A Guide to. Search Engine Optimisation. Created by

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1 A Guide to Search Engine Optimisation Created by

2 introduction This guide is designed to assist you with search engine optimization (SEO for short). Search engines are the websites people to go to when they need to find something on the Internet. The most popular Australian search engines are: Google AU (google.com.au) Bing (bing.com.au or ninemsn.com.au) Yahoo!7 (au.yahoo.com) Since Google has 87% of the market share, it will be our main focus. When people type the name of your business (or the name of a key product or service that you offer) into the Google search box, you want your website to be listed in the results. This won t happen unless you make your website search engine optimized. Keywords are Key Search engines focus on what are called keywords. Keywords are the common search phrases that people type into the search engines. A keyword can be single word or a group of words. Search engines like Google have robots that travel the web and make a note of the text on each website. This is called indexing. When someone types in golf shoes Google searches its index. The websites at the top of the search results are those Google has determined have the strongest association with the keyword golf shoes and therefore would give you the best chance of finding what you were looking for. Some factors that Google takes into account when ranking sites in the search results include: Keyword repetition (how often a keyword is found on a page) Keyword placement (whether the keyword is found in certain key parts of the page like the title, headings and underlined links) Website domain trust/authority (this is dependent on the domain s age and the number and quality of other domains that link to it) Link Popularity (how many websites link to a specific page and what the anchor text of those links is) In this workbook, we re going to focus on the first two factors.

3 introduction The Google Top 10 For most business owners, the main goal of their SEO efforts is to get on the first page (top 10 results) of Google. While this should be the goal, it is completely subjective. The relative difficulty of getting on the first page of Google is directly related to competition for a particular keyword. It is relatively easy to rank in the top 10 for a keyword that has no competition. For instance, if you were the only company in the world to make and sell Super widget XYZ then you would probably rank first when someone typed in the phrase super widget xyz. Since no other companies are trying to sell it, there would be no competing websites. However, if you have a business service or product that is offered by a lot of other businesses, then things can be drastically different. Let s say you re in the business of painting houses and your business name is Joe the Painter. A quick search on Google shows over 52 million results for painter. To rank on page 1 for the keyword painter is not a realistic goal for most small businesses. However, that doesn t mean you can t rank number one for a subset of that keyword, such as painter Perth. The second Perth is added to the search query, the results have narrowed down to 722,000 a much more reasonable amount of competition. So establishing the right keywords, will play a large part in your website s success. How much does being on Google or the other search engines cost? Nothing. To be listed in the organic search results is completely free. There are paid ads at the top and on the right-hand side of the page, but getting listed on the main part of the page is free. You simply submit your website address to Google and after a short period of time it will start showing up in the search results. On-Page SEO This guide will mainly deal with what is called on-page SEO. The phrase on page refers to changes you can make to the pages of your website to make it more search engine friendly, such as optimizing your keywords. There are other SEO efforts, called off-page SEO, that mainly involve getting your website mentioned on other websites. This is called link building and increases your website s authority. It also includes participation in search-engine friendly directories, like Google Places. We won t cover off-page SEO here, but be aware that it s another avenue you should pursue if your keyword efforts do not get you the results you are looking for.

4 introduction SEO Must Be Monitored Before we dive into the details, there is one last thing to remember: the Internet is constantly changing. You can t do your keyword research, optimize your pages for those keywords and then forget about it for 5 years. A good SEO strategy involves ongoing research (to keep up with new trends in consumer search terms) and ongoing measurement of your current search terms effectiveness. You will probably need to tweak your keywords every 6 months or so to determine the ones that get you the best results. If you don t, you ll soon find your competitors ranking ahead of you. As we explained in the Introduction, keywords are how people find you in the search engines. And search engines are the main way that your website will generate paying customers for your business. Remember, search engines are essentially free advertising. If you select your keywords and add them to your website in the correct way, it can generate a constant stream of customers to your site at no cost! So it makes sense to take the time to do your keyword research right. Consider it your single best marketing investment. You probably have an idea of the keywords your website should include, but research is required to verify that those keywords are the best ones for your particular business. We re going to use the Perth-based business Joe the Painter to illustrate the keyword research process. This business s main focus is the exterior painting of residential homes.

