Instructor: Chantal Giuliani, Senior Consultant/Director of SEO Engineering, SEO Inc.

1. Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Instructor: Chantal Giuliani, Senior Consultant/Director of SEO Engineering, SEO Inc. 1

2. Class Structure • Three Days - 8:30 am to 5:00 pm - 1 hour lunch break and two 15 minute breaks • Class Exercises • PowerPoint Presentation • Examples by real time search and documentation • Online references to search engines, tools, websites • http://clients.seoinc.com/ucsd • Final Project 2

3. Agenda • Instructor & Introductions • What is Search Engine Marketing? • Benefits of Search Engine Marketing • Organic vs. Pay-Per-Click (SEO vs PPC) • Search Engine Optimization Tactics • The Process of Optimization • Q & A 3

4. Chantal Giuliani • Senior Consultant/Director of SEO Engineering • Over 10 years of experience in online marketing (SEO, SEM, SMO) • Responsible for setting the strategic direction for SEO campaigns • Tracking online visibility, traffic and ROI • Keeping clients up-to-date with search engine algorithm changes and new online marketing trends • Training workshops in San Diego, and Los Angeles • chantalg@seoinc.com • 760-444-9207Direct 4

5. Search Engine Optimization • Definition • the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine. • The value of SEO • Pre-qualified lead • Prospect is actively searching for your offering • Use of search engines is skyrocketing 5

6. Two Types of Search Engine Rankings • Organic (or Natural) Results: Rankings which appear naturally on the search engines resulting from placement by the search engine’s algorithms. • Achieved “naturally” through website optimization. • Sponsored Results: Placement achieved by bidding for the desired position on the results page. • Achieved through Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. 6

7. Organic vs. Pay-Per-Click • Most visitors are inclined to click on organic results: • Knowing that Sponsored Results pay to be there. • Inherent trust in the search engines natural results. Sponsored Listings 25 – 30% Organic Listings 70 - 75% 7

8. Raise of Hands • Who in the room has a web site? • Who has tried to increase your site’s visibility on the search engines? • In-house or outsource SEO • Did you achieve the results you strived for? 8

9. SEO Tactics 9

10. Phase 1: On Page Factors Rule Keyword Analysis Meta Data Search Engine Submission 10

11. Phase 2: Off Page Factors Matter Keyword Analysis Keyword Density Meta Data Search Engine Submission Directory Inclusions Reciprocal Linking Link Development 11

12. Phase 2: Off Page Factors Matter Keyword Analysis Site Architecture Keyword Density Site Maps Meta Data Search Engine Submission Directory Inclusions Optimized Press Releases Reciprocal Linking Text Link Advertising Link Development 12

13. Phase 3: Blended Search Results Keyword Analysis Site Architecture Keyword Density XML Site Maps Images Search Product Search Updated Content Meta Data Search Engine Submission Video Search Optimization Directory Inclusions Optimized Press Releases Local Search Text Link Advertising Reciprocal Linking Mobile Search Link Development 13

14. Today’s Challenge Website Usability (errors) Keyword Analysis Site Architecture Audience Engagement Keyword Density Website Accessibility XML Site Maps Images Search Product Search Updated Content frequently Social Marketing Meta Data Search Engine Submission Video Search Optimization (YouTube, etc.) Directory Inclusions Local Search Optimized Press Releases Reciprocal Linking Mobile Search Text Link Advertising Link Development Blog Marketing User Generated Content 14

15. A Quick History • Human edited directories dominate prior to 1996 • Search 1.0 (1996 – 1998) – Pages ranked using “on-the-page” criteria • Search 2.0 (1998) – Pages ranked using “off-the-page” criteria like links • Search 3.0 (2006) – Vertical search results blended into regular search results • Next….Search 4.0 - human data becomes a part of the SE’s ranking factors • Access to click data from analytics • Social Search • Content (Wikis, News sites) • Bottom Line: build a clean coded site, populate it with sharable content, naturally grow backlinks through your content and you will gain and maintain rankings D1 B1 15

16. Optimization is NOT: • A quick fix • For a company looking to see immediate results (use a PPC campaign for that) • A “one-time-only” effort • A tactic that can be managed 100% by the optimization firm, there must be involvement from the client • FREE RANKINGS 16

17. What is a Search Engine Bot or Spider? • Web crawler is an Internet bot that systematically browses the World Wide Web, typically for the purpose of Web indexing. A Web crawler may also be called a Web spider 17

18. How Search Engines Work • Hmmm, this site looks pretty informative • How fast can I download this page? • Can I process the code on each page easily? • When was the last time the site was updated? • Is it popular? • Does anything look suspicious? • I guess I could save and index this page then 18

19. What language do Search Engines speak? 19

20. How Rankings Work • Quality of content • Is it accessible • Is it relative (keyword relevancy) • Does it offer information • Links are really, really important • Domain age • Visits • Number of unique domains • PR (Page Rank and DA (Domain Authority) • Images • File name • Alternative text 20

21. How Rankings Work • On page code • Clean (W3c compliant for handicap accessibility) • Heading tags (h1, h2, h3) • Internal linking • Videos • Transcription • Embed/sharing ability • Site structure • Usability • Navigation • Top level navigation categories lead to all other pages on the site 21

