As shared at WordCamp Atlanta 2017, discussing ongoing best practices and new trends for SEO in 2017.

1. SEO IN 2017

2. MICKEY MELLEN
@mickmel
greenmellenmedia.com
JENNY MUNN
@jennymunn
jennymunn.com

3. AGENDA
The top 10 mistakes we see in SEO
The future of SEO
Time for Q & A at the end
#WCATLSEO in 2017

4. The Spectrum of SEO Sophistication
#WCATLSEO in 2017

5. SEO is a Journey
#WCATLSEO in 2017
● small changes add
up over time
● you don’t have to
know it all at one
time (don’t get
overwhelmed)
Search engine optimization is
often about making small
modifications to parts of your
website. When viewed
individually, these changes
might seem like incremental
improvements, but when
combined with other
optimizations, they could have a
noticeable impact on your site's
UX and performance in organic
search results.

6. MISTAKE 1
Living in the past

7. LIVING IN THE PAST
2010 SEO Mindset 2017 Mindset
Spamming worked Panda what? Penguin who?
Any website can get ranked SEO is an amplifier
Traffic converted quickly 96% of organic traffic doesn’t convert
the first visit
Literal keyword usage Semantics and Intent
Following a formula Follow best practices, and have a
long-term game plan
Leads and sales YESTERDAY We want quality traffic

8. MISTAKE 2
Not covering
the basics

9. NOT COVERING THE BASICS
● You Can’t Rank In a Sea of
Sameness
● Foundational SEO --> Ongoing SEO
--> Competitive SEO
● What Hasn't Changed: Quality
Signals, Content, Backlinks,
Analytics/Data, Engagement,
Off-Page
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Optimized Titles and
Descriptions
Strategic Keyword Usage
Meaty content
Internal links
Fast
Mobile Responsive
Ongoing Content
Social Signals
Content Strategy

10. The “Perfectly Optimized” Page
#WCATLSEO in 2017

11. IMAGES
#WCATLSEO in 2017

12. MISTAKE 3
Lacking an updated
keyword strategy

13. LACKING AN UPDATED KEYWORD STRATEGY
● Keywords are not dead
● Competition is tougher: go longtail
● Mistake: pursuing keywords that
don’t have proven search count
behind them
● Keep your pages tightly focused
● SEO informs your marketing
strategy -> TOFU
“Less than 15% of the ranking equation is wrapped up in keyword targeting.”
- Rand Fishkin
modular manufactured
homes
independent schools
horsinality
love coach

14. Becoming a Topical Expert: Tim Horton’s Analogy
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Inbound Marketing Software Company:
•marketing automation tools
•how to use marketing automation
software
•what is marketing automation?
•how to tell if I need marketing automation
software
•lead nurturing best practices
•email marketing automation

15. Voice Search
● Long-tail is a given
● Important for local:
○ in your car, on the go
● “Moments”:
○ I want to go
○ I want to do
○ I want to know
○ I want to buy
● Think how people speak
● Test it - voice search your keywords
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Google predicts more
than half of queries will
be voice by 2020
Google says 20% of
mobile queries are voice
searches

16. MISTAKE 4
Only focusing on-page

17. ONLY FOCUSING ON-PAGE
#WCATLSEO in 2017
searchengineland.com/seotable

18. RankBrain
● RankBrain: Google’s machine learning, AI system that is now baked into its
algorithm (sorts and ranks)
● Top 3 Ranking Factors: Content, Links, RankBrain
#WCATLSEO in 2017

19. Off-Page
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Credit: neilpatel.com
● 51 Speakers at WC
● How many had
backlinks?

20. MISTAKE 5
Not focused enough
on speed

21. PAGE SPEED MATTERS
#WCATLSEO in 2017

22. NOT FOCUSED ENOUGH ON SPEED
● 73% of mobile internet users say that they’ve encountered a website that was
too slow to load.
● 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
● 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
● A 1 second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in
conversions.
● If an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay
could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year.
#WCATLSEO in 2017

23. USE LEAN THEMES
#WCATLSEO in 2017

24. OPTIMIZE IMAGES THE RIGHT WAY
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/dpiexample

25. USE A CACHING PLUGIN
#WCATLSEO in 2017

26. MISTAKE 6
Not data-focused
enough

27. NOT DATA-FOCUSED ENOUGH
#WCATLSEO in 2017

28. GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE
#WCATLSEO in 2017

29. SEARCH ANALYTICS
#WCATLSEO in 2017

30. MISTAKE 7
Not focusing on
mobile first

31. AMP: ACCELERATED MOBILE PAGES
#WCATLSEO in 2017

32. AMP: PLUGIN
#WCATLSEO in 2017

33. AMP EXAMPLES
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/ampsetup

34. Interstitials on Mobile
#WCATLSEO in 2017

35. MISTAKE 8
Not being secure

36. NOT BEING SECURE
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/sslmeetup

37. NOT BEING SECURE
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/sslmeetup

38. NOT BEING SECURE
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/sslmeetup

39. NOT BEING SECURE
#WCATLSEO in 2017 gmm.to/sslmeetup

40. MISTAKE 9
Not understanding how
Google is presenting information

41. NOT UNDERSTANDING HOW GOOGLE IS
PRESENTING INFORMATION
Rich Answers: Quick Answer Box and
People Also Ask
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Google’s Carousel Expanding -
"Best…”

42. MOZ “OPPORTUNITY” SCORE
#WCATLSEO in 2017

43. MISTAKE 10
Not understanding the
nuances in your industry

44. NOT UNDERSTANDING THE NUANCES IN YOUR
INDUSTRY
Standard SEO Best Practices + ________ (example, eCommerce,
local, Schema, other search engines)
○ Ecommerce SEO -> product, category, tag pages + schema (star
ratings, prices)
○ Local SEO -> local business schema, Google My Business,
Citations, etc.
○ Alternative Search Engines - YouTube, Quora, Pinterest, Amazon
#WCATLSEO in 2017

45. Structured Markup
Schema markup is used to tag entities in your pages' content: Organization
(logo), Sitelinks, Breadcrumbs, Articles, Local Businesses, Recipes, Events,
Software Applications, Products, Reviews, etc.
#WCATLSEO in 2017

46. LOCAL SEO
#WCATLSEO in 2017

47. LOCAL SEO: Name, Address, Phone
#WCATLSEO in 2017

48. LOCAL SEO: Reviews
#WCATLSEO in 2017
9 other reviews that are not currently recommended

49. MOZ LOCAL
#WCATLSEO in 2017

50. RECAP

51. RECAP
● Living in the Past
● Not covering the basics
● Lacking an updated
keyword strategy
● Only focusing on-page
● Not focused enough on
speed
#WCATLSEO in 2017
● Not data-focused enough
● Not focusing on mobile first
● Not being secure
● Not understanding how Google is
presenting information
● Not understanding the SEO
nuances in your industry

52. THE FUTURE

53. THE FUTURE
● Smart Home
Technology
● Wearables
● VR
#WCATLSEO in 2017
Credit: SEL

54. MORE SEO GOODNESS
→ munngroupconsulting.com/wc
#WCATLSEO in 2017
allthingswordpress.com
mickmel.com
greenmellen.com/blog

55. Q & A
Questions about what we just
covered, or other problems?

56. MICKEY MELLEN
@mickmel
greenmellenmedia.com
JENNY MUNN
@jennymunn
munngroupconsulting.com/wc