5 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH Step 1: Brainstorm The first step is to sit down, preferably with some other members of your company, and make a list of words and phrases people might type into the search engines in order to find your products or services. This list should be most important phrases that define your company as a whole, with your core products, services or brands -- the kinds of things you would mention in a company brochure. Your lists should include the following: business type (painting) core product brands (if you specialize in a particular brand) core product categories (house paint) core service categories (house painting, house painter) Brainstorming tips: a) Remember to think like a customer. You want to come up with phrases that the average person would type in the search box when looking for a business like yours. b) Don t worry about capitalization or plural/singular or different endings on a word. For instance painter will also return paint, painting, painters, etc. c) Stick to 2-word phrases for the most part single keywords are usually too general and 3-word phrases are usually too specific. d) For our Joe the Painter example, here is what we came up with: house painter residential painter painting contractor painting services interior painting exterior painting Once you ve got your base keywords selected, then you want to add any geographic qualifiers to your list. In this case, we want to add the city of Perth to our list. You may have to add even more, if you want to reach multiple major cities or whole states or territories. For instance we could add WA or Western Australia as well. Remember, this should be based on what you feel your target customer will be typing into Google. So take your core words and add your city to the end of the phrase. In our example, we added: painter perth painting perth painter wa painting wa

6 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH Step 2: Google Keyword Tool The Google Keyword Tool is the best free tool available for keyword research. We cover using this tool step-by-step below. Most professional SEO experts use a paid service called WordTracker.com for keyword research, but for most small businesses, the Google Keyword Tool should be adequate. 1) Go to and sign up for a free AdWords account, if you don t already have one. If you already have an existing Google account (for Gmail or Analytics, etc.) you can add AdWords to your existing account. (Be sure to keep personal and business Google accounts separate.) You do not want to create any ads at this time, but this will give you fullest access to the keyword research tools you will need. 2) Sign into your Google Adwords account and go to Reporting and Tools > Keyword Tools (

7 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH 3. Adjust Location and Search Numbers: Click on Advanced Options and select the country where you are most interested in reaching customers (if it isn t selected already). Then go down to Filter keywords and type 25 in the box next to Local Monthly Searches >=. This will hide searches with less than 25 results. Then click on Advanced Options again to close the dialogue box. 4. Type in Keywords: a. Type your list of top keyword phrases into the box, one on each line. b. Click the Search button. c. After the results appear, go to the left-hand side and under Match Types. Uncheck the box next to Broad and check Phrase instead.

8 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH 5. Show More Results: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on drop-down menu next to Show Rows and change it to 100. Note that it will tell you your total number of results here. 6. If you have more than 500 results, you should narrow your search. One way to do this is to exclude words that don t apply to your business. To do this, type words into the Exclude Terms box on the left-hand side. For instance, with Joe the Painter, there were a lot of keywords that had to do with car painting, so we excluded the word car. If you still have too many, then split your research into groups. For instance, if you sold both golf balls and golf shoes, you could do one search with keywords related to balls and a separate search for keywords related to shoes.

9 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH 7. Understand the Results: The keywords results will be shown with the following information: a. Competition This column shows you how much competition there is among advertisers to advertise on Google for these keywords. The more green color shown in the bar, the more competitive it is. b. Global Monthly Searches The 12-month average number of people in the whole world that have searched for that keyword. c. Local Monthly Searches - The 12-month average number of people in your selected country that have searched for that keyword. Note that this is countrywide, so it is not truly local. d. Clicking on any of the column headings will sort the data by that heading. 8. Save the entire list: On the left, above the keyword list, click on Download > All. Select the file format you want (CSV for Excel is usually best) and click Download. This will download the file to your usual download location on your computer. The file name usually starts with keyword_ideas. This list is your Master List, and it will be a great source of ideas for topics and categories that your website should include.

