Search Engine Advertising, Part 1 Preparing Your Website for a High Search Engine Ranking

1. Search Engine Advertising, Part 1 Preparing Your Website for a High Search Engine Ranking

2. Scope • 1 – Search engines and Google • 2 – Choosing the Right Keywords • 3 - On-site Optimisation • 4 – Getting Value from Links • 5 – Content is King • 6 – More things to do and not do • Note: these slides are based on a presentation by Clayton Wehner, contact@bluetrainenterprises.com.au W: www.bluetrainenterprises.com.au

3. Organic vs Paid • Google displays two types of results: • Organic results: these are unpaid listings that are ranked by importance/keyword relevance • Paid results: these are pay-per-click listings that appear on the right hand margin and above the organic listings – anybody can bid to display their ad at the top of these listings • Google users generally accord greater worth to the organic results

4. Paid Results Organic Results

5. Choosing the Right Keywords Part 2

6. Are you in Google? • site:www.yoursite.com • Displays a list of pages from your site that have been indexed by Google • link:www.yoursite.com • Displays a sample of external pages that link to your site • cache:www.yoursite.com • Displays the cached image of the website that is currently on file at Google. • info:www.yoursite.com • Displays information that Google currently holds about the website. • related:www.yoursite.com • Displays pages that are similar to your website. • If you are not in Google, submit your site here: http://www.google.com.au/addurl

7. Choosing the Right Keywords • A keyword combination is used to obtain search results from a search engine • Web pages can be optimised for particular keyword combinations • Before optimising a website, it is necessary to identify the best keywords to optimise for

8. Choosing the Right Keywords • It’s necessary to do some keyword analysis… • What is the volume of traffic for the keyword combination? • Have other websites optimised for those keywords? Would it be hard to get a high ranking? • Who sits in the No. 1 spot for those keywords? • What keywords are my competitors targeting? • What do the keywords say about the searcher’s intent/mindset? • Surfers • Researchers • Buyers

9. Exercise • Pair up • Imagine that you are in the market for something from your partner’s website and you’re ready to buy • Write down three keyword phrases that you might enter into a search engine to find that product or service • Then, write down three keyword phrases that you think somebody would enter into a search engine to find your own product or service • Compare your keyword combinations

10. Google Keyword Suggestion Tool • https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal • Visit the site now and plug in a generic word that relates to your business

11. Keyword Advice • Optimise each page for a different keyword combination • Don’t choose single keywords – 3-5 word combinations are best • Don’t choose generic keywords - be specific • Don’t choose hotly-contested keywords • Use geographic qualifiers – ie. Adelaide • Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes • Choose keywords that align with a ‘buying’ state of mind

12. On Site Optimisation Part 3

13. On Site Optimisation • On-site factors play a big role in determining your search engine rankings • These are the things that you can do yourself or that you can task your web developer to do on your behalf

14. Use of multimedia platforms • Be careful when using multimedia platforms, such as Flash, particularly as navigational elements • Your website must be ‘spiderable’, otherwise it won’t get good search engine rankings • Text-based navigation can be ‘spidered’; links embedded within a Flash element cannot. • Be careful also with Javascript, DHTML or other graphical navigation elements • If you use these, provide a text based navigation bar elsewhere on the page

15. On-site navigation • Your navigation structure and accessibility is critical for search engine rankings – search engines need to be able to access your content in order to index it • KISS principle • Employ the 2 click rule (3 click rule at most) • Use textual links from your home page • Use a Sitemap which can be accessed from your home page • Employ inline / contextual links

16. The TITLE tag • The singularly most important on-site factor! • If you do one thing to your site, then this should be it! • This is what appears in the top bar in your browser • Almost always the heading that Google chooses for its listings – therefore it needs to be enticing or contain a call-to-action

17. This is where the TITLE tag appears in your browser

20. The TITLE tag • Include your chosen keywords within the TITLE tag – preferably near the start of the tag • Try to keep it to 70 characters • Must be relevant to the page content • Very important - each page should have a different TITLE tag

21. Metadata Tags • Search engines also use a series of metadata tags that reside in the header of the page to index websites • These tags can’t be seen by human visitors to your website – but they’re still interrogated by the search engines

22. The DESCRIPTION tag • A textual description of what the page is about • Regularly used in Google search results as the description of your site

24. The DESCRIPTION tag • Include keywords close to the start of the tag, but don’t repeat more than 3 times • Try to keep it to 150 characters • Must be relevant to the page content • Each page should have a different DESCRIPTION tag

25. The KEYWORD tag • Less important than TITLE and DESCRIPTION, but still worth including • Up to 10 individual words, separated by commas

26. Body Text • Google loves original, high quality textual content • Body text is extremely important for search engine rankings because this is what human users come to see • Keywords, synonyms and variations of the primary keyword combination should be included in the body text, but not so that it reads ‘artificially’. It should read naturally. • More on textual content in Part 5…

27. Keywords in URLs • URLs that contain keywords are better than those that don’t • Quite easy to do if your website is static, a little more difficult for database-driven sites • Don’t make the URLs too long because this will be seen as an attempt to manipulate the search results • Good and bad: • www.mysite.com/hotels/sydney/hilton.html • www.mysite.com/search.asp?hotelID=435&locID=32

28. Heading Tags • Heading tags – eg. <h1>, <h2> - within the HTML identify headings within the page copy and break up the text • They are used by search engines to determine page content • Use keywords in these tags, but don’t overdo it.

