This document provides guidance on crafting search engine optimized content. It discusses targeting specific search engine result pages like direct answer boxes. It recommends determining relevant keywords and structures. The document outlines best practices for on-page optimization elements like titles, headings, metadata, links, images and videos. It stresses the importance of providing sufficient relevant content and avoiding tricks. The document also discusses content marketing concepts like identifying goals, selecting topics, and measuring results. It explains how SEO and social media influence each other to help content be found online.

1. SEO
C R A F T I N G
R A N K A B L E
C O N T E N T
BY C A R O LY N S H E L BY

2. “WHO AM I?”
Carolyn Shelby - Presenter
Director, SEO at tronc, Inc.
I am a search engine
optimization professional and
webmaster with 22+ years of
experience building and
ranking websites.
 Technical SEO
 Organic SEO
 Forensic Audits
 Holistic Optimization
 Rebuilding websites
 Speaking & Training

4. WHAT MAKES
THE ENGINES
PURRRRRRRR
Content/websites that are
the most relevant to the
user query.
What is “relevant”?
The content on the pages
Performance of the site
(Does it work? Is it fast? )
Authority/popularity of the
site
Good user experience

5. WHAT THE
ENGINES
DO NOT WANT
Above all, the
engines do not want
sites that use
“tactics” and tricks to
snake their way to
the top of the SERPs.
If you have to resort
to trickery, you’re
probably lacking
substance or utility.

6. KNOW YOUR SERP TARGET
•Multiple types of Search Results
•Not all search results show for all queries
•Not all indices are right for your message
•Keep the query in mind when crafting your
message

7. • Use SEO tools to determine which keyword phrase you want to target
(either based on search volume or value to your business in terms of
conversions)
• Determine how you want to compete (Direct Answer box? Top result?
Video result? Image result?)
• Plan strategy accordingly…

8. This is a direct answer box… in mobile,
this is really the *only* result people will look
at.

10. H O W TO B E T H E
D I R E C T A N S W E R
Title/headline closely
matches the query. (Clearly
indicates it will answer the
question!)
Question is repeated in the
content.
Answer to the query is in
the first 20-25 words.
If your image is not easy
for Google to grab, they
might use someone else’s
image!

11. WRITING
OPTIMIZED
CONTENT
C O M M U N I C AT I N G R E L E VA N C Y ( W I T H O U T
B E I N G T E C H N I C A L )

12. COMMUNICATING RELEVANCY
• Write for the robots as well as the people
• You are unlikely to rank for words that are not on the page
• Structure the message (in the code) so the machines can also
understand weight and relevancy
• Quantity of Copy (not too much, not too little)
• Underlying Code (HTML)**
• Provide “supporting” media (images, PDFs, video, etc.)
– This also makes your stuff more shareable!

13. WHERE CAN WE OPTIMIZE?
• In almost all forms of content, we can optimize
– Meta Data
– Content Title/Headline
– Content Quantity and Quality (Lede, Focus Keywords)
– Media (PDFs, Images, Videos)
– Links (to a lesser extent) – Less/not important to internal
search

14. ANATOMY OF A SERP LISTING
Description
Title Tag
The URL

15. <TITLE>THE TITLE TAG</TITLE>
• Every page *must* have a unique title
• Build the title around target term for that page
• This will be a 2-4 word keyword phrase
• “Green Building Home Retrofitting" or “Chicago Cubs
Rooftop Tickets”
• Note… all keywords in descending order of importance, BUT
they still read nicely.
• Keep it short, attractive and enticing.

16. <TITLE>IF TITLE = HEADLINE</TITLE>
• Every page still *must* have a unique title tag
• The title usually matches the headline (H1), so
• Write Good Headlines (see H1 guidance)
• Keep it short, attractive and enticing.
• Front Load the Keywords (when possible)
• Be Concise, But Unambiguous.