10 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH 9. Refine the List: a. Starting at the top, go through the list and click the checkbox next to each keyword phrase meets all of the following criteria: Extremely relevant to your business (describing your key product or service categories) At least 2 words in length (avoid 1-word keywords) Likely to be a query for your type of business. For example, Joe the Painter is not interested in search queries where people are trying to learn how to paint their own homes or who want to buy paint. Try to guess what the people typing each phrase into Google were trying to achieve. If it wasn t to find a business like yours, skip it. Make sure you click the little arrow on the bottom-right to view additional pages of results if needed. b. If a particular phrase meets the above criteria, make sure you select all versions of that phrase, i.e. house painter, house painters, painters houses, etc. c. If you have a lot of results, you will be tempted to quit after going through the first 300 or so, or skip the ones with a small number of searches. Don t quit! The whole list is relevant. If you are a local business, some of your best keywords will be the ones with a small number of searches but mention your particular city by name. d. Click on Download > Selected (xx) and download this refined list to your computer. This list is your Target List. For Joe the Painter we ended up with a list of 65 keywords out of 378.

11 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH 10. Pick Your Top Keywords: Now it s time to review your Target List. Open the file in Microsoft Excel (if you don t have Excel, two free alternatives are OpenOffice openoffice.org or Google Docs ). Your goal here is to select the top 3-5 keywords for your home page, plus 1-4 keywords for each core service/ product page. a. Determine the Competition: The level of competition displayed by the Google keyword tool isn t accurate for this type of research. The best way to determine the true competition is to go to Google.com.au and do the following: Click on the Advanced search link to the right of the search box. Click on the Data, usage rights link at the bottom Select in the title of the page from the drop-down menu next to Where your keywords show up. Go back to the top and type your first keyword phrase in the second box, next to this exact wording or phrase. Click the Advanced Search button. This will return all the pages that have your keyword phrase in their Page Title. Write down the number of results in the Competition column of your spreadsheet. Click your browser s Back button and repeat the process with your next keyword phrase. If you see more than about 10,000 search results, cross that keyword off your list, unless it is a phrase essential to you business and there are no other similar keywords with less competition. Your best bets are those with under 1,000 results. Note: Google produces results based on your country of origin. If you are based in Australia, but you are targeting customers in a different country, this method of determining competition will not work.

12 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH b. Narrow the List: Once you have eliminated the words with too much competition, use the following criteria to make your final selection: Number of Local Searches: You want to pick terms with a higher search volume, because this increases the potential number of visitors it can send to your website. Relevance of Keyword: Relevant keywords are ones that you would naturally include a lot on your website (if SEO didn t matter). They are your best bet because you are likely to naturally have the right amount of keyword density and placement in your website content. Besides, even if you rank #1 for a non-relevant keyword, all you are likely to get is bounces (a term used for visitors who get to your page, look at it for a second, and then hit the Back button because it isn t what they were looking for). Bounces will not get you customers. Geographic Importance: If you have a local business and mainly want to attract local customers, then you will want % of your keywords to include a geographic location (like painters perth ).

13 chapter 1KEYWORD RESEARCH c. Tips for selection: If you have similar terms with similar volume, pick the one that has a lower competition. Look for keyword sweet spots that are high in search volume, but low in competition. Go to your competitors websites (ones who are ranking well in Google) and take a look at their page titles and headings - what keywords are they using? d. For Joe the Painter, we ended up with the following short list of keywords. We ll select 1-4 of these for each page of the website: house painters perth house painting perth perth painting painter perth painting perth painters perth painters wa perth painter house painting costs cheap painters 11. Repeat the keyword search process for any key products or services featured on your website that were not covered in your general list above.

