SEO for Visibility, Action & Conversion (2011): An updated SEO presentation to include information about Google Mayday, Google Panda, Bing Business Portal & other changes. Presented by Kevin Mullett for Cirrus ABS on April 14th 2011 at the Norhteast Indiana Innovation Center in Fort Wayne Indiana. 11 action steps to better SEO with information on organic SEO, how social media works with SEO, online reputation management, click through, improving visibility in search, and much more.

1. SEO for Visibility, Action & Conversion // Kevin Mullett
cirrusabs.com
twitter.com/cirrusabs
facebook.com/cirrusabs
youtube.com/user/cirrusabs
linkedin.com/companies/cirrus-abs

2. SEO for Visibility, Action & Conversion // Kevin Mullett
kevinmullett.com
twitter.com/kmullett
facebook.com/kevinmullett
linkedin.com/in/kevinmullett
just google “kevin mullett”
director of product development

3. SEO // what does that even mean?
search engine optimization is*:
developing a website utilizing best
practices and in such a manor that
there are no encumbrances to the
search engines ability to crawl a site
and properly understand the subject
of the site, find the sites pages, links,
and documents, so that it might be
included in the search engines organic
or natural index appropriately.
* but it depends on who you ask and
search engine marketing is an open debate.
paid search vs organic
@kmullett // #SEOFW

4. SEO // highly visible is highly desirable
• you have to be where your ideal demographic can see you
• in front of competitors if necessary
• obey the rules or have your sign removed
• tell a better story
photo by David Evers: http://flic.kr/p/5XwMZC @kmullett // #SEOFW

5. SEO // winning requires knowledge
• what are the rules
• how can i optimize within the rules
• which races can i win while staying within my budget
• am i dedicated to the winning strategy
• how much is winning worth
@kmullett // #SEOFW

6. SEO // visibility is online currency
• no visibility = no clicks
• unattractive or spammy titles & descriptions (snippets) = no clicks
• clicks for incorrect terms = no conversion
• poorly planned landing pages with no CTA = no conversion
@kmullett // #SEOFW

7. SEO // where will i spend our marketing $
but where are you going to spend your
marketing budget?
A. traditional advertising (off-line; radio, tv, print, listings)
B. social media (organic)
C. social media (advertising, facebook, sponsored tweets, etc)
D. paid search
E. all of the above
@kmullett // #SEOFW

8. SEO // is it the intent winner?
• social
• dm
• tv
• radio
• tradeshows
• newspaper
• yellow pages
• search Marketing
• SEO
@kmullett // #SEOFW

9. SEO // think you can ignore social media?
business who are still trying to avoid social media
or who are being overly selective may not be
getting the entire picture. less discussed are
the SEO, visibility, and traffic value that social
media can provide.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

10. // social is now in SERPs
how will it change social participation? how will it
change where we click on a SERP page?
- flickr, friendfeed, gmail, facebook, buzz, reader, google
@kmullett // #SEOFW

11. SEO // architecture matters
• i’ve never seen a perfect launch, i.e. one where I got to
do everything I wanted
• projects are always limited by: time, money, effort,
resources, knowledge, buy in (from HIPPOs or clients)
• test conversions, measure results
@kmullett // #SEOFW

12. SEO // technical, onsite & offsite factors
There are technical, onsite (page), & offsite (page)
factors that contribute to your sites SERP performance.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

13. SEO // are you in trouble?
if your site is…
• trapped by flash
• looking good but can’t
be found
• built in a way that
prevents you from
changing or adding content
• if you can’t change page titles, and meta descriptions
you’re in trouble.
ask for a free lame duck site evaluation
@kmullett // #SEOFW

14. SEO // search engines change
google alone uses over 200 criteria/signals for
ranking site pages, performs over 6000 tests
and subsequently changes over 400 algorithms
per year. who will be watching for changes at
your company or organization?
@kmullett // #SEOFW

15. SEO // mayday, farmer/panda, what?
google mayday (April 28 th – May 3rd 2010)
• looking for signals of QUALITY
• deep page content crawling
• looking for best sites for long-tailed queries
google panda (late February, tweaked in April)
• content farms & article marketing
• low quality sites
• aggregated or duplicate content
google’s looking for “original” content
@kmullett // #SEOFW

16. SEO // what is google +1?
google +1 (date)
• not rolled out to all yet
• in search results and adds
• on sites ala “like” button
• google experimental search
@kmullett // #SEOFW

17. SEO // bing + yahoo = binghoo
are you too focused on google?
• yahoo switched to bing SERP results
(started in July, completed Aug 24th)
according to nielsen company that puts binghoo at 26% (Aug 2010)
experian hitwise now reports bing search is 30% of share (Mar 2011)
@kmullett // #SEOFW

18. SEO // google instant
how has google instant changed SEO?
• long tail, short tail, keyword phrases, traffic, adsense impressions…
@kmullett // #SEOFW

19. SEO // all things being equal
there are over 200 criteria so you must do competitive
analysis to maximize your return on efforts.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

