SEO 1 8 O C T O B E R 1 7

Transcription

1 SEO 1 8 O C T O B E R 1 7

2 Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

3 Search engines

4 Search Engine Market Global Search Engine Market Share June % 80.00% 79.29% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 7.28% 6.84% 5.29% 0.16% 0.05% Google Bing Baidu Yahoo Ask AOL

5 3.5 billion Google Search queries per day

6 Source: Google Hot Trends

7 Mobile Search Google

8 Mobile Search

9 Examples of Search Engine Market share Organic search (United Kingdom) % 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 91.90% 92.70% 94.80% 10.00% 0.00% 4.64% 5.14% 3.37% 2.29% 1.95% 1.40% Client 1 Client 2 Client 3 google / organic bing / organic yahoo / organic

10 How do search engines work?

11 How do search engines work? Two parts to a search engine: 1. Crawling and indexing web pages 2. Retrieving results for users

12 Crawling

13 Indexing When Google s crawlers send a webpage s data back to the server, their system renders the content of the page, just as a browser does. Not-rendered Rendered

14 Query processing (ranking) Google s ranking systems sort through the hundreds of billions of webpages in its index to give useful and relevant results in a fraction of a second.

15 Ranking based on desktop content (for now) Google ranks websites based on the desktop version of a page Only exception is the boost for having a mobile friendly page Also, means your mobile search is based off desktop rankings.

16 Search experiments Google engineers look to improve the Search ranking algorithm by: 1. Human quality raters 2. Live traffic experiments 3. User feedback Google engineers make changes on a daily basis (some more significant than others).

17 Google Algorithm Timeline

18 Recent Google Algorithm Updates

19 Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

20 Mega SERPs 1. Answer boxes 2. Google My Business listings 3. Direct answers 4. Featured snippets 5. Rich results

21 Smartphones = Personal assistants The New Multi-Screen World: Understanding Consumer Behaviour

22 Position 1 = Traffic = Revenue Florida holidays has 40,500 monthly searches P1 = 8,100 visits per month 0.16% conversion rate = 13 AOV - 3,500 (x13) = 45,500 per month P2 = 34,020 P3 = 27,195 P4 = 17,850

23 Organic vs Paid Source:

24 Keywords = Search queries

25 Why keywords are important? Keywords describe what your site/page is about People use keywords to search for information/products/services in search engines Search engines use keywords to help identify which pages should rank for a search query.

26 Three types of keywords Non-branded keywords Branded keywords Brand + non-brand keywords

27 Short tail vs long tail Short tail = 1-2 words Chunky middle = 3-4 words Long tail keywords = 5+ words

28 Traditional marketing model

29 Zero Moment Of Truth (ZMOT)

30 User behaviour and search interest It s important to remember people s search interests shifts at different times of the year.

31 Purpose of pages Purpose of course pages is to provide info on undergraduate courses, which includes (but not limited to): Course modules Entry requirements Provide full or part-time courses Work experience

32 User journey & keywords finance management job description business degree courses economics and finance degree leeds uni business school entry requirements uni leeds business school application Awareness Consideration Intent Decision L o n g t a i l

33 How to identify keywords Google Trends AdWords Keyword Planner Google Search Google Search Console Search Analytics Report

34 Keyword research - AdWords AdWords Keyword Planner

35 Keyword research - AdWords AdWords Keyword Planner

36 Keyword Keyword research - AdWords Keyword Group Search Volume AdWords Keyword Planner

37 Great for identifying historic trends. Google Trends Real time Search data for keywords. Provides a list of related keywords and level of search interest. Google Trends

38 Google Search Based on real time searches by users in Google around a topic. Google

39 Ubersuggest Ubersuggest

40 Search Analytics report Keywords (brand and non-brand) that the University of Leeds appeared for in organic search. Google Search Console Search Analytics report

41 Combine keywords into one Excel document Google Trends AdWords Keyword Planner Google Search Console Google Search Search Analytics Report

42 Keyword groups

43 Don t forget about your branded keywords Micro-moments interacting with your brand is important. People may want to: Find out application deadlines Get directions Contact the School Find out about clearing information Reviews Optimising for these moments is critical to the user journey.

