Introduction to SEO

Introduction to SEO Steve Adolph Worthington Industries, Inc. February 22, 2005

Websites – A Marketing Tool • Can be a powerful communication tool along with traditional print & broadcast media • Used to promote or sell products & services, or to inform target audiences • Sites are only beneficial if the audience is aware of it or can easily find it • About 50% of browsers use search engines, the other half type in the URL directly

Marketing Approach • “Organic” search engine listings • Free listings provided by Google, Yahoo!, MSN • Utilize “spider” or “crawler” to index page content • Search directory listings • Doesn’t use crawlers. Humans categorize and index your site URL and a short description • Yahoo! is fee-based, Open Directory Project is free • Paid listings - $$$ • Called “pay-per-click” campaigns • Buy your way to the top of the search results page • Unlike organic, results are guaranteed

Marketing Approach • Recommendation is to follow a diversified approach by using a combination of all three areas for the best results. • This is known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search Engine Introduction • No guarantees with search engines • Best practices and guidelines will help • There are no specific details since they could be exploited • The process of analyzing and making changes to a website to improve search rankings is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

Search Engine Introduction • Consider search engines design BEFORE building site. • But remember, a website is intended for HUMAN audiences, not search engines.

Organic Best Practices • Research & select keywords/phrases • What people type into engines • One study shows 56% of searchers use 2-3 word keyword phrases • Keyword research tools: • Log analyzer software (e.g. WebTrends) • WordTracker.com ($) • Overture.com (free) • Google AdWords (free with account) • Place keywords prominently in page copy, titles, <META> description tags.

Organic Best Practices • Design a user-friendly site that is searchable • Use with caution: Javascript, flash, DHTML, frames, cookies, session IDs, more than 3 URL parameters • Always have 2 forms of navigation: user and search engine • Avoid excessive URL depth: more than 3 to 4 levels • Tailor search terms and web pages for your audience • Site should have: Home, FAQ/Help, About Us, Contact Us, Site Map, Links/Resources, Products/Services (when appropriate) • Each page needs a unique, focused title relevant to the content and incorporates keywords. Don’t use company name. • Get links to your site on other RELEVANT sites.

Organic Best Practices • Do NOT spam the search engines or you could be banned! • Keyword stacking or stuffing, unrelated keywords • Hidden text and links, tiny text (under 10pt) • Duplicating pages and sites (same content, different URLs) • Doorway/Gateway/Ghost pages – overly optimized, well-ranked pages that redirect to “real” site. • Page redirects (with Refresh Meta tag) • “Link farms” used to increase link popularity scores

Directory Listings Intro • Before search engines, Yahoo! search directory was the only game in town • A “directory” differs from an “engine” in that it doesn’t index web pages or content. • Human editors review submitted site & put it in a category/subcategory structure • Only the URL and short description is recorded • Yahoo! is $300/year, Open Directory Project is free (ODP feeds Google).

Directory Best Practices • Choose a very specific category and subcategory in the directory • Locate your competitors in the directory • Register with “second tier” directories. They offer specialty or niche listings.

Paid Advertising Intro • With pay-per-click (PPC), you pay each time someone clicks on your ads • Two major (& most expensive) players are Overture (owned by Yahoo!) and Google AdWords • Smaller players are FindWhat, Espotting • Start an account w/credit card, create word ad, bid on ad keywords in auction • Lots of ads? Mgmt tools available

PPC Best Practices • Calculate what a “click” is worth to your company before PPC campaign • Be aware: about 20% of browsers don’t trust ads and won’t click on them • Review & follow PPC guidelines • Do not use superlatives (such as greatest, largest, best, etc.), all capital letters, or exclamation points. • Do not put contact information such as phone numbers or e-mail addresses in the ad. • Make sure the ad matches the site content.

Sample Site Analysis

Resources • Search engine syntax and extras • “site:www.yoursite.com”. Shows what the engine has in the index for the site. • “define:your_word”. Searches web for definitions. • Built-in calculator. Type in your calculation on the search bar and press Enter. (e.g. 7*25+33) • Package tracker. Enter your package tracking number (FedEx, UPS, USPS) for a status. • Stock price check. Enter stock symbol. • Street maps. Type in US address w/ city or zip. • For a list of Google operators see: http://www.google.com/help/operators.html

Resources • Search engine guidelines • Google:http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html • Yahoo!:http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/basics/basics-18.html • MSN:http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBMASTER_REF_GuidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm • Open Directory Project • http://www.dmoz.org/ • Search Engine Watch – tips, articles, news • http://www.searchenginewatch.com/

Introduction to SEO