Search Engine Optimization

What are the 2 most important considerations when analyzing potential keywords?

Search Volume: the higher the search volume, the stronger the keyword. Relevancy Score: a subjective grading between 1 (high) and 3 (low) on how relevant a keyword is to a topic.

Describe the Crawling stage of a search engine

Search engines send out web crawlers to find new pages and record information about them. Crawlers search websites using links they've already discovered.

How can someone optimize the body copy (text) of their webpage?

1. Avoid repeating keywords too often in the main copy, but do use synonyms or close variations of keywords if they can be incorporated while still keeping the language natural and human-friendly. 2. Include hyperlinks to other webpages.

What are the steps to conducting keyword research?

1. Pick a topic to research 2. Brainstorm a list of 10 keywords with a similar meaning around a topic. Focus on quantity over quality. 3. Gather keyword data to determine how useful they are. 4. Prioritize keywords

What are the different ways we can measure SEO success?

Monitor where keywords are ranked and positioned. Monitor organic traffic on your website. Tracking conversions and sales Monitor sites and pages that refer traffic to your website. It is important assign KPIs to these.

What tool can you use to research a competitors backlinks?

Moz Link Explorer

If the body text of my webpage is 500 words or less, how often should my keywords be used?

P1 keywords should be used 2-3 times P2 keywords used 1-2 times P3 keywords used only once at most if at all.

How do voice assistants use SEO to pull information?

Voice assistants collect information from the top of the SERP - known as Position Zero - when the answer to a search query is in the top of the SERP.

How many of each keyword priority should you choose?

1, P1 keyword. This is the most important one to focus on and is known as the primary keyword. 2, P2 keywords (also known as secondary keywords). 3+, P3 keywords (also known as tertiary keywords). Keywords are prioritized based on search volume and relevancy.

How can someone optimize images on their webpage?

1. Add a 2-5 word image description in the alt text 2. Make images web-friendly by only using gif, jpeg or png formats. 3. Keep the size of images small.

What are the steps in conducting an audit of your SEO performance?

1. Check if a newly created webpage has been indexed. If it hasn't been indexed you'll receive a "404 page not found" response. 2. Check if a URL passes the Mobile-Friendly Test 3. Check if a webpage passes the 2-second load test by using Pingdom. 4. Review site and URL errors in Google Search Console 5. Make sure headings, keywords and meta tags are properly used on your webpage. 6. Double check off-page optimization using the Moz Open Site Explorter tool.

What are the 3 types of SERPs?

1. Classic SERP (google) 2. Universal SERP (news results, videos, images, local listings) 3. Extended SERP (knowledge graphs, stats, etc.)

Define the three search engine algorithms.

1. Crawling - discovery stage 2. Indexing - filing stage 3. Ranking - retrieval stage

What are the metrics measured by various types of websites

1. Ecommerce: sales and lead conversions 2. Non-commerce sites: Lead generation SEO goals 3. Blogs: brand awareness and webpage traffic 4. Large publishers of content: ad revenue sales

What are some best practices to follow when looking to optimize your URL?

1. Get it right the first time and don't change it. 2. Include your P1 keyword, or a close variation. 3. Keep it short (70 characters) 4. Use only lowercase letters and dashes

What are the 5 steps when reviewing keywords?

1. Get the keyword search volumes. 2. Get the keyword difficulty scores. 3. Get the keyword rankings. 4. Review the keywords. 5. Assign a relevancy score.

What are some of the benefits of doing keyword research?

1. Gets the right visitors to your website 2. Identify high search volume keywords 3. Identify content gaps on your website 4. Target all types of keywords

What are some tools you can use to check your website speed?

1. Google Page Speed Insights 2. Google, Test My Site - Think with Google 3. Pingdom

What are 2 tools you can use to improve your technical SEO optimization?

1. Google Search Console 2. Screaming SEO Frog

What are the key elements to post-click, on-page optimization?

1. Headings 2. Main body copy 3. Images

How can you optimize the use of Title Tags?

1. Include primary and secondary keywords as titles 2. Position main keywords near the beginning of your page. 3. Avoid keyword stuffing 4. Use the SERP Preview Tool to ensure your title tag is no more than 55 characters. 5. Be descriptive and engaging 6. Use sentence separators to include both your keywords and your brand in the title text

What are some of the key differences between short and long-tail keywords?

1. Intent: with short-tail keywords its less clear what someone is looking for. 2. Rank: Short-tail keywords are harder to rank because they're more obvious. 3. Conversion: because the intent of someone using short-tail keywords is more vague, it is harder to convert those. 4. Search volume 5. Research: takes more time and resources to identify long-tail keywords.

What are SEO metrics you can measure?

1. Keyword performance 2. Webpage traffic 3. Market share 4. Brand or product awareness

What are the similarities between Paid and Organic searches?