17. So… this is good for print….
University Settles Dispute with City
Better for online
Purdue Settles Dispute with West Lafayette
Most Clear, No Ambiguity
Purdue Univ Settles Excise Enforcement Dispute with
Govt

18. THE META DESCRIPTION
• Every page of the site must have a unique meta
description
• Include details that are not presented in the <title>
• Use proper English. It shouldn’t read like a bunch of
keywords randomly slung together.
• Accurately represent the content of the page.
• If a press release, assume lede will be used for this
purpose. Write lede accordingly.

19. META KEYWORDS
• The Search Engines don’t really bother with this tag much.
– Some internal search engines DO read meta keywords!
• If you DO have this field and use it, make sure it is
– filled in correctly (keywords are for the specific content on that specific page, not
general for the website)
– the fields are formatted correctly (keyword,keyword,keyword)
• If it’s not right, just get rid of it or skip it. Better not there than
wrong.

20. ON-PAGE: CONTENT TITLE/HEADLINE
• This is (and should be) the <h1> on the page (in
the code)
–In most blogs, the “title” on the page is the <h1> and is
also used to create the meta title.
• There should be only one <h1> per page
–How can you have more than one MOST important
thing on the page? Wouldn’t that be confusing?
• MAKE SURE the <h1> contains your target keywords.
Pithy and/or clever w/o keywords will not help your cause.

21. TIPS FOR GREAT TITLES/HEADLINES
• Limit use of filler/helper words – Write Tight!
• Don’t bury the lede – Important things are always
first
• Remember there is NO surrounding context,
so don’t leave anything to the imagination.

22. CONTENT IS
EXAMINED IN A
VACUUM
We MUST provide
context to ensure
that the search
engines know
EXACTLY what
we’re writing
about.

23. HEADLINES/TITLES
The President will be visiting us next week!
President to visit next week
Acme Corp welcomes President Johnson June 2nd
President Johnson to visit Acme Corp June 2nd

24. HEADLINES/TITLES
Trump to visit Saudis on first overseas trip
Trump declines to wear hijab
Acme Corp welcomes Obama June 2nd
Oprah to visit Acme Corp June 2nd

25. HEADLINES/TITLES
Trump to visit Saudis on first overseas trip
Trump declines to wear hijab
Acme Corp welcomes Obama June 2nd
Oprah to visit Acme Corp June 2nd
*President* Obama is
assumed
No need to clarify. There is only one Oprah!

26. CONTENT QUANTITY AND QUALITY
• Have sufficient copy to help the engines understand the context
and relevancy of the content.
• BARE Minimum 300-500 words
• Make sure you use the words you’re trying to rank for
• Actually say the name of your product
• Don’t rely on images to communicate branding
or anything else
• DO NOT link gratuitously or excessively.

27. REAL QUICK: GOOD VS BAD OUTLINKS
• Ask yourself these questions…
–Why are you including this link?
–Does the link expand or enhance the
reader’s understanding of the
topic/words linked?
–How many other links do you have on
this page that go to the same
destination page?

28. Story
About
Siamese
Cats
Cats
Kittens
Caring for
your new
kitten
Feline
Siamese
Cats
Meezers
History of
the Breed
CHOOSE DESCRIPTIVE ANCHOR TEXT
FOR LINKS

29. Story
About
Caring for
Kittens
Cats
Kittens
Caring for
your new
kitten
Felines
Siamese
Cats
Meezers
History of
the Breed
CHOOSE DESCRIPTIVE ANCHOR TEXT
FOR LINKS

30. WRITING THE COPY
VITAL INFO
Important
Extra

31. IMAGES
• Always define the “alt=“ attribute for images.
• This is a valuable opportunity to add some clarity (and more
keywords) to your content.
• It’s an ADA and Section 508 compliance requirement.
• Use CSS to display images when possible. It keeps your load
times low.
• Remember, images are pretty, but they’re only useful
for communicating information to sighted humans.
TELL THE ENGINES WHAT IS IN THE IMAGE.

32. THE BOTS DO NOT “SEE”
KITTEN KITTEN

33. THE BOTS DO NOT “SEE”
KITTEN KITTEN

34. PDFS
• In the PDF creation process (using Acrobat, not Reader) make
sure you fill in all of the “optional” author and meta data. The
engines can see that stuff.
• Make sure you’re creating the text portions AS TEXT, not as a
giant image.
• You may want to provide any supporting media in separate
(larger) files, as supplements.
– Especially if supporting media is an infographic or photos that
might need to be sized for print.