29. Link Anchor Text • The ‘anchor’ text contained within hyperlinks provides Google with an understanding of what the linked content is about • Every hyperlink on your site should have descriptive anchor text, rather than ‘click here…’ • Inline links or contextual links are best

30. Image ALT Text • There is the opportunity to specify ‘alternate’ text for every image on your website • The ALT text is displayed if the image doesn’t load in the user’s browser • It also can have a positive effect on your website rankings • The ALT tag should describe the image • Keep it short and to the point • Don’t use ALT tags as a place to stuff keywords

31. A word on domain names… • Domain names can assist search engine rankings too • If you are thinking of changing names, or planning a new business, think carefully about the domain name you choose • Try to keep it short, memorable • Try to include keywords in the domain name • Register the name for as long as possible

32. Customer Assurance Factors • It is recommended that your website contains: • Business information – ABN, ACN, RBN • Telephone number – 1300 adds credibility • A physical address • Information about your business – ‘about us’ • Policies • Privacy • Security • Terms of use / disclaimers • A sitemap with links to major pages

33. Getting Value from Links Part 4

34. Getting Value from Links • Links – both inbound and outbound – are important factors for Google when assessing a website’s importance

35. Inbound Links • These are links on other websites that link to your site • Good quality inbound links serve as a ‘vote of confidence’ for your site – if a good site links to your site, then by association, your site must be good, too • Try and get links from ‘authority’ websites to your site • Thematically-linked sites • High ranking and well-known sites • Government sites – • Educational institution (.edu.au) sites • It’s not the volume of inbound links that is important – it’s the quality

36. Inbound Links • When requesting a link, try and engineer it so that your keywords are included in the anchor text – eg. Cheap Hotel Deals from Getaroom.com.au

37. Outbound Links • There is evidence to suggest that your outbound links contribute to your rankings • Only link to good quality, thematically-aligned content on third party websites • Only link to sites that would be of interest to your audience • Be aware that outbound links take visitors away from your site – and that is not necessarily what you want to do.

38. Caution… • Reciprocal links – I’ll link to you, if you link to me • You can get some value from these only if the two sites are thematically aligned and are both high quality • Most requests for reciprocal links should be deleted, particularly three-way link swaps • Paid Links • Google frowns upon paid links – the Google algorithm is sophisticated and can detect links which seek to artificially manipulate its rankings • Link Farms & ‘Bad Neighbourhoods’ • These are sites that allow you to post your link for free alongside thousands of other sites • Being linked from these sites can damage your standing

39. Getting listed in Directories • Being listed in major directory-based websites can boost your rankings considerably • http://www.dmoz.org - a difficult one to get into • http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html • http://www.google.com/local/add - a very important one that will see your business plotted on Google Maps • http://www.yellowpages.com.au/awu_freeListing.do • http://www.hotfrog.com.au • http://www.aussieweb.com.au • http://www.truelocal.com.au • http://www.bigroo.com.au • http://www.webwombat.com.au/submit/index.htm

40. Other ways to get Inbound Links • Articles / interviews published on other websites • Press releases • Forum posts • Blog comments • ‘Link bait’ – controversial is best!

41. Content is King Part 5

42. Content is King • Ever heard the saying? • Search engines are simply a means to locate great content • Does your site have great content? • Or is it ‘brochure-ware’? • Does your site ‘do’ anything else that will bring visitors back time and again?

43. Content is King • Add content that people want to read and will pass on – top ten tips, ‘how to’ guides, free white papers • Text should be in short sentences, compact paragraphs, be well punctuated, and contain headings to break up the text – time-poor people don’t read, they scan • Pages should not scroll and scroll and scroll… • One page per theme (optimised for that theme) and cross-link

44. Content is King • Text should be written from a WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) perspective – no fluff, just tell the customer what they want to hear. • Add content regularly – if your site remains static, then it will lose its prominence in the search engines (and visitors won’t want to come back)

45. Add content regularly • Some ideas for new content for your website: • New products • Company activities • Special offers or discounts • Achievements – awards • New staff profiles • Case studies about your products or services • Testimonials from customers • ‘How to’ guides • General advice about products or services • Observations about the market

46. Web 2.0 Content • Web 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and its hosted services, such as social networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, etc (Wikipedia) • Google loves this content and you should employ it where appropriate

47. Blogs • Blog = web log • In essence, an online journal or diary, ordered by date • An excellent way of adding content regularly to your website • You can quickly establish yourself as an expert in your field via a blog • Can be setup within minutes online: • Wordpress.com • Blogger.com • TypePad.com • But it takes dedication and patience!

48. RSS • RSS = ‘really simple syndication’ • A ‘push’ method of distribution for new content • Allows users to receive automatic updates when content is released • RSS feeds generally viewed in RSS readers – inc. browsers, Outlook • Can also distribute to mobile devices and social networking sites

49. Video • The biggest growth area on the web as broadband uptake and bandwidth increases • Over 20 hours of video every minute is uploaded to YouTube • Video can be done cheaply with a handheld camcorder • Viral impact can bring thousands of visitors to a website in a short space of time • Examples: • Elf Yourself • The Greatest Job in the World • The World’s Greatest Business Mind

50. Social networking • Web based services that allow users to create online communities based on shared interests and activities – there are over 2,000 of them!