44 The importance of UX, backlinks and content in SEO

45 Old SEO tactics Keyword stuffing Hidden content Over-optimised meta copy Cloaking Doorway pages Article and link farms

46 The effects of the Panda update

47 Examples of bad SEO - acierto.com Hit by recent Phantom V algorithm in 2017 which looks at the quality of the content on a website Main issue with the website is that the content on the websites pages are designed for search engines not users.

48 Examples of bad SEO - similarsites.com Website was hit hard by the Panda 4.1 algorithm Main issue with the website is that the content on the website is not very useful for users The content is mainly targets brand or website names.

49 Examples of bad SEO - wisegeek.com This website has been hit hard by every version of the Panda algorithm in the last 5 years Poorly written articles Paragraphs and sentences copied from other websites Out of date content designed to rank in search engines Heavily monetised so not to benefit users.

50 Keywords and synonyms

51 Keywords and synonyms

52 Main body text

53 Main body text

54 Word Count In isolation, word count isn t something that is scrutinised heavily by search engines: There s no minimum length, and there s no minimum number of articles a day that you have to post, nor even a minimum number of pages on a website. In most cases, quality is better than quantity. John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Some topics naturally require in-depth answers, a page that lacks content may not rank as well if other sites are providing thorough answers and expert content.

55 Mobile content Make sure to get your main points across in the first four paragraphs, in around 70 words. Use plain language, shorter words and simple sentence structures even for a literate, technical audience. Put your most important content at the top, since users tend to read web pages in an F- shaped pattern Get tough on visual and textual embellishments, legacy content, excessive links, and other clutter. Check the readability of your content on a mobile device on 2G, 3G or 4G (not WIFI).

56 Readability tools

57 Pogosticking

58 Hidden text Study found that important hidden content is not used by Google for ranking purposes.

59 Hidden text Any important desktop content which is hidden may not be taken into account by Google s ranking algorithm.

60 Google Fetch and Render tool Clicking on the page in the tool allows you to see what Googlebot and users see The tool also identifies any styling resources which it can t access to render the webpage Very useful to see if any design changes to a page can be seen by Google Also useful to see if a new or existing page s content can be rendered by Google Helps you spot indexation issues sooner Fetch and Render

61 Backlink (or link)

62 Link Anchor text Anchor Text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. In modern browsers, it is often blue and underlined, such as this link to the moz homepage. Search engines use external anchor text as a reflection of how other people view your page - and by extension, what your pages may be about.

63 Types of anchor text Exact-match Anchor text is "exact match" if it includes a keyword that mirrors the page that is being linked to. For example: 'link building' linking to a page about link building. Partial-match Anchor text that includes a variation of the keyword on the linked-to page. For example: 'link building strategies' linking to a page about link building. Branded A brand name used as anchor text. For example: 'Moz' linking to an article on the Moz Blog. Naked link A URL that is used as an anchor ' is a naked link anchor. Generic A generic word or phrase that is used as the anchor. "Click here" is a common generic anchor. Images Whenever an image is linked, Google will use the text contained in the image's alt attribute as the anchor text.

64 Google and SEO tactics

65 Example of site hit by Penguin Penguin 2.0 impacted the website in September Penguin 4.0 in October 2016 the website saw an increase after clean up of backlink profile.

66 Example of site hit by Penguin Penguin 2.0 impacted the website in September The website saw an increase after clean up of backlink profile from Penguin 2.1 in October 2013.

67 Manual actions Google's algorithms can detect the vast majority of spam and demote it automatically; for the rest, we use human reviewers to manually review pages and flag them if they violate the guidelines. Flagged sites can be demoted or even removed entirely from Google search results.