1. Keyword research and the use of a search engine is required for both. 2. Landing pages: For SEO, a landing page needs to be connected on the website, so it needs to be linked to from the website. And for paid search, it can be the exact same page as organic, or it can be a completely separate page that sets off the websites. 3. Traffic: assuming you take all the necessary steps in advance, both will increase web traffic.

What are some ways you can measure brand awareness?

1. Lead generation 2. Backlinks (having other websites link to yours) 3. Ecommerce 4. Ad revenue sales

How to optimize your website for technical SEO

1. Minimize site errors on Google Search Console. 2. Use redirects wisely: 301 redirects tell search engines that you are not planning on changing that content. 3. Create and submit an up-to-date XML sitemap: XML site maps are designed specifically for search engines and typically, they will list all the URLs that exist on your website. 4. Minimize duplicate content: avoid copying content from other websites and be mindful about reusing content on your own webpage. 5. Check to see if your page has been indexed or not.

What are the 3 types of keywords?

1. Navigational 2. Informational 3. Transactional

What key SEO metrics can you track using Google Analytics?

1. Organic (SEO) website traffic 2. Lead conversions and sales 3. Referral traffic

Identify tools someone may use to help with brainstorming keywords

1. Search engine suggestions and related searches 2. Google Keyword Planner 3. Keywords Everywhere 4. Competitor keyword analysis using SEMrush 5. Search volumes 6. Moz Keyword Explorer

List the technical SEO ranking factors

1. Site Speed: the goal is 2 seconds or less. You can improve speed by making images smaller and compressing web text and files. 2. Mobile friendliness: google ranks websites that are mobile optimized higher. Use the Google Search Console to check this. 3. HTTPS: earn a secure certification for your webpage.

Define the three pillars of SEO

1. Technical optimization: website tools to improve SEO that aren't content related. 2. On-page optimization: incorporating keywords into your website content. 3. Off-page optimization: enhancing your site's SEO rankings through the use of backlinks, which help to build the site's reputation.

Why is it essential for businesses to set SEO objectives?

1. They encourage buy-in from stakeholders 2. Help form SEO strategy 3. They ensure objectives are met.

What are the elements of a webpage displayed in search engine results pages?

1. Title tag 2. URL 3. Meta tag 4. Rich snippets 5. Sitelinks

What are the 3 types of backlinks?

1. Topical backlinks: relevant to your industry and bring in relevant traffic. 2. High authority: backlinks from reputable and trustworthy sources. 3. Authentic backlinks: real backlinks earned on merit.

What are some examples that search engines use to rank webpages?

1. Use of keywords on title page 2. Loading speed of web page 3. Website reputation

Describe backlinks and how you can continue to ensure that they are used on your webpage.

A backlink is an incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website. When a website receives a link from an external website, some reputation is passed to it. It acts as if one web page is voting that the page it links to is credible. By continuing to create great content you can ensure other webpages continue to link to yours.

What is a Keyword?

A keyword is a word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine to accomplish a task.

Describe what Meta Description Tags are and why they are important to your site's optimization.

A meta description tag is the short piece of descriptive text that you see under the URL in a SERP that encourages someone to click on the page. Including keywords in your meta description won't have a direct impact like title tags do, but it will influence whether someone's going to click on your listing.

Define the following terms: Direct traffic, referral traffic, organic traffic.

Direct traffic is when someone types in a website URL, and can't be measured by GoogleAnalytics. Referral traffic is website visits that come from backlinks. The better your referral traffic is, the better your page will rank in SEO. Organic traffic are visitors to your site from search engines that are unpaid sources.

What are the key things someone should focus on when identifying topics to research?

Focus on one topic at a time Make sure topics are relevant to the needs of your audience Avoid being too generic The most common mistake people make in keyword research is focusing on short-tail keywords that aren't relevant enough for search engines to rank.

What are the 2 main systems used by Google for search engine results?

Google Hummingbird and RankBrain

Describe what Headings are on a webpage, and best practices to follow when designing your webpage.

Headings help to outline what a web page is about. Main heading should be in a H1 tag Secondary, sub-headings should be in H2 tags You can only have tags up to H6 Headings should be keyword focused, but also helpful for the person viewing the page.

Describe the Indexing stage of a search engine

Indexing is when a search engine decides whether or not it is going to use the content that it has crawled. The index is then used when ranking webpages.

Define Informational keywords and provide an example of where they are commonly used.

Informational queries are keyword searches used when the searcher is looking for information. Informational queries make up the largest proportion of keywords and happen at the earlier awareness stage of the buying cycle, so they are harder to convert into sales. Blog posts are examples of content where informational keywords are often targeted. That's because a blog post is more about informing, rather than selling.

What are some reasons a webpage may not be indexed?

Its content is considered duplicate. Low value / spam content Couldn't be find by crawlers Webpage lacked inbound links

What are some ways you can optimize Meta Description Tags on your website?

