google Features
Featured Snippet
oRanking #1 for a term doesn’t
guarantee a featured snippet.
oSemantic markup
(schema.org) plays a large role
in this.
oSnippets are volatile, but they
do drive traffic.

28. Final Thoughts
oWhite Hat vs. Black Hat tactics
oOptimize for Google and the rest will fall into line.
oGoogle Algorithm is constantly updating. Keep up with
trends.
oToday’s Focus: Mobile first & Local SEO
oThe future? Voice SEO? How do you optimize for that?

29. And now, let’s find out what Google
knows about you. (pt. 2)
https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/
https://myactivity.google.com/
https://myaccount.google.com/privacy#accounthistory

30. Important SEO links
Search Engine Land: http://searchengineland.com/
Search Engine Journal: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/
Moz: https://moz.com/blog
FREE TOOL:
Moz Bar: https://moz.com/products/pro/seo-toolbar

31. Career Advice
Get Google Certifications (AdWords, Analytics)
o They are free
o You can take the tests as many times as you need
o Tons of free resources to study available online
o Looks great on resumes
All good entry level positions require 1-3 years of experience.
o Internships, internships, internships
o Be proactive
o Don’t be afraid of the dirty work or menial tasks
o “No experience required” is a trap.