14 chapter 2 ON PAGE S.E.O Step 3: Placing Your Keywords on Your Website Once you have determined the keywords you wish to focus on, your work is only half done. Your next step is to place those keywords on your website in a manner that will be most appealing to the search engines. Special parts of the HTML source code of the page are called tags. These tags are not visible to the public, but Google uses them to determine what the most important parts of your page are. In this section we will review the various parts of your website and what keywords to put where. Before you begin this step, you will need to have a list with the names of every page of your website, including individual product pages (if applicable). Please note: Keyword phrases need to be placed on your pages EXACTLY as you got them from the Google keyword tool. Do not change the plural/singular of words or insert words in the middle of a phrase. If it s painters perth do not change it to painters in perth that s a completely different keyword. It s OK to capitalize words though. 1. Page Titles Each website page has a title tag. This title appears at the top of the page s source code and the public will see the title at the very top of their browser screen, above the address bar. It is also the title that shows up when someone bookmarks your page. In addition, the page titles are what show up in the Google search results (the blue underlined part). At the moment, Google seems to consider your page title to be the most important on-page ranking factor, so take your time with these titles. Guidelines: a. Content: The title should be informative and descriptive. Incorporate 2-3 (no more!) of your keyword phrases that best describe the content of that individual page. b. Attractiveness: Since the titles show up in the Google search results, they should be readable and make sense, not just a random string of words. Divide phrases with a hyphen (-) or vertical bar ( ). Capitalize the first letter of each word it is a title after all. Think of page titles as advertisements that will encourage people to choose the link to your site over all the other search results on the page. c. Order: Word order matters. Your most important keywords should come first. This means your business name probably shouldn t come first. Use the phrases exactly as you got them from the Google Keyword Tool do not reverse them or put other words in between them, or use plural instead of singular. However, you can put words before or after them. So, for painters perth you could put Expert Painters Perth WA but not Expert Painter in Perth.

15 chapter 2 ON PAGE S.E.O d. Be Sparing: Leave out non-essential words they dilute the effectiveness of your keywords. e. Length: Titles can be as long as needed, but they normally should be about 8-12 words. Anything over about 68 characters will get cut off and not be displayed (but it still may impact SEO). f. Business Name: List your business near the end of the titles for your Home Page, About Us and Contact Us pages (but still within the first 68 characters). It s not needed on the other pages. g. Avoid Duplicates: Each page of your website must have a unique title do not duplicate them. h. Study Competitors: Go to Google.com.au and do a search for a keyword phrase you want to rank for. What title keywords are being used by your competitors in the first three spots? Include the same keywords (but do not copy the whole title you want to differentiate yourself!). i. Examples of Good Page Titles: Painters Perth WA Quick House Painting Quotes Joe the Painter Aspen Hotels - Hotel Deals in Aspen CO - Hotels.com j. Where to Find It: Here are some examples of Page Title and META description locations from one of Joe s competitors, Pete the Painter:

16 chapter 2 ON PAGE S.E.O 2. META Description Tag The META Description tag is a short description included in the source code of each website page. It is often (but not always) displayed by Google after the Page Title in the search results. It is designed to be a summary of exactly what visitors will find on that page. Most of the above guidelines for Page Titles apply to Descriptions as well: They should be attractive, readable, and unique to each page. But there are some differences: a. Length: Descriptions can be up to 175 characters (with spaces). Generally stick to one or two sentences. b. Style: Descriptions should be full sentences, not just phrases or sentence fragments. This may be a consumer s first impression of your business, so it should sound professional and trust-worthy. Make sure everything is spelled correctly! It is great if you can work in how your business provides a clear benefit or solution to your customers. c. Keywords: Reinforce the keywords used in your page title by using them again in the description, with perhaps a slight variation (using singular instead of plural spellings for instance). If you can work other keywords in without making the sentences awkward, go ahead. d. Examples of Good Meta Description Tags: Joe the Painter of Perth, WA, provides expert interior and exterior painting services. Reliable and affordable house painting throughout the Perth metro area. Find the perfect Aspen Hotel and get special discounts on hotels in the Aspen, Colorado, area at Hotels.com. Book your accommodation online in minutes! 3. Image ALT Tag The latest data indicates, somewhat surprisingly, that what you label your images or graphics on a page does matter to search engines. For this reason, it is recommended to have at least one image on every page. Whenever you (or your webmaster) uploads an image to a page on your website, they should be sure to include what s called an ALT tag. This is a tag that contains text that is usually invisible, but it is displayed on a page if for some reason the image does not load. It is also used by those that are sight impaired. It is different from the caption (which is always displayed). The ALT tag for each image should contain the most important keyword phrase on the page. It is also a good idea to have the file name of the image include the keyword as well.