68 The basics of a SEO friendly landing page

69 What is a title tag? Title tag (Meta title) A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. HTML = <title>title goes here<title> (Ctrl + U) Why are they important? Title tags are a direct ranking factor, because they allow Google to understand what a web page is about, the keywords used form a strong signal during the ranking of results. As they are displayed directly in the search engine result page (SERP), title tags are also the first impression many people have of your web page. A good, optimised title tag will help encourage clicks which results in site traffic.

70 Title tag Considerations Google typically displays the first characters of a title tag, although the exact limit is measured in pixels (currently 600 pixels). Beyond this, Google will truncate the title tag which can often hinder click-through-rates (CTRs). Create unique title tags, this will help search engines understand the unique nature of your page which will help to avoid any dilution in content performance. Place important keywords first. Like humans, search engines crawl and parse content from left to right, keywords used earlier on will typically be given more importance.

71 Title tag examples

72 What is a meta description? Meta descriptions Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that provide a clear overview of the contents of web pages. Unlike title tags, meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor. HTML = <meta name= description content Description goes here /> (Ctrl + U Why are they important? Although they are not a direct ranking factor, they can indirectly affect rankings by improving the chances of your result being clicked. This is something known as SERP engagement. Research suggests SERP engagement can help improve ranking performance.

73 Meta descriptions Important considerations Google typically displays the first characters of a meta description. Beyond this, Google will truncate the meta description or amend it based on the rest of the content on the web page. This can negatively affect click-through-rates (CTRs). Create unique meta descriptions, this will help search engines understand the unique nature of your page which will help to avoid any dilution in content performance. If a meta description isn t declared, Google will typically auto-generate these based on the rest of the page copy. It s important to maintain complete control over this in order to improve CTRs.

74 Meta descriptions examples

75 What is a h1 tag? H1 tags An h1 tag is an html tag typically used to create a page s main heading. HTML = <h1>heading goes here.</h1> Why are they important? They are a direct ranking factor and alongside subsequent heading tags i.e. h2, h3 etc. these help search engines to understand the structure of content on a web page.

76 Image SEO

77 Image SEO

78 Image SEO

79 Considerations URL Structure URLs should never be longer than 2,048 characters; Internet Explorer won t be able to load the page if longer. Always use natural language. Characters and symbols can confuse both users and search engines so should be avoided where possible. Well-optimised URLs can serve as their own anchor text. If the link is directly shared in a forum, blogs, social media etc. search engines will use the language used in the URL to pass relevance on. URLs should be short, concise and let users and search engines know what the page is about.

80 Considerations Page speed Images can impact on the speed of a page loading. Ensure images are compressed appropriately without affecting image quality. Consider image use i.e. are several large, high quality images absolutely needed in order to serve a good enough user experience?

81 The basics of a SEO friendly website

82 Considerations Website architecture Pages should be no more than 3-4 clicks away from the homepage. Important pages should be included in the navigation, which should reflect user behaviour. Pages should be within categories and this should be reflected in URL structure (e.g. /undergraduate/course/). Unique content should only be found through 1 URL. Different categories and subcategories should be linked to from other areas of the website.

83 Bad Site Architecture Deeper pages mean Google and Users can t easily access information Fewer internal linking opportunities prevent link flow Siloed pages mean users, Google and link equity cannot get to important pages

84 Internal linking structure

85 Website navigation

86 Example of duplicate content

87 Example of duplicate content

88 Find duplicate content

89 Considerations Canonical URL Pages with duplicate content should ideally be 301 redirected to the canonical URL. If this is not possible, then a canonical tag needs to be added to the duplicate content page to point to the canonical URL. If a canonical tag cannot be added then Google recommends adding a meta robots noindex tag to the duplicate content page. Google - Use canonical URLs

90 Example of canonical tag

91 Example of 301 redirect

92 Meta robots noindex What is a meta robots noindex tag? A meta robots noindex tag is a HTML meta data tag which tells search engines not to index a page. Why is it important? It helps to stop search engines from indexing a page and appearing in search results. Considerations Use meta robots noindex tag on pages you do not want to appear in search engines. Only recommend using on duplicate content if 301 redirects and canonical tags cannot be implemented.

93 Questions?