As the relationship between search and social continues to grow, it’s important for businesses to start taking one integrated approach to online strategy that considers how search and social media can work together to meet overall business objectives. This presentation gives an overview of how search and social media influence one another and also includes a few tactics to consider when taking an integrated approach to online strategy.

1. SEARCH & SOCIAL 101
AUGUST 2011

2. Defining SEM
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) typically refers to pay-per-click search advertisements
ran through Google AdWords or Microsoft AdCenter. In reality, SEM involves all acts
associated with researching, submitting and positioning a website in search engine results,
including SEO.
Source:
www.orbitalmarketing.ca/services.html
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3. Paid Search Engine Results on Google
Paid Search Results
Paid Search Results
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4. Where Can You AdverGse With Paid Search?
The Google Network – 70% Share of the Search Market
Keyword Targeting Contextual Targeting
Image Sources:
www.netbooster-agency.co.uk/
4 www.quinncom.net/

5. Where Can You AdverGse With Paid Search?
Bing & Yahoo! – 30% Share of the Search Market
Partners
Search
Search and Contextual
Targeting
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6. Why Run a Paid Search Campaign?
YOU CAN EFFECTIVELY…
• Increase Website Traffic
• Build Brand Awareness
• Drive & Track E‐Commerce Sales
• Promote a Facebook Page
• Market a Mobile App
• Promote a YouTube Channel or Video
• Manage Brand ReputaHon & Crisis SituaHons
• And More!
REACH SEARCH USERS THROUGH TEXT, IMAGE, VIDEO, RICH MEDIA OR MOBILE ADS
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7. So That’s SEM…What’s SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The process of improving the quality and volume of
traffic to a website by employing a series of proven techniques to help the website achieve
a higher “organic” ranking with major search engines.
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8. Organic Search Results on Google
Organic Search Results
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9. Why Is SEO Important?
• A recent study on search behavior showed:
 94% of users tested clicked on a
first page search result. *
 Only 6% of users clicked to the
second page of search results. *
 The #1 ranking result garnered
around 33% of the total clicks. *
• A separate study showed that 39% of search
users link search ranking to company
prominence. **
• So, ranking highly in search results has become
very important for both site traffic and brand
reputaHon!
Sources:
* - Chitika, Inc.
9 ** - JupiterResearch

10. What Determines Organic Search Ranking?
• ≈200 signals are considered when Google ranks search
results. *
• A few of the signals most heavily weighted:
 Inbound Links (links to your web page)
 Quality, QuanHty, Originality and Freshness of
Content
 Content’s Relevancy to User’s Search Query
• Social media is becoming more of a factor in search
ranking.
Sources:
SearchEnglineLand.com
10 DailyBlogTips.com

