SEO IN THE REAL WORLD

Transcription

1 SEO IN THE REAL WORLD

2 Who s this guy? My name s Derek Jansen Dabbling in digital for the last 5 years MD of Nitch Marketing (Pty) Ltd Specialise in organic search in hyper competitive niches (gambling, finance, etc.) Focus primarily on US, CA, UK & AU Markets (Try to) write for Moz.com, SiteProNews, Visibility Magazine, Your Business Magazine Love teaching and sharing information

3 House Rules You dictate the pace & depth No such thing as a stupid question Deck is available for download This is a discussion get involved

4 SEO In The Real World

5 The Basics Are Essential On-Site Optimisation Clean, optimised code Title tags & meta descriptions, keyword & image alt tags Intuitive URL structure and interlinking XML and HTML Sitemap Use of H1,2,3s Unique, high quality site content Blog & RSS Feed Off-Site Optimisation: Inbound linking Press releases Relevant directory registrations Social media presence

6 But They re Not Enough In any market where there s even the slightest competition, you have to do more in order to achieve rankings.

7 SEO Is A Popularity Contest Links are votes Social signals are votes The more votes the better The more diversity the better The more reputable the source the better Quality always beats quantity So, how do we get these kinds of links and social mentions?

8 Quality SEO Hinges On Quality Content. PLUS PROMOTION

9 What is quality content Generally non-promotional and lightly branded Provides some form of value to the user, be it educational, humorous or even controversial Is well considered, researched and designed Is remarkable and shareworthy Quality content can take the form of written content, data visualisations (infographics), video, ebooks, white papers or interactive sites.

10 Written Content Moz.com s Beginner s guide to SEO has attracted 11,970 backlinks and drives huge amounts of traffic to their site FB Shares / 928 Likes 1037 Tweets 1523 Google +1 s It has also established them as a trusted thought leader in search marketing education.

11 Infographics & Data Viz. Wordstream s Top 20 Most Expensive Keywords Infographic presents simple data in an interesting way hugely successful 3469 Backlinks Earned 2188 Facebook Likes 3109 Tweets 1068 Linkedin Shares 1300 Google +1 s As a keyword research software provider, this was on-topic and highly relevant to their audience.

12 (Simple) Video Content Moz.com s Whiteboard Friday is a simple weekly how-to featuring industry experts. It attracts thousands of links, social shares and comments every week, and establishes them as a trustworthy information source. These are not pricey video productions they re simple cuts jam-packed with useful content.

13 ebooks, Courses & Whitepapers Hubspot is the master of this. They create well titled whitepapers and mini ebooks covering various topics. These content pieces attract links and double up as fantastic lead gen tools.

14 Content Curation The easiest content to make. Create blog posts about the Top 10, Best Of, content in your industry. This sort of content generally ranks well as it provides a useful resource. Also acts as ego-bait for featured sites ask them to link back to you.

15 Competitions & Giveaways Give something away. Competitions and giveaways naturally attract social media and links. You can submit your giveaway to tons of giveaway sites (esp US) for easy links. Be sure to promote across your social media channels. Tip prizes don t need to be hugely expensive. Consumer electronics (ipads, TVs, etc are always a winner. Also Aids: Traffic, Lead Gen, Awareness

16 Build It & They Will (Not) Come Unless you re a huge brand with a loyal following, you ve got to actively promote the great content you create to stimulate links and social signals.

17 Content Needs Promotion Build it and they will come is FALSE. You need to actively promote the great content you create to suitable target audiences, blogs and publications. Tools & Tactics: Citation Labs Link Prospector Social Media (Esp Facebook Ads) Marketing to existing DB StumbleUpon Paid Discovery ($0.12/view) PPC & Display Campaigns

18 Other Link Grabbing Tactics For the time-poor, resource-poor marketer

19 Guest Posting/Blogging Guest authoring on quality content on relevant sites in return for a link back to your site. Quality is key as this has become a very overused tactic. Approach guest posting with a view to tapping into new audiences, rather than just aiming for a link. Also Aids: Traffic, Reputation

20 Q&A Contributions Answer relevant questions on Q&A sites such as: Quora.com Yahoo Answers Askville (Amazon) Link back to a relevant page on your site as the source. If it s a hot topic, you can expect some traffic from this tactic as well. Pro Tip these sites are great idea generators for producing your own content.

21 Help A Reporter Out HARO allows you to connect with reporters and aid them with research, commentary and opinion. Great way to earn publicity on hot topics surrounding your niche. Also establishes you as a thought leader. If done right, you can get incredibly powerful links out of this (newspapers, magazines, etc)

22 Broken Link Building Find outdated links and suggest your own content. Take advantage of general website issues to build relationships with webmasters and get a link. Good for new content ideation as well.

23 Give Testimonials Quick & Easy: Give your suppliers (honest) testimonials in return for a link to your site.

24 Sponsorships & Charities Earn easy links by sponsoring events, sports clubs, charities etc. If you re already doing this, ask them for a link.

25 Claim Non-Linkers Setup Google Alerts for your brand name and ensure that every site that talks about you, links to you. Easy. Pro Tip do the same for your competitors

26 Spy On Your Competitors Use a backlink analysis tool to review your competitor s backlinks and get ideas from their strategy. Do NOT blatantly copy their strategy. Majestic SEO Open Site Explorer Ahrefs.com

27 The Big Picture The common thread is that you are creating VALUE for users in return for links/shares/publicity. All these tactics act together in an integrated fashion, complementing each other none of these are PURELY for SEO.

28 The Golden Rule Of Links Don t do anything purely for SEO. Never use mass-linking services. If you do, Google will penalise you sooner or later. We know. Ask yourself what would you do it if Google didn t exist? Remember that this is a long-term investment and not all aspects are trackable (brand awareness, media value, relationships).

29 Tools & Resources

30 UberSuggest UberSuggest scrapes all the Google Auto-Suggest data to give you ideas for content creation. Great way of finding long-tail content gaps in your niche

31 WriterAccess & Textbroker Outsourced copywriting services at reasonable prices. Allow you to work with a large pool of writers and refine your base over time.

32 Piktochart DIY Infographic design for non-designers. Great for testing the waters and getting executive buy-in

33 99Designs Low cost crowd sourced infographic design. Get lots of ideas and choose the best one -

34 Video Editing Tools Windows Movie Maker (free) is great for basic editing. Camtasia offers a bit more flexibility for $299 once-off.

35 Link Prospector & BLB Citation Labs Link Prospector and Broken Link Builder help you find blogs and publications that will feature/mention your great content.

36 Outbrain Promote your content on authority sites like CNN, Huffington Post, etc in the From Around The Web section

37 Elance, Freelancer, odesk Reputable marketplaces for a variety of skills. Useful for content research, finding contact details of webmasters, even copywriting.

38 In Summary SEO in competitive niches requires more than just simple on-site optimisation. A content based, integrated approach is the safest, most scalable way to earn links, social signals and traffic. The benefits of producing quality content go far beyond just SEO. Always remember the golden rule of link building never do it PURELY for SEO.

39 Q&A There s no such thing as a stupid question Slide deck is available at Follow Me At: Google+