Originally presented at DMA Melbourne 2023 before an audience of 300 fellow digital marketing enthusiasts, this session, "SEO Levers: Small Adjustments, Big Wins in Ranking Across Industries," delves into the art and science of Search Engine Optimisation. As the SEO Lead at Easygo Gaming, I've been fully immersed in the world of digital marketing since 2015, with a journey in SEO that began back in 2011. My experiences span across significant website migrations and organising the SEO Melbourne Meetup, where I've shared and expanded my knowledge alongside peers. This presentation covers the essential levers of SEO, offering insights into the techniques and processes that can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Key areas include: - Robot Optimisation, which enhances how search engines crawl websites; - Search Engine Discovery, focusing on strategies for effective indexation; - Content & Credibility and their crucial roles of establishing online authority. Highlighting the undeniable importance of SEO, I shared compelling data to showcase its impact on online visibility and success. For instance, the remarkable growth in non-brand clicks and impressions experienced by companies like Stake.com illustrates the transformative power of SEO in digital marketing strategies. A deep dive into the S.T.A.R method (Streamline content, Tell your story, Avoid low-value content, Raise credibility) provided actionable advice for improving technical SEO and content clarity. I discussed how search engines interpret websites and outlined common pitfalls to avoid, ensuring efficient crawling and indexing. Technical SEO was a significant focus, with examples demonstrating how strategic adjustments can enhance both user experience and search engine efficiency. From reducing wasted crawls to eliminating unnecessary URLs, these strategies underscore the value of technical SEO in a comprehensive digital marketing plan. The session also explored effective indexation techniques through case studies like the optimisation efforts for JH Hi-Fi with iPhones and T2 Tea with 'teawares', showing the effectiveness of well-structured navigation and internal linking. The presentation underscored the importance of entity clustering and topical authority in content strategy, detailing the process for creating optimised content that resonates with both users and search engines. Concluding with insights on building credibility through strategic link-building, I highlighted the factors that contribute to a website's reputation and search performance. The discussion on what makes a good link offered practical tips for enhancing SEO through coherent strategies that align with user experience and internal linking goals. I encourage everyone interested in diving deeper into SEO or looking to connect on professional platforms to find me on LinkedIn or Twitter (@inkovic). Additionally, the SEO Melbourne Meetup, which I help organise!

1. SEO Levers
The Small Tweaks That Lead To
Big Ranking Wins Across Any Industry

2. Hi, I’m Peter
● SEO Lead at Easygo Gaming
● First exposed to SEO in 2011
● Full time digital marketing since 2015
● Worked on some of Australia’s
largest website migrations
● One of the organisers of the
SEO Melbourne Meetup
I have worked on

3. What we will talking about
today
SEO Levers
Techniques and
Process that move
the needle in search
Robots Optimisation
Helping robots crawl
websites to improve
technical SEO
Search Engine Discovery
Indexation Strategies &
Techniques to make the
most of internal linking
Content & Credibility
Clustering Entities,
optimise content and
being trustworthy

4. Importance of SEO
Importance of SEO
● Ever since hiring their first SEO team
member, Stake.com has 100x non-brand
clicks and 12x non-brand Impressions
Year on Year
● 68% of online experiences begin with a
search engine.
● Top three Google search results get 54.4%
of all clicks in search
● In retail, many clients relied on search for
45-55% of revenue, and one case 70-80%
of revenue came from Organic Search.

5. Robot Optimisation
Technical SEO for crawl happy robots

6. S.T.A.R Method
Levers that move results
S
Streamline content by clarifying topics
Make it clear to users and search engines which pages
are about what topics. Clear, concise website with
keywords to help users quickly find the page they need.
T
Tell your story and emphasise importance
Use your website's content to tell your brand's story and
highlight why your products or services are important.
A
Avoid low-value content to increase quality
Eliminate or de-emphasise content that doesn't add
value to the user experience or has low SEO value.
R
Raise credibility to improve authority
Boost your website's credibility by including elements like
an about page, testimonials, and a physical address.

7. SEO Levers
How Robots See Your Website
� The web crawler finds pages and
reads the contents
� Two types of crawls: Discovery &
Refresh.
� Patterns in how pages cluster and
relate helps robots understand.
� Avoid: infinite loops, broken pages
& rabbit holes
Technical SEO

8. SEO Levers
Explanation of
technical SEO
● A technically sound website is the
best user experience
● Technical fixes can fix thousands
of pages and make robots crawl
more effectively
● Remove unwanted URLs to be
crawled
● Redirect broken pages to new
ones
● Prevent confusion or ambiguation
Tools of the trade
Technical SEO

9. Technical SEO in Action
Removing 100,000 URLs from Google’s Index
Temporary URLs have a very short life span
Technical SEO

10. Technical SEO in Action
Removing 90% of wasted crawls in Shopify
This common issue in Shopify is fixed in one line of code
Technical SEO
3,600 URLs 382 URLs
There were 35 variations of the same page!

11. Search Engine Discovery
Effective Indexation Strategies & Techniques

12. SEO Levers
Methods of Search Engine Discovery
Primary Navigation
Search Engine Discovery
Sitewide Footer
Sitemap
Hierarchy
Related Content
Contextual Links

13. Indexation Techniques in Action: iPhones
● Eliminated duplicate pages competing
for the same terms
● Added consistent URLs in primary nav
● Added Parent/Child and Sibling links
● Optimised Content with contextual
internal linking
● Improved product clustering on PDPs
● Added world-class CollectionPage
Schema for product lists
May 2020 Present Day

14. Indexation Techniques in Action: T2 Tea
Hero Section Hierarchy Related Content
T2 Tea’s landing pages for Tea & Teawares proves you can rank with good indexation & UX alone

15. Entity Clustering & Topical
Authority for Content

16. SEO Levers
Identifying Key Topics & Keyword Clusters
Keyword Research Competitor Benchmarking Content Creation

17. Content Structure
What Makes Good SEO Content?
● Aim: 600-1500 words.
● Include one main heading (H1)
● Use 2-6 subheadings (H2)
● Simple structure would be 2-3 paragraphs
paired with heading to discuss a
topic/cluster.
● Internal linking in context - link once to a
relevant page, the first natural time it
appears.
● Use bullet points when relevant, talking
about listed items etc.

18. Effective Topical Authority & Entity Clustering in Action
Table Tennis Betting
Leagues/Tournaments Betting Options Betting Strategy

19. Credibility & Authority

20. SEO Levers
How Reputation is Calculated in the eyes of Search
Trust Links Brand Search

21. SEO Levers
Building Credibility in Action
What Makes A Good Link?
● Article and Link are natural looking
● On a Legitimate Publisher website
● Safe anchor text used in a sensible
context
● Generates traffic on its own
● Topic is interesting, timely &
newsworthy

22. Conclusion
S.T.A.R
Streamline clarity
Tell your story
Avoid low value
Raise Credibility
Robots Optimisation
Make robots crawl
websites easier and
fixes fundamental
issues at once
Search Engine Discovery
Combine UX Design with
Internal Linking goals to
build scalable SEO
growth systems
Content & Credibility
Cover topics in clusters,
Relate to other pages
and improve reputation
with quality links

23. Q&A
Peter Macinkovic
SEO Lead at Easygo Gaming
● To connect on LinkedIn or Twitter,
search for @inkovic
● Feel free to come to the
SEO Melbourne Meetup!
First Tuesday every month,
Google SEO Collective for more info
I have worked on