SEO for bloggers and other content creators can drive significant traffic increases when done successfully. Key tactics include optimizing content for relevant keywords, building internal and external links through strategies like guest blogging, optimizing URLs and metadata like titles and descriptions. Ongoing evaluation of analytics and issues like broken links helps improve performance. Social sharing and signals are also increasingly important for discovery and engagement.

1. SEO for Bloggersand other stuff Dennis Goedegebuure @thenextcorner Thenextcorner.net

2. Introduction Dennis Goedegebuure Director SEO eBay Inc Responsible for SEO Strategy for Global Platform 9 years with eBay 5 years in the US

3. What can SEO do for you? When successful, SEO can get you significant more traffic http://thenextcorner.net/wireless-switch-dell-latitude-e4300/

4. The Future Of Your Business SEO is NOT a business model SEO is NOT a business model

5. 5

6. Search Engine Quality Guidelines All major search engines have documentation Bing: www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/webmaster/archive/2009/09/03/search-engine-optimization-for-bing.aspx Google: www.google.com/support/webmasters Yahoo: help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/basics/basics-18.html

7. Google Webmaster Guidelines What To Do Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site Make use of the robots.txt file on your web server

8. Google Webmaster Guidelines What To Do Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site Make use of the robots.txt file on your web server

9. Google Webmaster Guidelines What To Avoid Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank Avoid hidden text or hidden links Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#1

10. Google Webmaster Guidelines What To Avoid Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank Avoid hidden text or hidden links Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#1

12. Check robots rules

13. Bandwidth considerations

14. URL issues (infinite, redirects, dynamic)

15. Duplication

16. Content extraction

17. Topic association

18. Web-wide value

19. Relevance

20. Value

21. Uniqueness

23. Google is changing…Fast… Back-end Infrastructure Caffeine MayDay Panda Front-end UI One-Box Left Rail Instant Search Personalized Local Social

24. Front End UI Changes

26. 16

27. 17

28. SEOmoz Ranking Factors Yearly survey and data analytics to construct how search engines rank websites Survey among 130+ SEO professionals -> Opinion! Data study on 10K+ randomly sampled keywords http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

29. SEO Ranking Factors

35. Links – Internal & external Links Links are still major ranking factor in SEO Internal Links; Site hierarchy & Taxonomy External Links; hard to get, no control over Anchor text Don’t buy Links! Earn editorial Links by being remarkable! 22

36. Webmaster Guidelines Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links Use text instead of images to display important names, content and links Next step: Which pages have incoming links? Webmaster Central Referral traffic Rank pages with links from high to low Group pages on topics Interlink relevant pages Build strong hierarchy in site structure Use keyword rich anchor tags

37. Link research Google Webmaster Tools

38. Referral traffic = External Link

39. Link Research Using Tools Yahoo Site Explorer Open Site Explorer MajesticSEO

41. Yahoo Site Explorer http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ Demo

42. Open Site Explorer http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/

43. Open Site Explorer

44. MajesticSEO https://www.majesticseo.com/

45. MajesticSEO

49. MajesticSEO

50. MajesticSEO

51. Internal Cross Linking Wordpress SEO smart links Let’s you set up keywords that will automatically link to a location on your site http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/wordpress-plugins/seo-smart-links

53. Lists

54. First time

55. Give value

56. Cool

57. Design

58. Shock

59. Controversy

60. Insulthttp://www.digital-photography-school.com/long-exposure-photography http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/01/24/the-day-250000-people-showed-up-at-my-blog-case-study/

62. Link Magnets 90 links 1,210 links http://www.digital-photography-school.com/long-exposure-photography http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/01/24/the-day-250000-people-showed-up-at-my-blog-case-study/

64. Link Building through Pictures http://thenextcorner.net/sydney-night-photos/

65. Google Alert in GReader

66. Link Building through Pictures

67. Guest Blogging Build links through guest blogging Use your best content Link to relevant resources Pay attention to your Bio http://www.twitip.com/why-twitter-will-go-mainstream-in-2009/

70. External Links

71. Internal Link (Plugins)

72. External links

73. Link bait

78. URL structure – Control through Permalink settings http://thenextcorner.net/5000-miles-journey-of-a-keyboard/

79. common words like “what”, “you” or “can” out of your post slug to make it more search engine friendly http://www.vretoolbar.com/news/2007/04/01/seo-slugs-wordpress-plugin/

80. URL structure – Control through Permalink settings http://www.thenextcorner.com/2010/03/fish-free-wifi.html VS http://thenextcorner.net/men-macro/

81. Date based URL’s vs keywords Through Advanced segments in Analytics, I can break out all traffic on publication dates

82. Date based URL’s vs keywords

83. Canonicalization Each page should only have one URL Each specific combination of content should only have one URL http://www.example.com/?id=1&p=2 http://www.example.com/?p=2&id=1 55

84. Rel Canonical If you cannot prevent duplicate content, pick a canonical version, and use Rel Canonical to point duplicates to the Canonical URL <link rel=“canonical” href=“http://example.com/canonical-url/”/> Solution: Canonical URL in Plug-in http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/ 56

