SEO: How to Use Everyday Techniques to Increase Website Traffic. Robin The University of Texas at Tyler

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1 SEO: How to Use Everyday Techniques to Increase Website Traffic Robin The University of Texas at Tyler

2 SEO: How to Use Everyday Techniques to Increase Website Traffic

3 STRUCTURE Built SEO-Friendly Site Structure Organize using a simple, content related directory structure.

4 STRUCTURE Built SEO-Friendly Site Structure (searchengineguide.com) Avoid building a directory just for one page. Don t build pages too far away from the root directory. The more clicks it takes to get from the home page to the target page deems the page less important. Search Engines try to make sense of text by analyzing how text is organized using main topics and subtopics.

5 STRUCTURE Built SEO-Friendly Site Structure Divide website into categories and sub-categories. Provide one version of a URL to reach information. Internal links make the site easier to understand when crawled.

6 STRUCTURE Built SEO Friendly URL Structure BAD URL: GOOD URL:

7 STRUCTURE Avoid 404 Errors Deleted pages can result In 404 Page Not Found!

8 STRUCTURE Avoid 404 Errors If a visitor comes to your site and sees a standard 404 message, will they make the effort to look further? If content has moved, use a 301 redirect to the new content. OR Replace the page with new information. Work with the UT Tyler Web Team to redirect pages.

9 STRUCTURE Avoid 404 Errors Replace PDF files with the SAME file name.

10 STRUCTURE Avoid 404 Errors Replace PDF files with the SAME file name!

11 STRUCTURE Avoid 404 Errors Replace PDF files with the same file name. NOT following these guidelines for naming files results in web page URLs that look like this: Which file would the student use?

12 STRUCTURE Optimize Images for SEO. Name your images descriptively and in plain English. Use acceptable keywords when naming images. Optimize ALT tags using descriptive text. Reduce file size to the exact image size.

13 Content Write Engaging, Original Content. Write for humans! Google prefers natural content. Websites are for HUMANS, not Search Engines. Consider how humans search. Consider your audience. High-quality, informative and engaging content can help increase visits. Interesting, updated content brings more visitors!

14 Content Write Engaging, Original Content. Interesting, updated content brings more visitors. Stay organized around the topic. Use short paragraphs, bullet points and lists. Allow keywords to flow naturally. Use unique content, avoid duplication. Avoid keyword stuffing.

15 Content Write Engaging, Original Content. Don t forget your internal links. Internal links are links that go from one page on a domain to a different page on the same domain. They allow users to navigate the website. They help establish information hierarchy for your website. They help spread link juice around the web.

16 Content Write Engaging, Original Content. What about external link juice? If you build it, they will come. In other words, the external links shall follow! Avoid those scam s asking for a reciprocal link. Once your site is pulling up high in the Search Engines, you will constantly be asked to add these links. IGNORE! This means the site is behaving well.

17 Content <Meta-Tags> Meta Title If done right, the title tag can play an important factor in SEO. Keep your page title tag around characters. Write descriptive, unique title tags for EACH page. Keywords from content should also be used in the title tag.

18 Content <Meta-Tags> If your webpage were a commercial, this would be where the slogan is located. Meta Description A good description is very important for click-through. Every page should have a well-written, unique description. Avoid duplicate meta tags.

19 Tools Is Search Engine traffic increasing over time? Use OU Campus Page Analytics in Gadgets to monitor page traffic. Are landing pages performing well? Are landing page visits increasing over time?

20 Tools 1. Monitor keywords within the search engines. 2. You should regularly monitor keywords used on your site to find content in the UT Tyler website. 3. Make necessary adjustments to your content. 4. Work with the UT Tyler web team for more information. 5. Use the Final Check tools to check spelling and broken links. 6. Learn about using Reports to find more information about your pages.

21 Training Visit the UT Tyler online support documentation often. Don t forget to use the Add-Ons tab in OU Campus.

22 Training Attend regularly scheduled OU Campus training, or request a one-on-one. for more! It is OK to ask for help, ask for suggestions, or just to find out if you are doing it right!

23 SEO Myths 1. Success will happen quickly. 2. Rank number 1 or ELSE! 3. SEO is a one-time activity we complete, then we are done. 4. A high Google Page Rank is all we need. 5. A good Title Tag will move us to the top. 6. H1 tags are the most important element. 7. Visitors always navigate to inside pages from the homepage. 8. The homepage is the most important page. 9. Paid search helps boost organic results. 10. SEO is all about tricks!

24 Best Practices 1. Plan and build a logical website structure and navigation. 2. Update site structure as content is moved. 3. Monitor new pages built by users for appropriate naming style and structure. 4. Use hyphens to separate words in URL when necessary. 5. Teach users how to name files and directories using keywords. 6. Write easy to read, quality content. 7. Write appropriate, unique meta data unique to each page. 8. Content is for visitors, not Search Engines! 9. Add relevant internal links within content. 10. Update duplicate content and duplicate meta data. 11. Teach users to avoid duplicate content. 12. Avoid 404s, make a plan.

25 Best Practices 13. Redirect high-ranking pages. 14. Replace PDF files with the same file name. 15. Use keywords for naming images and writing ALT tags. 16. Incorporate social media to interact with website content. 17. Optimize video using keywords, title, description and tags. 18. Schedule/run reports to monitor search engine traffic. 19. Monitor landing page performance. 20. Monitor your internal search engine, make updates as needed. 21. Make a plan for responsive / mobile friendly site. 22. Build online training materials for OU Campus users. 23. Know your users. 24. Stay in touch with your users. 25. TRAIN your users!

26 Thank You! Robin The University of Texas at Tyler

27 QUESTIONS? Robin The University of Texas at Tyler

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