Keep it short and concise: use the SERP Preview tool to ensure that your desktop meta tags are no more than 156 characters, and mobile tags are no more than 112 characters. Only include your P1 keyword in the meta tag. Make sure that your meta description is descriptive, but also engaging. If your page has any unique selling points, list them here to encourage clickthroughs.

What is Keyword stuffing and what are some best practices to keep in mind when creating the title tag for your webpage?

Keyword stuffing is when you use too many keywords in your title tag, causing the title of the webpage to become truncated or ignored all together by search engines. Focus on including only 3-5 of your most important keywords in your title tag.

Will links to your page on social media increase your PageRank?

Links within social media are different to backlinks and are known as social signals. They tend not to pass reputation or PageRank, but they can indirectly lead to an increase in backlinks; the more views you receive, the more likely it is that people will link to your website from theirs.

Define and provide examples of long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are typically 3-4 words that are specific to your brand or product. These make up 70% of all search engine traffic and although they have less search volume, they are also less competitive. Examples: best pizza in Houston, ski resorts in Colorado, Hotels near Whistler Canada

Explain which stage of the buyer journey each type of keyword is most commonly used.

Navigational keywords are often brand-related. These happen at all stages of the buyer's journey. If the buyer has done their research and decided on a product or a website that they want to buy from, they'll use a brand term. Informational keywords happen earlier in the buyer's journey, during the awareness and interest stages, and sometimes the consideration stage. Transactional keywords happen in the last stage of the buyer's journey, when the customer is ready to buy.

What are Navigational keywords?

Navigational queries are keyword searches for a specific website or web page. We can think of these types of keywords as signposts that direct searchers to a place they already have in mind.

What is Off-Page Optimization?

Off-page optimization is the process of enhancing a website's search engine rankings through activities that happen outside of the website, mainly through backlinks.

What is On-Page Optimization?

On-page optimization is the process of ensuring the content is both relevant and provides a great user experience.

Describe the ranking stage of a search engine

Once a search engine has crawled and indexed your site, it can then be ranked. All ranking signals used by search engines all fit under the three pillars of SEO: technical optimization, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization.

What are 2 tools and metrics that can be used to measure your PageRank performance?

Page Authority: a page ranking score ranging from 1 to 100 that predicts how well a specific page will rank on SERPs. Domain Authority: a search engine ranking score ranging from 1 to 100 that predicts how well a website will rank on SERPs. URL Rating: measures the strength of a target URL's backlink profile and the likelihood that the URL will rank high in Google. Domain Rating: shows the strength of a given website's overall backlink profile (credibility).

What is Google PageRank and how does it determine a page's importance?

PageRank is an algorithm used by Google Search to rank websites in their search engine results. It is used as a way of measuring the importance of website pages. PageRank counts the number and quality of links to a page to determine a baseline estimate of the importance of a website

Describe the 2 categories of on-page optimization

Pre-click on-page optimization: what is visible to the user before they click on a result on the search engine results page. It includes the title tag, the URL, and the meta description. The goal of pre-click optimization is to encourage the user to click on your listing. Post-click on-page optimization: what is visible to the user after they click on your listing and land on your web page. It includes the main copy, the main heading and sub-headings, hyperlinks, and images.

What are some of the tools you can use to track keyword rankings?

SEMRush SEO Monitor WhatsMySERP Wincher RankTracker Pro

What are tools that you can use to scan your webpage and identify areas that have and have not been optimized?

SEOptimer SEO SiteCheckup MozBar

Define and provide examples of short-tail keywords

Short-tail keywords are typically one or two keywords that are less specific to your company or product. These make up roughly 30% of all search engine searches, and also have a higher search volume but are therefore more competitive. Examples: skiing, snowboards, ski holidays

What is Technical SEO Optimization (ie the crawling portion of search engines)?

Technical optimization is SEO activities that are completed on your site and are designed to improve SEO but are not related to content.

What are the differences between using Paid and Organic (SEO) search strategies to drive web traffic?

Time: paid search is instant and you see immediate results, where as SEO is more long term and takes longer to notice its impact. Cost: with paid search you have to pay a search engine to appear with different keywords where SEO is free. ROI: you see an immediate ROI w/ paid search strategies where it takes months to see a notable ROI for SEO strategies.

Describe what Title Tags are and why they are important to your site's optimization.

Title Tags are the first part of the listing that a user sees after they run a search and are part of how search engines rank your page. Webpages are ranked higher if title tags are done correctly.

What are Transactional keywords?

Transactional queries are keyword searches where the searcher is showing signs that they are ready to purchase something. Transactional queries happen at the last stage of the buying cycle and are easier to convert. However, they tend to be more competitive as they are targeted on sales pages and are often the first keywords to research and optimize for.

What does it mean to use keyword retargeting on your website and where would website changes be made?

keywords are mentioned in key elements while still providing a good user experience. This means that your content reads well, and also satisfies what the user is actually looking for. Changes are made in a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress.