Why Can't Anyone Find My Website?
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The webinar version of this presentation is available at: http://www.theurldr.com/register-cant-anyone-find-website/ ARE YOU INVISIBLE TO GOOGLE AND THE SEARCH ENGINES? There are many reasons why your customers may be having trouble finding your website. In this webinar, we’ll discuss best practices in various website design and SEO techniques that can help put your website on the map. Literally. This presentation teaches: -The most important parts of your webpage for customers and for Google. -How to write content for your website to get you found. -Search engine optimization (SEO) basics and best practices, including what you can control and what you can't. -Tools of the pros to help get you found by the search engines. -A brief introduction to the Google Zoo (Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird) and why you need to be aware of all these animals and birds.
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Why Can't Anyone Find My Website?
- 1. Why Can’t Anyone Find My Website? How to get found and make more money online
- 2. KimButler@TheURLdr.com www.TheURLdr.com @TheURLdr The URL Dr Kim Butler The URL Dr. 4539 Metropolitan Court Frederick, MD 21704 301-363-2710
- 3. SEO Basics Tools of the Pros Content Basics Design Basics What we are going to discuss today. Agenda
- 4. SEO Basics Search Engine Optimization best practices to help you get found
- 5. MythsAbout Search Engines There’s a great deal of misinformation and out of date information about SEO and how search engines work.
- 6. Myth #1 I should submit my URLs to the search engines Myth #1 Search engines don’t use submissions anymore. Submitting your URLs is useless. Myth #2 There needs to be a certain number of keywords on the page Myth #2 In the words of our friends at Moz.com, “Keyword density is crap.” Myth #3 A Google Adwords campaign will increase your Myth #3 Paid search does not increase your organic results. Paid and organic are totally separate and do not impact each other. Myth #4 Paying for links helps increase your search rank Myth #4 Manipulative linking including reciprocal link programs, link farms, paid links, and low quality directory links don’t work & can get you penalized. Myth #5 Hiding text in HTML code will increase my rankings Myth #5 Cloaking or hiding text or keywords in the code of your web pages so a visitor can’t see it is really, really bad.
- 7. keyworduse links contentanalysis domainauthority sentiment performance Search Ranking Factors Elements that search engines use to rank pages in the search results These and more There are over 200 separate elements that the search engines use to rank pages in the search results. 2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors moz.com/search-ranking-factors
- 8. Keywords Where every website and online marketing effort starts
- 9. WhatAre Keywords? The single words or groups of words that people use to search on the internet. Keywords with Local Intent Keywords that include geographic intent: city, town, state, area, etc. Multiple Word Keywords •2, 3, or 4 word keywords •More specific •Less competition •Used when consumers are ready to make a purchase •70% of all searches Single Keywords •Very broad •More competition •Used when consumers are fact finding •30% of all searches
- 10. Which Keywords? How do we know which keywords to use?
- 11. Why Keyword Research? What you call your product or service, may not be what your customer calls it tennis shoes running shoes Nike Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14 #DH3212 Adidas Originals Samoa Vulc shoes Adidas athletic shoes
- 12. Keyword Research What keywords are prospective customers using to find products and services like we offer? Keyword research will tell us.PPC SEO Web Pages Traffic Market Research
- 13. Seed List How to make a seed list List words that describe your company List words that describe your product or service List product names, model numbers, brands, etc. List category words that describe what you do List words your customers use in describing your product or service Look at competitor’s websites and see what keywords they are using List synonyms that your customers may use What words have visitors searched on your website? What words have visitors used on search engines to reach your site? Consider the questions your potential customers are asking. What are they trying to accomplish? Ask your customers how they found you, what they call your products, and how they might search for you
- 14. Keyword Research Tools Use Google Keyword Planner to expand your seed list Google Keyword Planner googlekeywordtool.com
- 15. Finding Winning Keywords How to judge good keywords from bad ones Is the Keyword Relevant Will visitors searching this keyword be happy with what they find on your website? Search the Keyword What websites already rank for this keyword and what do you find on their web pages? Will This Traffic Convert Consider whether the visitors to your web page will actually purchase your product or service. Run a Test PPC Campaign Try a Google Adwords campaign to see if traffic will convert.
- 16. Ongoing Research Keyword Research is an ongoing process
- 17. ON-PAGE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION What SEO elements you can easily control within the pages of your website.
- 18. Organic vs. Paid Results Search results pages are a combination of organic and paid listings Organic Listings •Local search results that pair up to Google Map •10 organic listings per page •No cost to be listed Paid Listings •Identified with a yellow Ad box •3 at top and up to 7 down right column •Pay per click
- 19. Title Tag is the most important on- page element Title Tag Every page on your website needs a unique Title Tag 65-75 Characters (can be longer if you’re targeting long tail keywords Important keywords go first, your brand name goes at the end It should be compelling and not read like a list of keywords
- 20. Not used for search ranking. It’s advertising copy. Meta Description Should read like a compelling advertisement – short description Include your page’s keywords and the keywords from the Title Tag Should be unique for every page of your site Up to 160 Characters.
- 21. Little impact on search ranking, but positively impacts user experience URL Structure Should be able to tell what’s going to be on the page Shorter is better Put your keywords in the URL Don’t use gobble-de-gook numbers & #%(!. Make them readable. Use hyphens – to separate words, not underscores _ or spaces
- 22. Use keywords in headlines: H1, H2, H3 tags Keyword Usage Use keywords in the content on the page Use keywords in the anchor text of links leading to other pages Use keywords in image names and in the image alt tags Use variations of keywords in the content on the page Use keywords in the URL address on the page Title Tag: “Email Marketing Software Solutions from Constant Contact” Meta Description: “Email Marketing from Constant Contact makes it easy for you to build email lists and create email newsletters that get great results. Start your free trial today!”
- 23. WordPress SEO by Yoast Gives you control over elements important to search engine optimization and getting found online.
- 24. Meet Searcher Intent Does your page and content meet the needs of what the searcher was looking for? Professional Design Visitors will judge your credibility and trustworth- iness by what your website looks like. Page Load Speed Make sure you’re using quality hosting and your web pages are loading super fast. Mobile Friendly Use a responsive design so your website looks great on smartphones, tablets, and computers. Additional On-Page Best Practices Don’t forget these important optimization techniques for content and user experience Consider: Do searchers click your search result and stay on your website or do they immediately hit the back button. Search engines watch and keep track of this behavior.
- 25. OFF-PAGE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION How inbound links effect your search results.
- 26. Inbound Linking Who is linking to your website, really does matter in search rankings. Well Known Sites Links from websites that are globally popular or important in your area matter more. Industry Sites Industry specific links matter more than general ones. Highly Trusted Sites Links from universities, government sites, and non- profit organizations Anchor Text One of the strongest signals to search engines that you should rank for a keyword Social Media Mentions Not as important as links. But we’re not exactly sure what is looked at here. Fresh Links Need to continuously have new, fresh links appearing online
- 27. BLOG CONTENT BE NEWSWORTHY RELATIONSHIP S CUSTOMERS Never Ever Buy Links A major faux pas where the search engines are concerned. Even though it’s sometimes hard for them to detect, if they catch you, severe penalties can be assessed. Your Website Link Building Strategies How to get quality websites to link to yours. If a Bad Site Links to Yours Ask them to remove the link. If they ignore you, submit a Disavow links request through Google. More Link Building Resources moz.com/beginners-guide-to-link- building
- 28. SEO TOOLS OF THE PROS 10 SEO tools that can help in you optimize your website.
- 29. Moz Professional SEO tools to improve rankings, traffic, link building, and overall performance moz.com
- 31. WordStream Free keyword tools to help in keyword research wordstream.com/free-keyword-tools
- 33. Open Site Explorer Identifies content and link building opportunities moz.com/researchtools/ose/
- 34. GoogleAnalytics Find out where visitors are coming from and what keywords brought them to your site. google.com/analytics
- 35. SEO Tool by feedthebot A collection of handy SEO tools feedthebot.com/tools
- 36. Microsoft SEO Toolkit Detailed analysis and search engine friendly suggestion tool microsoft.com/web/seo
- 37. Google Webmaster Tools Check indexing status and optimize visibility of your website google.com/webmasters/tools
- 38. Bing Webmaster Tools Microsoft’s tool that checks indexing status and optimizes visibility of your website bing.com/toolbox/webmaster
- 39. Content Writing Basics Best practices to increase your visibility through writing
- 40. Understanding How Web Users Read People don’t read on the web like they do in a print format. People scan first, and then will decide if your website is worthy of their time to read more detail. Tailor your content for optimum scannability, sell the benefits, and only include what is absolutely necessary to get your point across.
- 41. Know YourAudience You can’t write content until you know who is going to read it. Be In Touch With Your Audience What are their interests, culture, needs, problems, education level, and limitations? Who Are They? IT professionals? Moms? Teenagers? Bankers? Sports lovers? Dog owners? Unemployed laborers? Retirees? Geographic Location Are they in the US? In a specific state or region of the country? International?
- 42. Write in Clear Language Avoid jargon, acronyms, idioms, and techno speak that your audience may not understand Highlight Keywords Can attract readers’ attention to specific areas of the page. Don’t highlight entire sentences. Concise, Descriptive Titles & Headings 60 character max. Use to break text into manageable chunks, making it easier to read and comprehend. Write for 6th-8th Grade Reading Level 30% of web users can have low literacy levels. Write high exposure pages at a 6th grade reading level. Interior pages at 8th. Toot Your Own Horn Appear knowledgeable without coming on too strong. A little self-congratulations is appropriate. Keep it Short and Sweet Don’t ramble on and on. Word count for the web should be half of that used in conventional writing. Use the Two Line Test Make sure the most important point on the web page is stated within the first two lines. Use Bulleted and Numbered Lists When describing steps or items in a series, use bulleted or numbered lists. Guidelines for Better Online Writing Best practices to reach and engage your online audience with content.
- 43. What Do You WriteAbout? 5 Ideas to get your create content juices flowing. What you know that they don’t Tips, tricks, and practical advice What you have access to that they don’t Questions from customers Share links
- 44. Website Design Basics Best practices to increase your conversion rate and success online.
- 45. •Tell your visitors who you are You’ve Got 5 Seconds From the time a visitor lands on your website, you have seconds to engage them •Convey you’re credible & trustworthy •Lead visitors in a direction to help them solve a problem or get info •Convince them you’re an expert •Tell your visitors what you do
- 46. Basic Elements These should be on every page of your website Phone # Logo Logo Links to Homepage Social Media Links Call to Action Call to Action Footer Header w/Navigation
- 47. Web-wide Conventions Don’t violate the norm. Visitors get confused when you do things in unexpected ways they don’t expect. Flash & Animation It doesn’t grab visitor attention. It drives them away. Don’ts In Design Visitors need to have a positive experience on your website. If they don’t, you can lose them forever. They won’t call. They won’t visit your store or office. They’ll go back to Google and click on your competitor in the search results. Back Buttons Don’t break them. Make sure visitors can use them. Frozen Layouts Your site needs to be viewable on any device. Use responsive design.
- 48. Before Clicking Before the visitor clicks on the link to visit a new page, the anchor text is blue. After Clicking After the visitor clicks on the link, visits a new page, and then returns to the original page, the anchor text is purple. Links Should Change Color When you click a text link on a website, the text needs to change color
- 49. White Text on Dark Backgrounds Causes eye strain and discomfort. More difficult to read online. Dark Text on White Backgrounds Easiest to read online. Dark colors are best for text and light colors are best for backgrounds. Use Dark Text on Light Colors Highly contrasting text and background colors makes your content easier to read
- 50. Too Many Colors & Fonts Makes your site look unstructured and unprofessional. Limited Number of Colors & Fonts Consistency breeds trust and professionalism online. Limit Fonts and Colors Use no more than 4 different colors and 3 typefaces
- 51. Too Much Going On It’s extremely difficult for visitors to quickly identify what’s important and create order. Clean, Uncluttered & Professional Using white space throughout your site helps visitors process information. Don’t Forget White Space Adequate white space gives a clean, uncluttered look to your pages and makes them easier to read
- 52. Text That is Too Small If you’re audience can’t read your content, they won’t spend much time on your site. Text That is Readable When in doubt, use Verdana. Modern, simple, professional and high in user preference. Legibility is a Must Use san serif fonts that are at or above 10 points
- 53. Too Many Questions Visitors will refuse to answer too many questions. They’ll leave, frustrated. Ask Just What is Needed Ask only for what you need at this point. As the relationship progresses, you can ask for more. Too Many Questions Build up a relationship with your prospects before you ask too many questions
- 54. Using Graphics Set Standard Sizes Especially for product images with E-commerce, use the same size images throughout your site Use Alt Tags Use image alt tags to describe your images. This helps your on page SEO. Optimize Images Save images at as low a resolution as possible without sacrificing visual quality. Image Size Use images that are large enough and can zoom in to show adequate detail.
- 55. The Google Zoo Understanding Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird
- 57. Next Steps
- 58. KimButler@TheURLdr.com www.TheURLdr.com @TheURLdr The URL Dr Kim Butler The URL Dr. 4539 Metropolitan Court Frederick, MD 21704 301-363-2710
- 59. Thank You
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Our presentation today is going to cover a lot of information. You’re going to have an opportunity at the end of the webinar to ask questions, but if you think of something you want to ask later today or tomorrow or even this weekend, feel free to reach out to me at any of these addresses. I also invite you to connect with me on any of the social media networks that I participate in. I regularly share information specifically geared to small and mid-sized businesses in regards to their websites, WordPress, online marketing and how to be more successful online. I will share this slide again at the end of the presentation.
- Our Agenda for today. We’re going to start by addressing how to get traffic to your website. We’ll discuss the basics in on-page and off-page search engine optimization or SEO and how you can help to increase your web pages search rank. Then I’ll give you a list of 10 Tools of the Pros, to help you in your SEO efforts Next, we’ll discuss how and what to write for the web. You’re got to remember you’re not writing a book here and it’s important to understand the differences in online writing vs. writing for print. Then we’ll cover the basics for web design. You’ve gotten this traffic to your website and you’ve written great content, but unless you website follows these best practices, you might lose your visitor before they have a chance to discover how great you are. Finally, we’re going to take a fieldtrip to the Google Zoo where I’m going to introduce you to Penguin, Panda, and Hummingbird, and what they mean in regards to your search engine placement and SEO activities.
- How do you get people to your website? The majority of web visits start out as a search on a major search engine like Google or Bing. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the practice of helping more people find your website by improving your positioning in the search engine results. There is no one single element of your site that is going to guarantee it’s placement at the top of the search engines. It’s a collective group of practices and principles that not only improve your site for Google, but also for your visitors.
- There is a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding in the business community about how search engine optimization works. In addition, many business owners have out of date information coupled with practices that have fallen out of favor with the search engines to get your site ranked. This adds up to a muddled mess and many websites that are suffering with poor search engine rankings. Let’s start our SEO discussion by clearing up several myths about the search engines.