35. VIDEO
• There are an increasing number of ways video can be optimized
for search.
• Add transcripts
• Add tags
• Add descriptions.
• ALWAYS add content AROUND the
video ON the page itself.
• Videos add an extra opportunity for appearing in the SERPs
thanks to the new universal results.

36. FINAL NOTE ON CREATING CONTENT
• Make them easy on the eye.
– Use subheaders/section titles.
– Break things into digestible chunks.
– Use images that are relevant (and not stock)
• “Front load” important things (esp. keywords)
• Use the words for which you want to be found

38. PROTIP:
IF YOU’RE USING
WORDPRESS…
Self-Host.
Use Yoast’s “WordPress
SEO” plugin.
(Get the “Local” add-on if
you have physical locations)
Turn comments off.
Go Secure (Https)
Lockdown Everything
(Wordfence)
Use the AMP plugin

39. LET’S TALK
CONTENT
MARKETING
CONCEPTS
P R O C E S S , B E N C H M A R K I N G , A N D
R E P O R T I N G

40. THE CONTENT MARKETING CYCLE
Identify Goals
and Benchmark
Select Topics
and Targets
Write Amazing
Content
Distribute and
Promote
Run Reports to
Show ROI

41. IDENTIFY GOALS AND BENCHMARK
• What are we trying to accomplish?
• Who are we trying to reach?
• What do we want to happen?

42. IDENTIFY GOALS AND BENCHMARK
• Pull current rankings (with KWPs)
• Check the number of pages indexed.
• Get access to GA, make sure you can see YoY data.

43. CHECK
CURRENT
RANKINGS
Lots of tools available.
Can’t do this in Google
Analytics.
Google Search Console
info is sometimes off.
This isn’t 100% accurate
either, so use it for
directional guidance, not
as #truefacts

44. SELECT TOPICS AND TARGETS
• Identify likely or desired consumer types
(personas)
• Determine topics based on personas.
• Determine best keywords based on
KW research + persona preferences.
• Select/time topics based on the above.

46. DISTRIBUTE AND PROMOTE
• Determine the best places and times to place and
promote that content.
• Answer questions like:
–What publications have users that match your
target demographic and when would they most
likely be interested in your content?

47. DUPLICATE
CONTENT WARNING
It isn’t really a “penalty”
Streamlining the index keeps
processes fast, and Google <3’s
speed.
DO NOT USE THE SAME PIECE
EVERYWHERE.
Obviously, if the same article gets
picked up by 100 outlets, you
can’t help that…
Try to tailor your message (at
least 25-30%) to each specific
audience.

48. RUN REPORTS AND SHOW ROI
• YOY metrics (or campaign duration over previous time period)
– Traffic overall (referrers, social, etc)
– Traffic to specific content pages
• Increases in total number of pages ranked
• Increases in total number of pages indexed
• Improvements in existing rankings (if applicable)

49. SEO AND
SOCIAL MEDIAH O W O N E I N F L U E N C E S T H E O T H E R A N D
W H Y T H E Y N E E D E A C H O T H E R

50. PROMOTING CONTENT
DO NOT originate
content outside of
your own website (or
client’s site).
Always drive
the traffic TO
the site.

51. CONSIDER THIS
• Search is a part of all social media platforms.
–Name one that does not have the ability to search through it
for something…
• Social platforms send signals to the search engines that
are used to help rank content in “regular search”
• The goal of any online campaign is to be “seen”, and the
first step toward being “seen” is being “found”

52. AND THEN THERE’S…
• Ultimately, you don’t own the real estate you’re
developing on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
• If it isn’t YOUR domain… it’s not your property.
• Would you spend $20k to renovate the kitchen in a rental?
• Don’t invest money in things you don’t *own*
–If anything happens, you can’t reclaim that lost
search authority.