86. External Links

87. Internal Link (Plugins)

88. External links

89. Link bait

91. Keyword rich

92. SEO-slug plugin

93. Canonical tag plugin

97. Meta Tags Meta tags are HTML elements used to provide structured metadata about a web page <head> <title>eBay Daily Deal: Great items, deep discounts, and free shipping</title> <meta name=“description” content=“Attention dealhunters: Save money on eBay with the Daily Deal. Check back every day for great items, deep discounts, and free shipping.”> <meta name=“keywords” content=“deal, deals”> </head>

98. Meta Tags Does the result inspire to click?

99. How to construct titles 61

101. RT @username: 12-15 characters

103. SEO for Wordpress by Yoast 64

104. Site Verification

106. External links

107. Link bait

110. Keyword rich

111. SEO-slug plugin

112. Canonical tag plugin

114. Verification

115. SEO for Wordpress from Yoast.com

118. People Scan Pages

119. Content Elements Use H1 – H6 where relevant Use Images http://customblogging.com/seomike/archives/seo-tips-tricks/strategically-placed-faces-help-conversion

120. Learn from Newspapers http://thenextcorner.net/uploads/2009/02/new-york-times-21-january-obama.jpg

121. Review Content through SEO-Plugin

122. Accidental Blogging Success http://thenextcorner.net/wireless-switch-dell-latitude-e4300/

124. Provide Value

125. Keyword Analytics

126. Follow up on Success http://thenextcorner.net/wireless-switch-dell-latitude-e6410/

127. Content Planning Unique for travel industry in The Netherlands

128. Image Optimization

129. #1 #2

130. Image Optimization File name: Graffiti-New-York_Usual-Suspects.jpg Alt text: Graffiti New York Usual Suspects New York fotos Text on page http://thenextcorner.com/2007/10/new-york-fotos/

132. External links

133. Link bait

136. Keyword rich

137. SEO-slug plugin

138. Canonical tag plugin

140. Verification

141. SEO for Wordpress from Yoast.com

143. Semantic mark up

144. Unique quality content

146. XML Sitemap

147. XML Sitemap

148. XML Sitemap

150. External links

151. Link bait

154. Keyword rich

155. SEO-slug plugin

156. Canonical tag plugin

158. Verification

159. SEO for Wordpress from Yoast.com

161. Semantic mark up

162. Unique quality content

165. Keywords Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it

166. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

167. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

168. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

169. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

170. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

171. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

173. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

174. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

175. Keyword ResearchGoogle Webmaster Central

176. Keyword ResearchGoogle Analytics

178. Long Tail Keywords http://www.seo-orlando.com/long-tail-keywords-seo-budget/

179. Hittail Real-time keyword analytics tool Gives KW suggestions Actionable To-Do list

180. Social signals 103

181. Social Media SuccessNick Reese story http://trafficandtrust.com/ http://nicholasreese.com/ 104

182. Convergence SEO & Social Social Signals move into SEO territory Drive traffic & Brand mentions Link Building tool Reputation monitoring 105

183. Get you content in front of social friends

184. StumbleUpon http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/stumbleupon-drives-more-us-web-traffic-facebook-133207 http://gs.statcounter.com/#social_media-US-monthly-201007-201107

185. The Gift that keeps on Giving Since 2011, SU traffic has exploded

187. StumbleUpon URL ShortnerSU.PR

189. Facebook, Exploding Referral Traffic http://www.alexschultz.co.uk/weblog/2011/04/the-traffic-impact-of-facebook-social-plugins-on-my-cocktail-site.html 113

190. Google+ Promising http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/05/google-plus-sharing/

191. Google+ http://searchengineland.com/report-google-ceo-page-ties-bonuses-to-social-success-reorganizes-google-mgmt-team-72197

192. Add the G+ button http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/

193. Google+ WMC

194. Google+ WMC

195. Google+ WMC

196. Google+ WMC

197. Google+ WMC

198. G+ in G Analytics http://www.cmswire.com/cms/web-engagement/google-analytics-now-tracks-social-engagement-011868.php

199. Social Engagement in G Analytics

200. 404-errors

201. Spot 404 in G Analytics http://thenextcorner.net/how-to-use-google-analytics-to-look-for-404-errors-on-your-site/

202. Find the 404-errors

204. 301 Redirect 3 0 2 Bad for SEO 302 Redirect Sign on the front door reads: We Temporarily Moved to 534 High Street Keep coming back to our old address each visit before going to 534 High Street to see if we’ve returned 124 Main Street 534 High Street Post Office NOT notified No history, New Page PageRank Stays Here 3 0 1 Good for SEO 301 Redirect Sign on the front door reads: We Moved to 534 High Street Post Office notified Please update your address book 124 Main Street 534 High Street PageRank Transfers

205. Redirect Plug-in http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/redirection/

206. Twitter: @TheNextCorner Blog: TheNextCorner.net StumbleUpon: DennisGNL.stumbleupon.com Flickr: dennis_goedegebuure