20. SEO // action 1
• create a list of competitors sites
• run competitive analysis with majestic SEO:
majesticseo.com/bulk-backlink-checker.php
• develop a plan to win or call in reinforcements
@kmullett // #SEOFW

21. SEO // localization is on the rise
• mobile device “local searches” on the rise
• local search (7 pack) instills high confidence with searchers
• social applications like foursquare, gowalla, etc
@kmullett // #SEOFW

22. SEO // action 2
grab your local listings:
getlisted.org
be consistent with citation: name, address, phone number
@kmullett // #SEOFW

23. SEO // the new bing business portal
• highly customizable with mobile and qr codes
• new fields for facebook pages and twitter profiles
@kmullett // #SEOFW

24. SEO // action 3
review your local analytics
google.com/places
@kmullett // #SEOFW

25. SEO // action 4
setup google profiles for you & your business
google.com/profiles
@kmullett // #SEOFW

26. SEO // we all want to be #1
when dealing with SEO we need to have reasonable
expectations for KW (keyword) and KWP (keyword
phrases). We also need to understand that the
higher the competition for KW/KWP terms the
longer it is likely to take to move up unless more
effort is brought to bear.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

27. SEO // select the right keywords
We've taken clients to number one on Google
based on keywords they insisted had to be there, only to find out
that a slight derivation would have yielded exponential traffic.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

28. SEO // action 5
• poll your customer facing employees; ask who are
your clients
• write down what you really do & who you are
competing against
• take the keywords & keyword phrases you think are
important and verify volume with
adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
@kmullett // #SEOFW

29. SEO // i’ve nothing to write
a common complaint is not
knowing what to write & what
keywords to target
• fresh content is crucial
• newest articles win
all else being equal
• increases site depth
• increases crawl rate
@kmullett // #SEOFW

30. SEO // technical considerations
when writing page titles
• keep the title to 70 characters when possible
• use localization and keywords/keyphrases early in the title
• think about attractiveness + bolded words (will it get clicked?)
when writing meta descriptions
(these usually become snippet)
• keep the description to 156 characters when possible
• think about attractiveness + bolded words
consider the impact on your CTR and visibility
words included in your titles and descriptions should also appear on the page
@kmullett // #SEOFW

31. SEO // missed or skipped technical tasks
header tags: H1-H6
alt tags: often missed
(don't say picture or image of, google already knows its an image)
@kmullett // #SEOFW

32. SEO // action 6
• for each page of your site run & review
tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-density/
(don't try so hard to get a certain saturation that you lose good long tail
connecting words or relevance! Don’t stress about duplicate content.)
• change title tags & descriptions first because they are
valuable & clarify thinking
• start with keywords & keyword phrases you already
rank for
• make sure there is a call to action on every page
@kmullett // #SEOFW

33. SEO // internal linking; don’t click here
formulating your internal linking structure
• search engines want to know what’s on the other end
• keyword use where it is highly valuable
example: click here for our Search Engine Optimization Services.
@kmullett // #SEOFW

34. SEO // all backlinks; aren’t equal
why do we want backlinks?
• visibility / brand recognition
• traffic generation / linkbait
(to pages or our site)
• to encourage page or site indexing
• increase page rank / authority to impact SERPs
• because someone told you to get them
@kmullett // #SEOFW

35. SEO // action 7
• ask Suppliers for backlinks
• ask Customers (mutually beneficial btw)
• create new, subject matter expert, articles on
your site and tell the world
• link to the page with content, not always home
• look for places to post your site or site RSS feed
• comment on blogs, but add value/don’t spam
@kmullett // #SEOFW

36. SMO // action 8
grab your brand
• mass id check with namechk.com
@kmullett // #SEOFW

37. SEO // online reputation management
own your brand
• clog the SERPs
• push competition off
• proactive not reactive
• sentiment aware
• alerts/lists are crucial
@kmullett // #SEOFW

38. SEO // action 9
article awareness, distributing RSS
• social visibility
tell potential visitors
and the search
engines you have
new content
@kmullett // #SEOFW

39. SEO // action 10
network your brand
• join some groups on ning.com & linkedin.com
@kmullett // #SEOFW

40. SEO // did it work? do it again
• check google analytics or server logs for:
bounce rates, time on site, pages visited, conversion pages,
confirmation pages (setup advanced filters & funnels)
• monitor contacts, calls, lead sources
• google a/b testing
@kmullett // #SEOFW

41. SEO // action 11
get: Rank Checker
a Firefox browser add-on
• measure baseline
• measure changes
• measure competition
• check in private browsing
@kmullett // #SEOFW

42. SEO // bonus action
video!
• differentiate from your competition
• easy and inexpensive
• increased visibility
@kmullett // #SEOFW

43. We'll Help You Master Internet Marketing
These days it’s more important than ever for you to reach new prospects,
satisfy customers, find new efficiencies, and grow your business. The Web's
the way to do it. We can help. Call 1.877.817.4442
@kmullett // #SEOFW

44. 1.877.817.4442