Search Engine Optimisation

1. Search Engine Optimisation

2. Assumptions • Tag optimisation <H1>, <H2>, <B>, <TITLE> • Content is King • Inbound links • Anchor Text • Keyword Density • Keyword Frequency • Expert / Authority Sites • Parental Documents • On-Page SEO / Off-Page SEO

3. SEO resource vs PPC resource Why SEO is more important • Q4 is coming; PPC ROI goes down, bids up, competition everywhere. • Direct-To-Merchant deals more difficult to land. • Google disabling “routing/jump” pages. Return of the Portal • Still use PPC, but reinvest spend on your brand. • Build portal, do it properly. • Free natural traffic is extra revenue. • Add to favourites, email capture. • Campaign deals, CPM/CPC hybrids. • Tangible asset.

4. Writing for Search Engines – On Page SEO Well crafted content is good for: • Human beings • Accessibility AND • Search Engines You don’t need to compromise. RELEVANCY RELEVANCY RELEVANCY

5. Body Text • The initial content, the first 2-3 paragraphs, is the MOST IMPORTANT. Especially the first 150-200 characters. • Keyword Phrases (used by your target user/market) presented consistently and logically throughout body text will boost rankings. • When possible, Keyword Phrases should be used at the start, or near to the start of paragraphs. • Ideal target is 200 – 300 words per page.

6. Things you may not know. • The Title tag has a stronger weight with regards to Googles ranking – BUT – Google will try to match keywords and phrases in the Title tag with links and text in the page. • Title tag should be varied to reflect each page. First 60 characters are the most important, title tag should be no longer than 15 words. • Keyword density of around 2-7% is recommended (won’t trip filters). KD = “Keyword Count” divided by “Total Words” x “100”. • Keyword frequency (repetition) of around 3-7 times per 100 words is recommended. • Keyword prominence – words at the beginning of a page, paragraph, header are assigned a greater value than those at middle or end. • Keyword proximity – the distance between 2 related terms, the shorter the difference the better the page will rank for that phrase.

7. Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO • Links are your currency on the web and are your net worth. • Not all links are equal, a reciprocated PR4 guest book link is not the same as an on topic PR4 link from an authority site. • Focusing on one aspect of a link (PR, anchor text, placement) neglects the understanding each link can have on your rankings. Copywright Greenlight

8. The Link Exchange 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party Authority Parental Authority Honesty / Integrity Total score for this link = 48 out of 60 Copywright Greenlight

9. The Link Exchange 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party Authority Parental Authority Honesty / Integrity Guest book link = 16 out of 60 Copywright Greenlight

10. The Link Exchange • Google decides not to value anchor text so heavily in its next update and cranks up its honesty filter. • What if 3rd Party Authority is considered the ‘new black’? • The value that you had accrued in Anchor text is devalued, and you have little value in the currency that is flavor of the month. • If Anchor text is your only currency, then a devaluation of your key link currency WILL hurt your rankings. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 On Page Placement Anchor Text Expertise 3rd Party Authority Parental Authority Honesty / Integrity Guest book link = 9 out of 60 Copywright Greenlight

11. Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO • Links have different qualities, weightings and attributes. • The weightings change making links worth more or less each update. • If you drop in rankings you may not have been penalised, just have less of the “in-currency”. • Important as you need to know what links to go after as they right links can take a long time. Copywright Greenlight

12. Search Engine Optimisation – Best Practice Where is a good example of SEO? Keyword Rich Title Description Spider Friendly URL Keywords in URL Text Based Menu Links <h1> For Page Heading Search Engine Friendly Keyword Rich Text

13. Search Engine Optimisation – Kelkoo Rewarded 433,000 UK Pages indexed by Google Precise Page Titles Clear, keyword rich page descriptions invite click throughs

14. Dynamic URLs and Solutions • Spiders *can* be put off from crawling your site by heavily dynamic URLs http://www.domain.co.uk/session.php?=F38cmdu03/product.aspx?ID=7563&CID=100 • Eliminate sessionIDs for spiders. • Re-write the URL as: http://www.domain.co.uk/7563/100 Shorter, cleaner and spider friendly! One for your technical team. • MOD_REWRITE for Unix/Linux based systems. • ISAPI_REWRITE for Windows based systems. Check with your host if you are able to install these modules, if not, you will need to change hosts.

15. Robots.txt Robots.txt Robots.txt – A text file that you place on your server which instructs search engines spiders to NOT crawl a page on your site. Always use on the following pages: Pages under construction, CGI-BIN, Redundant information. Always use a robots.txt file even if its empty. Here is an example: User-agent: *

16. Questions?