SEO - Search Engine Optimization
SEO Notes
- To rank in map location in google, possibly build a Location folder in file structure, or file called Location. - https://www.google.com/webmasters/ - http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf - http://www.brianwhite.org/2007/04/27/google-site-operator-an-ode-to-thee/ - http://www.robotstxt.org/ - use robots.txt to specify don't index my login page or else you will get a 404 and google does not like 404's. - http://www.slideshare.net/trafficmania2/what-is-an-seo-link-wheel
Page Content
Content Techniques: -Proper use of html elements (h1 - h6, p, ul etc.) -HTML 5 semantic elements - Image replacement text still on page -Focus on quality keyword content - Properly tag keywords (a, strong, em, etc) - Use text-based menu's on site instead of JavaScript or flash navigation -Use a text based site map and place link to sitemap at top of page -Use keyword file names and file structure -Remove any poison words or vulgarity -Add questions with keywords to your content in anticipation of user entering question as query - Add local terms and slang such as Hawaii and Big Island to target local markets
Use multiple domains
Future Investment Keep names away from the competition It provides multiple ways for users to find you It can improve SE Ranking - Link Popularity Use re-direct to master site. Do not duplicate content Create different sites with different content and link together.
June 2013 market share stats
Google - 66.7 Yahoo - 11.9 (yahoo gets results from bing now...) Bing - 17.4 Ask - 2.7 AOL - 1.3
Frequency of Content
Headings: -Don't overload your content with keywords & fraises, you may be punished - Keywords in headings are given more weight than words in a p tag - Place primary key word & phrases in h1 & h2 -Place secondary in h3 and so on Body Text: - Scatter keywords throughout body content - Link keyword to same keyword on another site (but don't look spammy) - Structurally link keywords within site - Use server logs and word tracking software to choose keywords
Domain Names
How domain names affect SE Placement: Google likes keywords in anchor text pointing to your site SE's assume domain names are relevant to keywords Improves chances of humans clicking on your links Use hyphen between the words to make it easier for the SE and user Customer friendly domains: Short Memorable Easy to type .com SE Friendly: Long Keyword Rich .biz, .net & country specific
Choosing Targeted Keywords:
Keywords are the root of all success with search engines Start with a list of all possible key words or key phrases Access Server Log Files - Log files contain keyword search info Use host provided stat analysis such as urchin, awstats, webtrends and analytics Use Wordtracker Ask customers, clients & associates what keywords they would use to find the site Look at the competition Scan through list and find common misspellings and add to list (estimated that 25% of all queries are misspelled) Add both singular and plural versions of terms Don't worry about case, SE not case sensitive Keyword phrases are more effective - users use more phrase based search Use questions within content to match user query Be as specific as possible - ex "European Bike Tours" instead of "bike tours" Be careful of using trademarked phrases such as ipod, itunes etc
Popularity - Ranking
Page rank is an algorithmic process invented by Larry Page that judges the popularity of of a page comparatively. Higher page rank increases prominence of listing within the SERP. The higher the page rank of the site linking to you the more valuable. - Page Rank uses a logarithmic scale from 0 - 10 1 - 2 is easier then 2 - 3 - Google looks at the number of links that points to the page and their rank. - Some links carry more weight and importance than others - Links from pages that have less links are better than pages that have more - Pages on your site pass page rank to one another as well. (important because of web wide tasking) - Trusted sites such as cnn and others that you cannot control, that have your links carry more value - Linking within social media networks will also improve popularity
2 types of links in the SERP
SERP - Search Engine Results Page Sponsored - advertised ranked by how much money is paid for targeted keywords. Organic - indexed by web bot based on content, keyword relevance and popularity. People trust the free listings more than sponsored results. Learned that these are more accurate. Free results create a much higher click through rate. Organic indexing uses algorithmic technology in the form of web bots or web crawlers. Crawler software moves site to site indexing content to be listed in the SERP.
Methods of driving traffic
Search Engines Directories Links from other sites - stay away from link farms! Purchased Links Purchased Advertising Offline Marketing
Crawler based technology
Spider or crawler visits the site and indexes content, then moves on to another site through the sites links Spider delivers the info it sees to the data base Data base ranks info according to programming (each company different) Search algorithms are used to match user query to ranked data List, tree, sql (sequel), informed (most are a combo and prop.) Then results are ranked for user (order of the results) Each engine uses different programming for their spider. That is why the same search on different engines produces different results.
Crawlers Index Conent in Several Ways
The CFP Model (Content, Frequency, Popularity) Page Content - prominence of content (domain name, title, headline, top of page content) Example Search: (title tag) Mountain - Trek Bicycle www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/ Trek Bicycle Corporation (meta tag description) Conquer any trail, from tame to treacherous, on the world's finest off-road bikes. Choose from 133 Trek bike models for Mountain. Cross Country - Singletrack Trail - Sport - Bike models Frequency & Relavancy of keywords Popularity - inbound links from other popular sites (like sitting with the popular kids in school makes you more popular) as well as click through percentage (how many users actually click on the link in the index. Off page factors (becoming more popular for search technology because the developer does not have as much influence. Search engines trying to counter web optimizers. No two search engines conduct cfp indexing the same way
SEO - Search Engine Optimization
The process of affecting the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in a search engines organic search results. Over B & M marketing, email and other forms of advertising, search engines are the most cost-effective way to generate traffic. Last year over 80% of unique visitors used a search engine to get there.