22. Optimization Campaign Site analysis to create a customized optimization campaign: • Domain age • Competitiveness of keywords • Site size • How often is content created and or updated and is it relative • How is content shared (Facebook, Twitter etc.) • Backlink profile • Site structure as it relates to coding and site errors • 404s • duplicate content, titles • missing meta descriptions • Internal linking • Structured data markup • Platform/CMS and how easy it is to make updates D1 Lunch 22

23. Competitive Analysis The following are critical elements of a competitive analysis: • Domain age • Site size • Current keyword rank • How often is content created and or updated and is it relative • How is content shared (Facebook, Twitter etc.) • Backlink profile • Structured data markup • Internal linking 23

24. Optimization Timeline • A successful optimization campaign requires an ongoing commitment. • It should become a continual element of every online marketing strategy. • Results can begin to be achieved by month 2 or 3, and increased rankings will continue though month 12 and on. • What if the site has a penalty? • Once top placement has been achieved, efforts will be required to maintain those rankings. • Finance, legal, gambling, real estate and employment (job search) industries are some of the most competitive industries on the web – this will require significant effort to achieve the desired results. 24

25. Optimization Timeline • The most ideal time to begin a website optimization campaign is at the initiation of a website redesign. • Avoids costly rework. • Site can be developed employing “search engine friendly” site architecture and structure. • Will ensure future developments are “pre-optimized” for search engines. • The process takes time – the sooner a campaign is begun, the sooner the return on investment. 25

26. SEO Friendly Site Build Tips • File naming • Use dashes, instead of underscores “www.eeuroparts.com/saab-parts/ • Build headings into each page (<h1>, <h2>, H3>) • <h1> around main target keyword, <h2> around secondary keyword etc. • Image file naming • Use main target keywords and dashes img src=“/images/saab-parts.png • Avoid flash and Ajax • Always externalize JS and CSS • Create a robots.txt file • Create an XML sitemap • If using video transcribe each, and add the file to the server, or paste the text under the video • Create URLs without stop signs • =, #,!,id= etc. • Add analytic code for tracking • D1B2 26

27. The Optimization Process • Keyword research/analysis • Keyword selection • Keyword assignment • Content changes based on keyword assignment • Site structure • Code optimization • Search Engine submissions (Yahoo directory and Dmoz etc.) • Backlink analysis and disavow or build • Reporting and maintenance • Create Google Webmaster Tools, and Bing Webmaster Tools accounts • Confirm a form of analytics is live on the site (Google analytics, Site Catalyst etc.) D1B2 27

28. 1. Keyword Research/Analysis DON’T guess – DO the work • List your services/products • Start with a broad list of keywords and narrow down • Use keyword tools to find out what people are using • www.keyworddiscovery.com • adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal • www.wordtracker.com • Analyze your competition • Use historical data • Find existing rankings • Web analytics • PPC campaigns • Compile findings 28

29. 2. Keyword Selection Everything Depends On It • Use all data available • Start with general keywords • Consider your products/services • Take a general keyword and add a product/service or permutation of the general keyword • Consider geo-targeted keywords • Check out the competitors keywords • It’s not just about traffic – find “money” keywords 29

30. 2. Keyword Selection “money” keywords = CONVERSIONS • Conversions = CUSTOMERS = $$ What is a “money” keyword? • Highly searched • Relevant to the business • Lower competition 30

31. 3. Keyword Assignment Theme Your Pages !!! A themed optimization is targeting one primary keyword per page with code optimization, content, url, linking, and additional keywords • Don’t target too many keywords on any individual page • Try to limit your keywords to 5 per page • Content on a page must support the targeted keywords • 1 keyword per 100 words of content (3-5% density) • More keywords on a page require more content to support them • Don’t dilute your theme 31

32. 3. Keyword Assignment • Group your keywords • Choose a primary keyword per group • Choose a few additional/supportive keywords (permutations of main target) • Define URLs (new or existing) • Assign pages to keyword groups not the other way • Review your content and modify accordingly 32

33. 3. Keyword Assignment Sample of a well themed page: http://www.dataprotection.com/data-backup/ data backup = primary keyword online data backup = permutation of main target • offsite data backup = permutation of main target • remote data backup = permutation of main target • data backup service = permutation of main target 33

34. 3. Keyword Assignment Sample of a well themed page: http://www.dataprotection.com/data-backup/ data backup = primary keyword online data backup offsite data backup remote data backup data backup services 34

35. 3. Keyword Assignment Sample of a well themed page: http://www.dataprotection.com/remote-backup/ remote backup = primary keyword remote online backup remote backup software remote backup services  remote data backup services 35

36. 3. Keyword Assignment Sample of a well themed page: http://www.dataprotection.com/remote-backup/ remote backup = primary keyword remote online backup remotebackup software remotebackup services  remote data backup services 36

37. 3. Keyword Assignment Sample of a poorly themed page: http://www.dataprotection.com/bckp/ online backup colocation electronic vaulting data recovery remote backup data backup offsite backup 37

38. 4. Content Changes Content Is King • Keyword Density (3-5%) • Content Length (300+ words) • Keyword Prominence (main targets at the start of the text) • Beware of duplicate content – where content is over 75% similar • Duplicate content can be handled by using – canonical urls or redirects at the server level • www.example.com/ or example.com/ • www.example.com/index.html or example.com/ D1 End 38