17 chapter 2 ON PAGE S.E.O 4. META Keywords Tag The META keywords tag is a list of keywords included in the source code of each website page. This is not considered a big factor in search engine optimization any longer, but it is still considered good practice to include it. You simply want to list the keywords you have selected for that particular page, separated by commas. This tag is invisible and will not be seen by visitors. Unlike with the page title and description, it is OK to have the same keyword tag on multiple pages it does not need to be unique. 5. H1 Tag The H1 tag stands for Heading 1. The H1 text is visible to the public and should be placed at the top of the main content on your page. The amount of weight the search engines give this tag is controversial the latest evidence seems to indicate it is not terribly important. However, it is still considered good practice to include a wellworded Heading at the top of the page and to include your target keywords when it is natural to do so. Your Heading can include some of the same keywords as your Page Title, but it should read like a newspaper or magazine headline (if it s an informational page) or like the headline of a print advertisement (if it s a promotional page). Only include on H1 tag on each page subheadings should be given H2 or H3 tags. 6. Page Content Finally we come to the heart of your page the content. This is the main body text on the page. Keywords are important here too, but again, don t make the mistake of over-stuffing the page with keywords, or writing horribly awkward text just to fit them in. Some guidelines: Repeat Keywords: We recommend using your target keyword 2-3 times on short pages (300 words or less), and 4-6 times on longer ones -- and never more than makes sense in the natural flow of the copy. Place Keywords Up Front: Use your main keywords early in the first paragraph if possible. Use Compelling Keyword Sentences: Google sometimes pulls relevant sections from your page content and displays them in the search engine results (instead of your META description text). So be sure that your sentences that include your keywords are well-written. Be Relevant: Your text should be relevant and informative. People should be able to get the information they expect (based on your page title and description that was displayed in the search engines). If you make people hunt for information, they will leave your site and go elsewhere. Avoid Duplication: Do not duplicate content or create multiple pages for the same product or service Google actually sees this as cheating and will drop you in the rankings. Repeat Geographic Location: Again, if you are looking for local customers, be sure to mention your location and the areas you serve as often as you can without sounding awkward.

18 chapter 2 ON PAGE S.E.O Repeat Company Name/Address: Be sure to include your company s name and address (at least city and state/territory) in the footer/copyright text at the bottom of every page and also on your Contact Us page. Google often ranks local results above other websites when people search for a local service. If you have multiple locations, or service multiple areas, be sure to work that into the text as well. Remember to Sell Yourself: If the goal of your website is to sell a product or service, then you need to regard each page of your site as a marketing piece. Remember to emphasize your business s unique selling proposition. Why should they buy from you and not someone else? And focus on the benefits to your customers -- how do you solve their problems? Include a Call to Action: Getting a customer to your website is just the first step you need them to contact you, either by visiting your store or calling or ing you. So be sure to encourage contact on the wording of every page. Give them a reason to call or visit or sign up for your newsletter. Create New Pages: Sometimes you end up with an orphan keyword. This is a keyword that you have selected as being a good one for your business to focus on, but you have no existing page that is appropriate for it. Or sometimes you find a really compelling keyword with high search volume and low competition. In either case, you may want to create a new page with content that is designed just for that keyword. For instance, when doing keyword research for Joe the Painter, we noticed that many people were searching for painting estimates. It would be smart for Joe to add a page all about how his company provides estimates and how quick and easy it is to get one.