- Myth #1: I should submit my URLs to the search engines. [click to build] Submitting Urls to search engines is useless. They don’t use submissions anymore. [click to build] Myth #2: There needs to be a certain number of keywords on the page or a mathmatical calculation of keywords to the total number of words on the page, otherwise known as keyword density. [click to build] In the words of our friends at Moz.com, keyword density is crap. This has absolutely no bearing on search ranking. [click to build] Myth #3: A Google Adwords campaign will increase your organic results. [click to build] Too bad this one isn’t true. It would save us all a lot of work and we could just buy our way to the top. But alas, no. Paid search does not increase your organic results. Paid and organic are totally separate and do not impact each other. [click to build] Myth #4: Paying for links helps increase your search rank. [click to build] Oh boy, if you really want to get the Google Police after you, try this one. Manipulative linking of any kind, including reciprocal link programs, link farms, paid links, and low quality directory links not only don’t work, but today the practices can get you penalized and banned from the search results. This is really a big no no. [click to build] Myth #5: Hiding text in HTML code will increase my rankings. [click to build] Cloaking or hiding text or keywords in the code of your web pages so a visitor can’t see it is really, really bad and will get you penalized in a big fat hurry. Don’t do this and anyone who tells you that you should, run away from as fast as you can.
- There are over 200 separate elements that Google uses to determine which web pages are returned in the search results in various positions. Let’s discuss some these. [click to build] Keyword Use – Where you choose to put keywords on your page, plays a critical role in determining where you end up in the search rankings. On page ranking factors help search engines determine what a page is all about. Your keywords need to be in your page’s title tag, preferably in the domain name, in the content on the page, in the headers on the page, and as anchor text. Keep in mind that every instance of the keyword on the page doesn’t need to be the same, it can be a connected term and that will still add value. [click to build] Links – Internal Links are the links you have in the pages of your website. External links are other websites that are linking to yours. External linking is an enormous part of winning in the SEO game. Who is linking to you? How important are those websites and are they authoritative? [click to build] Content Analysis looks at the quality of your site’s content. Are you giving a visitor all the information that they need on the page or do they have to go looking around your site for more information? Your content needs to be comprehensive, clearly written, easy to scan, and it must include your keywords. [click to build] If your site has high domain authority, it can help your page get a higher ranking in the search engines. [click to build] Sentiment? Really? Yes really. Google looks at what people are saying about your web pages, your website and you. Is it generally positive or negative? [click to build] What do people do when they land on your web page? Do they stay and visit other pages on your website or do they hit the back button and leave immediately? Believe it or not, the search engines keep track of that behavior and use it to establish your ranking. There are many, many other factors that effect search ranking, but this gives you some insight into what is important and what is being looked at. [click to build] For a comprehensive list of what the top 120 leading search marketers believe are the top ranking factors used by search engines, read the blog post at moz.com/search-ranking-factors
- So we’ve cleared up myths about the search engines and we’ve talked about all the factors that impact your search results, [click to build] but where do you start? With Keywords and Keyword research.
- Keywords are the single words or groups of words that people use to search on the internet. They are where every new website, every website redesign, and every online marketing effort including social media and content creation, starts. Or at least this is where those efforts should start. When websites and marketing efforts are built and launched without a clear understanding of the keywords in your market and industry, let alone being included in those projects, they are doomed to fail. Keywords are the basis of your planning efforts. Everything you do online begins and ends with keywords. [click to build] Keywords can be single words. They usually have more competition for search rankings, are very broad in meaning, and are used when consumers are fact finding. Only 30% of all searches are performed on “popular” search terms like florist. [click to build] Keywords can also be multiple words strung together. 2, 3, 4, or more words are more specific, usually have less competition for search rankings, and are used when consumers are ready to make a purchase. Several keywords together are also known as long tail keywords. Long tail search makes up 70% of all searches. Long tail keywords often convert better because searches are farther along in the buying/conversion cycle. [click to build] Searchers can show that they are interested in finding local results by searching with keywords that include a geographic component, like the name of a city, town, state, area or neighborhood.
- But with all the possibilities, how do we know which keywords to use? With Keyword Research.
