Topics include:
- What is SEO (search engine optimisation)
- How do search engines work
- On-site SEO and keywords
- Off-site SEO and links
- Local SEO and Google+ Local
- Content creation ideas
Huge topic Still learning, 12 years in, changes every day The basics stay the same Only 1/2 hour to quickly run through it all, so will be quick.
4 main areas, each with a few tips Q&A at the end
Brings it all together Growing in importance these days
To start, let’s spend a couple of minutes looking at what SEO is
The Organic results Traditionally, two sections to a search engine. Paid and unpaid Not talking about PPC today. This section, where usually 70-80% of people click. Will see tourism example throughout - can all relate to it.
People trust sites at top of Google SEO is an industry levellerYou can compete internationally in competitive markets and win Pull NOT Push
Spiders = software. Seek out content for the index. Jump from link to link How does it decide what to rank where? Two main keywords to remember = RELEVANCE & IMPORTANCE
Keywords on pages - headings, copy Behind the scenes - titles, meta data Gets you into the game.
Gets you to the top of the pile. Popularity contest That’s it. SEO in a nutshell. Proving relevance and then importance ranks you above the next site
How do we make sure our on-site SEO (i.e. the SEO work on our actual website) is up to scratch? Start with the basics, and that’s making sure you are targeting the right keywords.
Tip 1 is all about choosing keywords Big mistake we see - wrong keywords are chosenBased on assumption
Stick ‘keyword tool’ into Google. First result. You do need a Google Account to access this these days.
Tip 2 is about using keywords. Poor keyword use is a big issues Duplication of keywords across pages (cannibalisation) is a problem
Page title. Meta description. URL. All visible in Google Need keywords in there (emboldened) and good sales messages to entice the click.
Will cover this more after
A varied and natural link profile is best. Don’t ‘over optimise’ as this annoys Google
Formerly Google Places Known as Local SEO
Formerly Google Place Known as Local SEO
A mini SEO project. Prove relevance and importance again: Accurate info + keywords within listing = relevance Citations & reviews = importance Encourage reviews from people. Charity donation? Venue in London does this well.
Huge subject Hugely important Brings everything else together and steps it up a notch
Tip 3 is about creating content. Great content COntent can be blog posts, news articles, videos, images, guides, whitepapers, etc.
Don’t write for the sake of it. Find out what people care about first
Hugely important not just for users (hints, tips) or so you have extra pages for Google But also helps improve your SEO and therefore rankings
Blogging allows you to quickly create keyword rich contentFresh content keeps Google returning Good for UNIVERSAL search SOCIAL SIGNALS = important ranking factors