1.
Search Engine
Optimisation Basics
Ryan Jones
Marketing Coordinator

2.
About me
• Reformed engineer
• Marketer
• 18 years web development
experience
• Recently:
• WordPress
• Drupal
• Magento

3.
Follow my advice and be #1
on Google!!!

4.
Get your basics in order
• Google Analytics
• Vital for tracking traffic, how much and where it comes from
• Keyword analysis
• Popular search queries
• Key landing pages
• Understanding volume of mobile traffic

5.
Get your basics in order
• Each page should feature:
• <title>
• Keep it unique and descriptive
• feel free to brand it
• include relevant keywords
• E.g. “Donated Microsoft Office software for not-for-profits – Connecting Up”
• <meta description>
• Make it clear and relevant
• Limit to 156 characters, maximum Google displays in search results
• E.g. “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 software is now available as a
donation to eligible not-for-profits through Connecting Up.”

6.
Get your basics in order
• Each page should feature:
• <h1>
• One per page
• Defines the key heading on the page
• Make it relevant to targeted keywords
• <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, etc
• Include as many as relevant
• Used to define page structure and content relevance
• Should include reference to keywords

7.
Get your basics in order
• Each page should feature:
• <img alt=“This is a picture of a duck” />
• One per page
• Defines the key heading on the page
• Make it relevant to targeted keywords
• Will appear if the image doesn’t display
• Can be read when the image can’t be seen – search engines, screen readers
• WCAG 2.0 Guideline 1.1.1: “All non-text content that is presented to the user has
a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose.”

8.
Sitemaps
• Lists all the pages of your site
• Written in XML for search engines to read
• Needs to be submitted to search engines

9.
Creating sitemaps
• Content Management System?
• Use Sitemap or SEO module
• WordPress SEO by Yoast
• Drupal SEO Tools
• XML Sitemap (Drupal)
• Custom system?
• http://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html

10.
Submitting sitemaps to Google &
Bing
• Google Webmaster Tools
• http://www.google.com/webmaster/tools
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• http://www.bing.com/webmaster
• Validate that you own your website
• Submit XML sitemaps
• See website issues, such as crawl errors, malware and hacking
• See sites that link to you, search data, and more

11.
Content Management Systems
Let them help you
• Make use of free modules that assist with SEO
• WordPress
• Google Analytics by Yoast
• Setup Google Analytics, use latest Universal Analytics
• WordPress SEO by Yoast
• Help with content creation, validating with search engines, sitemaps, URLs and more
• Drupal
• Google Analytics
• Setup Google Analytics
• Drupal SEO Tools
• Help with content creation, sitemaps, URLs and more

12.
Content
Things have changed!
• Write content for people, not machines
• Create quality content people want to read (and share!)
• No keyword stuffing, but make your content relevant to
keywords you’re targeting
• No hidden keywords or strange redirects
High quality content relevant to targeted keywords will potentially
record a higher quality score to drive down your AdWords costs.

13.
Speed
• Website speed is now a factor in how visitors and search
engines rank your website
• Use tools to analyse where speed gains can be made:
• Google PageSpeed –
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed
• Yslow – http://yslow.org

14.
Common speed solutions
• Appropriately optimise image files
• Make them the correct format, minimise their file size
• Store images and static files on Content Delivery Networks
• E.g. Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud Files
• Reduce use of images
• Use text, CSS or other tricks
• Look at your server
• Is it adequate for the traffic you receive?
• Have you outgrown shared hosting?
• If it’s overseas, can you move it within Australia?
• Do you need to configure caching solutions?

15.
Keyword research
• Google Trends
• www.google.com/trends
• Google AdWords
• Keyword Planner
• Check ‘Status’ next to a keyword, mouse over dialogue box, check
quality score and relevance

16.
Mobilegeddon
• Changes to the Google search algorithm on 21 April
• Your site will be penalised in mobile searches if it is not mobile
friendly
• Mobile site or responsive
• No change to desktop search
Things to consider:
• How much mobile traffic do you now receive?
• How important is mobile traffic to you?

17.
Staying up to date
Google Webmaster Central Blog:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au
Search Engine Land:
http://searchengineland.com

18.
Important links
• Google Webmaster Tools – www.google.com/webmaster/tools
• Bing Webmaster Tools – www.bing.com/webmaster
• Google’s SEO Starter Guide -
http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//
webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
• Bing’s Webmaster guidelines -
http://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/webmaster-guidelines-
30fba23a
• Google Trends – www.google.com/trends
• Google Webmasters – http://www.google.com/webmasters

19.
Next…
Friday 24 April
Search Engine Optimisation Basics
• Site speed
• Webmaster Tools
• Sitemaps
• Keywords
• Content
• Structure
• Bing and Google
FREE - http://www.connectingup.org/events/webinars/webinar-search-engine-optimisation

20.
Need help?
One hour free mentoring with Premium Membership!
Plus…
• $50 discount on Connecting Up Conference
• 20% discount on webinars and workshops
• Discounts on fuel, groceries, movies and more
• Promote your events on our website for free
• Exclusive Facebook group
www.connectingup.org/membership

21.
Next…
Thursday 14 May
Communities in the Future Conference 2015 -
Wellington
• #NPTech: Trends in Nonprofit Technology & Useful Tools
• Get to know your audience with Google Analytics – Learn the basics of website usage
statistics
Purchase two fulltime conference registrations and get the third FREE!
www.techsoup.net.nz/conference

22.
Next…
Wednesday 27 – Friday 29 May
Connecting Up Conference 2015 - Adelaide
• #NPTech: Trends in Nonprofit Technology & Useful Tools
• Social media Tools
• Facebook content that attracts positive interaction
• Get to know your audience with Google Analytics – Learn the basics of website usage
statistics
Purchase two fulltime conference registrations and get 50% off the third!
www.connectingup.org/conference

23.
Join Google for Nonprofits
Free registration!
•Google Ad Grants - $10,000 AdWords grant per
month
•Google Apps for Nonprofits
•YouTube for Nonprofits
Visit
http://www.google.com.au/nonprofits/join/