- Now you might be asking, Keyword Research, why do I need to do that? I know what my product is called. And you’re correct. You do know what your product is called. [click to build] But what you and your employees, or sales people, or customer service staff might use to describe your product might not be what your customer and prospective customer is using to search for your product. Keyword research will help you uncover different variations that are used in search engines to help your web pages get found more easily.
- By performing keyword research, we’re going to have a much better idea what keywords our prospective customers are using to find products and services like we offer. [click to build] This will drive more qualified traffic to our website. [click to build] When we know what keywords to use, it will help us write content and web pages on our site that address what our prospects really need and want [click to build] Keywords help us build PPC campaign and SEO campaigns [click to build] And keyword research is a great way to perform market research that will give you more information about your industry, potential new products and services to offer, and what kinds of questions people are asking about what you do
- Keyword research starts with creating a seed list. Brainstorm with your team, your employees, to create a list of 10 to 100 keywords. Don’t worry about being perfect or missing a couple of terms. You’ll have plenty of time to expand your list in the next phase of keyword research. [click to build] List words that describe your company [click to build] List words that describe your product or service [click to build] List product names, model numbers, brands [click to build] List category words that describe what you do [click to build] List words your customers use in describing your product or service [click to build] Look at competitor’s websites and see what keywords they are using [click to build] List synonyms that your customers may use [click to build] What words have visitors searched on your website? [click to build] What words have visitors used to reach your site? [click to build] Consider the questions your potential customers are asking – What are they trying to accomplish? [click to build] You may also want to ask your customers how they found you, what they call your product or service, and how they might search for you online.
- Use a keyword tool like Google Keyword Planner to expand your seed list and find related words. Start by putting in 5 to 7 keywords. Choose the location you are targeting and any negative keywords you don’t want to consider. Search and Google will give you lists of related terms to expand your list. You can click on the category heading, called Ad Group, [click to build] to view the keyword suggestions one by one. You can save the ones you are interested in to a list that you can export into a spreadsheet. This tool also gives you estimated costs of running a pay per click campaign in Google Adwords [click to build] Now you can get a sense of the average monthly search volume on Google for your suggested list of keywords. Keep in mind this represents the total number of searches done and will not be the amount of traffic you get. Depending on several factors including the age of your site, your site’s ranking, and your click-through rate, the actual number of visitors you get from one of these keyword phrases will usually be much lower. [click to build] You can also see Google’s competition metric with 1.0 being the highest competition. A competition keyword is going to be harder to gain good search rank on than a keyword with moderate or low competition. You’re looking for high volume, low competition words that would be valuable and relevant to your website. Go through your list and prioritize based on your goals and being realistic in your expectations. SEO results are not achieved overnight. Rankings can take 6 months or more to start to see. For new sites it will take even longer. You may need to focus on long tail keywords that are less competitive at first. As your SEO efforts start to take effect and you start to receive placement and traffic, then switch your focus to keywords with more traffic and more moderate competition.
- So just how do you know a good keyword from a bad one? [click to build] Start by asking yourself if the keyword is relevant to your website. Will visitors searching this keyword be happy with what they find when they land on your website? [click to build] Search the keyword in Google and Bing. What competitors are ranked? What do you find when you visit their web pages? [click to build] If you don’t currently rank for a keyword, you can test out whether traffic from it would convert by running a Google Adwords pay-per-click campaign. You’ll want to run your campaign long enough to accrue at least 200 click throughs before making a decision about whether or not building out SEO for this keyword phrase is worth your time. [click to build] Will this visitor become a customer? Consider carefully whether visitors to your web page will actually purchase your product or service, based on the keyword they searched for and what they are going to find on your site.
- Keyword research is an ongoing process that must be continued on an continual basis. You will want to monitor keyword traffic counts on a regular basis, adding more keywords to your website and online marketing program as time goes on. Track the performance of your keywords with Google Analytics.
- Now that you have your keyword research completed and you have a list of keywords for your website, let’s discuss best practices in on-page search engine optimization. On-page elements are what you can most easily control.
