SEO 101 SESSION GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 DIGITAL MARKETING FOR ARTISTS: SEO 101 SESSION GUIDELINES Set cell phones to vibrate No taping or recording of the session is allowed Questions at the end of the workshop (write down questions) Think of a website you would like to be reviewed (it may be chosen for the SEO review later) WORKSHOP OUTLINE 1. What is SEO? 2. Keyword Research 3. Content is for Humans 4. Work in ranges of pages 5. Improving Click Through Ratios 6. Final Tips and Website Reviews

2 #1: WHAT IS SEO?... (Search Engine Optimization) DEFINITION Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making a website and its content as relevant as possible to search engines and searchers. The main goal is to be relevant to the target audience to obtain the highest ranking possible and get more and better traffic. GOOGLE EXPLAINED: SEO NOT PPC

3 THE GOOGLE TRIANGLE #2: KEYWORD RESEARCH... Choose wisely H OW D O YO U K N OW W H AT YO U R AU D I E N C E I S S E A R C H I N G F O R? You know already! 1. What do you sell/promote? 2. Who do you sell/promote it to? 3. When people buy from you, what do they say they are looking for? 4. Where do you sell/promote (geographical reach)? 5. Who are your typical customer? (age, gender, education, geographical location, socio-economic status, etc.)

4 GOOGLE TO THE RESCUE! Step 1: Google Keyword Research Tool Type keywords or keyphrases you think your prospects and customers look for and let Google tell you if they do! Step 2: Search your keyphrases in Google Is your competition showing above you? Are you showing at all? Step 3: Look at Google ads! Are there many people paying for ads? What are they selling on their ads? STEP 1: KEYWORDS TOOL Let s do a practical exercise! STEP 2: SEARCH With the Keywords from Step 1 Let s see what we find.

5 STEP 3: THE ADS With the Keywords from Step 1 Who is advertising? How many ads are there? #3: CONTENT IS FOR HUMANS... Not for the Search Engines IF YOU WRITE IT Based on your keyword research findings write for the human reader Do not worry about optimizing at this point Focus on One keyword phrase per page! Relate to your reader, develop a style Include a strong call to action phone, form, newsletter sign up (what is a call to action?)

6 SE S AND CONTENT Search engines love pages that are "information rich" and contain useful, original content that will actually provide valuable reading to online visitors Search engines love pages that are content rich and able to stand on their own merit PLEASE MAKE SENSE! Search engines hate any attempt to manipulate pages optimized with content unrelated to the actual Web site Search engines despise low quality doorway or gateway pages that contain little or no useful content From a search engines point of view, why even publish a page if all it contains is a couple of lines of text and an "enter the store" link Any kind of duplication or use of mirror pages. Again, little or no content (often just garbled text or keyword rich paragraphs) that have no real value SOME IDEAS Information rich FAQ page An introductory story related to the appropriate Web site theme or subject Interesting and original information which you have discovered through your research and is in high demand by your target audience An interesting interview with someone Make it exclusive and original People love to read about other people s experiences and or opinions and views Product or services reviews with an emphasis on benefits of each in comparison

7 SOME MORE IDEAS It could be a seasonal-related feature article or story about Christmas, Halloween or Easter etc. It could be a detailed tutorial loaded with valuable "How to" or "instructional" advice Your information page might even be a biography about someone's life that people are looking for details on Of course, it should relate to the topical interest of your readers It could be an article related to historical information AND FINALLY A current event or newsworthy situation or angle Press releases, coming events, etc. It could be a community-related page with important localized community information Tremendous value for websites that are looking for region-specific traffic It might be a sales letter but remember the emphasis is on quality content and originality careful with excessive punctuation! KEEP IT SIMPLE It could literally be on any topic at all as long as your visitors would find it useful, interesting and of value!

8 #4: WORK IN RANGES OF PAGES WORK IN RANGES OF PAGES What this means is to remember to dedicate some time to write content for your website at least once a month Spread your ideas out through your Web site one topic per page (avoid bunching up) WORK IN RANGES OF PAGES Best results are achieved by going after the niche and exclusive phrases first and then you can also go after more competitive phrases as you gain a comfort level Never stress over which keyword phrase might be the absolute best, rather focus on the general subject of the website When in doubt, test your ideas (for more than a week!)

9 #5: IMPROVE YOUR CLICK THROUGH RATIOS Write Meta Tags that People will Click on! EASY TIPS TO IMPROVE CLICK - THRU RATIOS What do we mean by click through rates? What information do Search Engine Results Pages (SERP s) display The three main meta tags: Title tag Description tag Keyword tag EASY TIPS TO IMPROVE CLICK - THRU RATIOS Click Through Rates and the information SERPs display Title Tag z z Description Tag

10 EASY TIPS TO IMPROVE CLICK - THRU RATIOS Title Tag Include your keyword phrase prominently in the Title Once people understand that a Title has importance to relevancy, they sometimes get carried away trying to fill the title with keywords Avoid Keyword Stuffing! Keep your Title Tag to under 63 characters (this includes spaces) IMPROVE CLICK-THRU RATIOS Instead, there is something much more powerful you can do. By following this formula you can actually improve on the number of clicks you will get, even if it is ranked less than the top spot. Consider breaking your title down into 3 separate elements IMPROVE CLICK-THRU RATIOS Use your keyword phrase up front, followed by a clicking trigger, followed by a genuine benefit that your product offers. Examples: Piano lessons - Learn to memorize beautiful chords this weekend Pool heaters - save energy and $100 per month heating your pool

11 R E A S O N S W H Y P E O P L E W I L L C L I C K O N A L I N K : To save money To make money To save time To make life easier To improve safety For a specific brand To educate themselves To improve health To settle their fears To have fun To streamline process To prove they are right about something To improve their image META TAG DESCRIPTION Write an effective Meta Description tag Have an Attention grabber Top 10 Our product sucks Build curiosity Ask a question Preferably at the beginning include your keyword phrase At the middle or end of the meta description include your call to action! META TAG DESCRIPTION Some Examples: Are you ready to build your custom dream home? Contact us today and our professional architects and contractors will help make that dream a reality Would you like a garden that you never have to groom? Enjoy the beauty of a japanese rock garden. Click here to order one today Keep your important points to 152 Characters

12 META TAG KEYWORDS Importance? 3-6 keywords is usually more than sufficient Scan your copy for the relevant keywords META TAG KEYWORD E XAMPLE Meta Tag Keywords toronto therapy, child therapy, teen therapy, adult therapy, toronto child therapy, toronto teen therapy, toronto adult therapy Another method for keywords Meta Tag Keywords another method toronto child teen adult therapy #6 FINAL TIPS AND WEBSITE REVIEW The very last things, I promise

13 FINAL TIPS Always think of your audience! Avoid keyword stuffing Write coherently and for humans Use headings and subheadings Get a CMS (content management system)! It will make your life easier If you need your website developed or want to get some professional SEO, do it with reputable firms like SearchEngineOp.com FINAL TIPS When hiring a digital marketing firm, web designer, or search engine optimization firm, keep in mind the following tips: Your website hosting and domain should be yours. Get your admin accounts! No one can guarantee a ranking on Google Careful with SEOs who can t distinguish between actual search results and ads that appear on search results pages MONITOR Lastly, it is relatively easy to install Google Analytics on almost any website and website system. You should be tracking your results and improving your online presence constantly. If you need help setting the analytics, analyzing the data or setting up advanced tracking (for ecommerce, ad campaigns, etc), give us a call, we can help!

14 SITE REVIEW! Thank you! Ph