11. The IntegraGon of Search & Social
• Two ways users find informaHon online: Search & Social Networks
• When ranking pages, search engines now count links shared on Twi_er, YouTube,
blogs, social bookmarking sites and public Facebook pages.
• Search engines are also trying to take social authority into account.
• Social engagement online is also important in relaHon to search:
 Social media messaging containing keywords can influence search
volume around specific terms.
 When the messaging spreads, users who search are then led to a page
you opHmized for those keywords.
Image Source:
www.madcheapseo.com
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12. Sharability, Embeddability & SyndicaGon
• Along with links, social acHons (i.e. “Likes”, retweets or + 1’s of a web page) are now
effecHng search results.
• To search engines: “Likes”, Retweets & Recommenda4ons = Popularity = Quality Content
• So, it’s now very important to make it easy for users to share or recommend your
content.
 Add bu_ons or widgets allowing for “Likes”, retweets, + 1’s and social
bookmarking.
 Consider syndicaHng content to other sites through an RSS feed (can increase
links).
 Provide an embed code for any videos posted, so others can repost to their
sites.
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13. Sharability – Bing & Facebook
• From search engine to recommendaHon
engine? Social’s now influencing where
searchers will click!
• Pages “Liked” by Facebook friends are given
more weight on Bing and appear first in search
results.
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14. Sharability – Google +1
• Similar effect ‐ Google is now showing results
that have been frequently “+ 1’d”
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15. Social Media OpGmizaGon (SMO)
• Like normal web pages, social media properHes can also be opHmized…
 Facebook – Including keywords in the URL, “about” box, “info” tab, photo &
video capHons, event descripHons, discussion forum and status messages.
 Twi_er – Placing keywords in username, bios, pictures, tweets and
“favorited” tweets.
 YouTube – InserHng keywords into video Htles, descripHons, tags, capHons,
transcripts and comments.
• And don’t forget about engagement!
 Facebook pages with more interacHon and YouTube videos with more
comments and raHngs will rank higher.
Image Source:
www.optisourceblog.com
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16. Social Content OpGmizaGon (SCO)
• Similar to SEO & SMO, but opHmizing all digital assets instead of just web text or
social media embassies.
• SCO includes opHmizing:
 Documents/PDFs
 Images
 Videos
 Press Releases
 Blogs
 Recipes
 And More!
• SCO can involve simply tagging images with keywords or can be more complex
(e.g. Restructuring a recipe secHon so items appear in search with rich snippets).
• See Edelman Digital’s SCO plan outlined in the following slide.
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17. Content OpGmizaGon Plan
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18. Structured Data
• Consider structured data as a way to improve search visibility.
• This is a way to markup language on the back‐end of your site to make it easier
for engines to recognize what your content’s about and provide high quality
results.
• Structured data is rewarded and given higher priority in search results. Recipe and Product rich
snippets taken from Google.
• It has been very impacmul in improving organic search volume for companies
such as Best Buy.
• Products, reviews and recipes can all be marked‐up to create richer search
results and increase organic traffic.
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19. Video SEO
• Videos now onen appear at the top of search results.
• Get ahead of the game by opHmizing your videos.
• Find keywords using the YouTube keyword tool.
• Add the keywords to your scripts, video Htles, descripHons and tags, and upload
transcripts of the dialogue.
• Engage on the site as you would any other network and encourage raHngs.
• Link to other videos or websites in video descripHons.
• Choose a great thumbnail image that will draw clicks.
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20. SEO Meets TradiGonal Media
• Try and opHmize press releases whenever possible.
• Don’t use industry jargon!
• Instead, find high quality keywords and place them in the Htle and body of the
release
• You can also bold keywords or strategically include them in link anchor text.
• But don’t sacrifice its quality or readability!
• Link back to your website or social media properHes in the release.
• Drive people to search for the keywords your press release has been opHmized
for via social media.
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21. SEO Tips: Making a Site Search Engine Friendly
• Give search engines plenty of text to crawl and not just images.
 FYI – Text embedded within images or logos can’t be
crawled!
• Avoid a high adverHsement to content raHo.
• Try to avoid using fancy features like Javascript and Flash that search
engines can have trouble crawling.
• Make sure each page is linked to from at least one other page if you
want it indexed by search engines.
• Don’t require users to login in order to access content. Search engines
can’t get past that login point, so they won’t see that content.
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22. SEO Tips: Take Advantage of Your Digital Ecosystem
• If you have a large number of websites and social media
embassies, then use them to your advantage!
• More sites means more opportuniHes to build links to different
brand pages.
• When appropriate, you can also use all your different social
properHes to spread the message about a product or event.
• Take advantage of opportuniHes to increase visibility on social
networks.
(e.g. Company X has Facebook pages for brands A, B & C. Brand A
adds the pages of Brand B and C to its public list of favorites and
vice versa)
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23. SEO Tips: Integrate SEO Efforts With Paid Search
• Neither a paid search nor an SEO approach is be_er than the other.
An integrated approach is best!
• A past study done by Nielsen Research showed a 32% increase in click‐
through‐rate when a brand appeared highly in both paid and organic
results.
• Paid search has many complimentary advantages:
 It gives you an immediate presence in search results (in
case a new product launches or there’s a sudden PR crisis).
 It lets you direct users to the page of your choice.
 Data and key learnings can be taken from paid campaigns
and help you prioriHze where to focus your SEO.
Source:
www.blizzardinternet.com
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24. Helpful Search Tools: Google Keyword Tool
Find keywords and search
volume for brand-related queries
www.adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
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25. Helpful Search Tools: YouTube Keyword Tool
Find keywords for video SEO and
ideas for new content
https://ads.youtube.com/keyword_tool
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26. Helpful Search Tools: Open Site Explorer
Quickly see how many links you
have to your site and who is
linking to you
www.opensiteexplorer.org
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27. SEO Checklist
 Is your content indexable? (i.e. Is it in HTML format and is every page linked to?)
 Is there plenty of text for search engines to crawl and figure out if your page is relevant?
 Are keywords used in page Htles, URLs or in the first 250 words of each page’s content?
 Are all possible linking opportuniHes being taken advantage of?
 Do a www and non‐www version of your site both exist? (Check for duplicate content)
 Are your assets (videos, images or press releases) opHmized for search and are they sharable?
 Are you keeping search in mind when engaging on social networks? Are your embassies opHmized?
 Can content be further defined through use of structured data?
 Have you considered how paid search can help you achieve your business goals?
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28. Glossary
Search Engine OpGmizaGon (SEO): The process of improving the quality and volume of traffic to a website by employing a series of proven techniques to help the website achieve
a higher “organic” ranking with major search engines.
Search Engine MarkeGng (SEM): Search engine opHmizaHon is just a part of search engine markeHng with involved all acts associated with researching, submitng and
posiHoning a website in search engine results. Typically SEM refers to paid, cost‐per‐click search adverHsements like Google AdWords ads.
Organic Search Results: The unpaid lisHngs in search engine results. Results are ranked according to a large combinaHon of relevancy factors including linkage data, original page
content, keyword usage and many more factors.
Crawling: When search engines search for pages to include in their index. When a search is performed, search engines then crawl indexed pages for relevant content and then
deliver search results.
Indexing: Aner search engines crawl your site, they will index or store your content so they can recall it at a later Hme and return it as a search result. Some things can keep your
content from being indexed such as a poor linking structure, non‐HTML text that is invisible to search engine or a require login that engines cannot surpass.
Keywords: A word or phrase which implies a certain mindset or demand that targeted prospects are likely to search for.
Inbound Links: Links coming into a website from other online sources (powerful in determining where a page ranks in search).
Social Authority: Search engines now take into account links coming to a site via social media. They also look at the user’s social authority which can include things like number of
followers or number of tweets.
Structured Data: Structuring your data in a specific way in order to be_er explain the objects on your site in more detail to search engines. Search engines have banded together
to create Schema.org, a site that provides language on how to markup your web content to meet their criteria and make it easier for them to provide high quality results.
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