53. SO WHY WORRY ABOUT SEARCH?
• If your goal is to just “be friends” with the people who
already know about your business and are already
customers, then don’t worry about it.
• If you want to expand your user base/clientele and
get in front of people who are not already aware of
your brand, then you need to think about search.

54. FACEBOOK
• Not only is Facebook a valuable source for search
ranking signals (shares, likes), but it also has it’s own
internal search (OpenGraph).
• Make sure the words you use in your FB interactions
HAVE YOUR KEYWORDS in them. Somewhere.

56. MULTICHANNEL OPTIMIZATION
59
SEO
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Offline
Email
Use SEO to optimize your
message and copy, and then
make sure you use CONSISTENT
messaging throughout all of the
channels in your campaigns.
Train the public to think of you
(and therefore search for you)
with the words YOU control.
Don’t leave anything to chance.

57. THE 5 MUSTS
1.Thou shalt provide value.
2.Thou shalt provide context.
Do not assume the reader already knows what you sell/do.
3.Thou shalt USE the words for which you would like to rank.
4.Thou shalt direct traffic TO thine own website.
5.Thou shalt be diligent and consistent.

58. PRESS RELEASES,
CONTENT
MARKETING
N E W R U L E S TO B E A W A R E O F…

59. • Write something newsworthy
AND unique.
• Contact the appropriate news
desk at newspapers you’d
like coverage in to find out
how they prefer to receive
press releases.
• Send press release
(fax/mail/in person)
PRESS RELEASES: SUPER OLD SCHOOL

60. THE OLD ONLINE WAY
–Write anything. Literally anything.
–Use a LOT of keywords. All over.
–Insert lots of links back to
client’s website with a variety of
keywords for the anchor text.
–Distribute EVERYWHERE.

61. PRESS RELEASES: THE NEW NORM
• Write something newsworthy and unique.
• Include keywords that are relevant to the story
and your client, but don’t stretch or stuff.
(The best keywords occur naturally)
• Include one URL reference (and also spell it out)
• Include supporting media (graphs, original
photos, charts, video)
• Contact the appropriate news desk/writer/editor at
the news outlets you’d like to cover your story and
ask them how they prefer to receive news
ideas/press releases.

62. IS IT “REAL” OR IS IT MEMOREX?
• Determine the value of your story (is it likely to get
“real” coverage in a “real” news outlet, or is it going to
be filler content?)
– If “real” coverage is likely, offer an exclusive, and DO NOT
release to anyone else until it has run there first. (Including
your own site)
– If probably filler content, publish on YOUR website first.
Make sure it’s indexed. THEN release. But NEVER to free
distribution services.

63. WHY THE CHANGES?
• Spammy/spamming press release distribution services
ruined press releases for everyone.
• Using newswires as backlink builders contributed to
the devaluation of keyword anchor text.
• The new unnatural link profile penalties can EASILY be
triggered by a widely distributed press release with
optimized/keyword anchor text.

64. THANK THESE GUYS
Penguin:
Targets
spammy/
unnatural
links
Panda: Targets
low quality
content
sites/content
farms

65. A “GOOD” UPDATE: PIGEON
• Modified the ranking algorithm for local listings to
more closely resemble the traditional organic rankings.
• Appearance of the local pack has dropped 68%
• Google+ Business Page no longer the only focus for local. We’re
back to about 2 years ago.
• What does this mean? Strong content pieces that cite a
business will help that business perform better in local
search.
5/23/2017

66. THE MORAL OF THE STORY
• Do not write crappy content and expect it to help anything.
It won’t – and now it could hurt you.
• Do not pepper your press releases with links like a dirty
spammer. Link when beneficial and useful to the reader.
Backlinks can be DANGEROUS now. Know what you’re doing,
or just avoid the issue. If you screw up, you could damage/ruin
your website.
• Be judicious about your methods of distribution.
If you have a quality/compelling story, treat it like it has value and
don’t just give it away to low value scrapers.

67. Carolyn Shelby
Director, SEO
Tronc, Inc
Twitter: @cshel
Email: cshelby@tronc.com
THANK YOU!