- Let’s make sure we’re all on the same page with what search results listings we are talking about when we say organic listings. A search engine results page is composed of both paid and organic listings. [click to build] Paid Listings on Google are through the Google Adwords Program. Advertisers are paying every time someone clicks on their ad and is taken to a page on their website. Ads are identified on Google with a small yellow Ad icon. Usually there are 3 paid ads at the top of the page (although on this screenshot, there is only one) and up to 7 paid ads that run down the right hand column. [click to build] Natural or Organic listings are shown under the paid listings at the top of the page. Depending on how you have your preferences set, usually there are 10 organic listings displayed per page, in the order Google deems appropriate. These are free listings. 70% of searchers click on the natural listings over the paid listings. [click to build] Natural and Organic listings can also include local search results that pair up to Google Maps and a Google Business account, with an alphabetized pin icon. These are also free listings.
- The anchor text that you click in a Google search result is the title tag of the web page you’re going to be taken to. You can see in this example, the title tag of this webpage in the Google search results is “Wedding Flowers, Bouquets & Centerpieces – The Knot.” [click to build] The title tag is the most important on-page SEO element. [click to build] Every page on your website needs to have a unique Title Tag. This is one of the most mistakes I see on small business websites. They’ll have the same title tag for every page on their site because the person who built their website didn’t know how to optimize the page for search engines. [click to build] Title Tags are most preferable at 65 to 75 characters. They can be longer if you’re targeting longer tail keywords, but the search engines will truncate the tag in the search results. [click to build] Important keywords always go first with your brand name at the end [click to build] Your Title Tag should not read like a list of keywords. It should be compelling and interesting. It should make a searcher want to click the link to find out more information.
- Since we’re here on the search results page, let’s discuss another element that is easy for you to control, the Meta Description. The Meta Description is the short description under the clickable Title Tag and the url. [click to build] Meta Descriptions are not used for search ranking, but that’s not to say that they are not important. They act as advertising copy for your web page. [click to build] Meta Descriptions can be up to 160 characters. Anything longer will be truncated. [click to build] They are a short description or ad for the web page a searcher is going to land on if they click on this search result. You want it to be compelling and give searchers a reason to want more information. [click to build] Be sure and include your keywords in the Meta Description, just like you did in the Title Tag. [click to build] And just like your Title Tag, every Meta Description on your website needs to be unique.
- The last element that is visible in the search result is the url. [click to build] The URL has little impact on search ranking, but it can positively impact the user experience by offering another visual cue of whether or not the visitor is in the right place [click to build] A visitor should be able to tell from looking at the url what the page is going to be about [click to build] Shorter URLs are preferred [click to build] Put your keywords in the URL [click to build] Don’t use a bunch of numbers, hash signs and question mark. Make your urls readable and search engine friendly. [click to build] Use hyphens to separate words in URLs, not underscores or spaces
- Let’s now look at all the places on your web page that you’ll want to use those keywords you spent so much time and attention researching. I’m going to use a web page from Constant Contact as an example, but first let’s see how I found this page. [click to build] I did a Google search for “Email Marketing” [click to build] And you’ll see that Constant Contact was the first organic result. [click to build] The Title Tag of this page is “Email Marketing Software Solutions from Constant Contact.” That’s a good title tag. [click to build] The Meta Description of this page is “Email Marketing from Constant Contact makes it easy for you to build email lists and create email newsletters that get great results. Start your free trial today!” That’s a good description. Tells me how easy it is to send successful email and it has a free trial that I can get start with right away. [click to build] First, you’ll want to use your keyword in the headlines or the H1 and H2 tags, and even the H3 tags. [click to build] Next, you’ll want to use your keyword in the content on the page. And I’ll mention that this page is a little longer than what you see on the screen, but this is the only instance of “email marketing” actually being in the content of the page. It’s used naturally, but it’s not stuffed all over the place. [click to build] You’ll want to use your keywords in the anchor text of links. The anchor text are the actual words that make up the clickable link to other pages on your website. Take note that Constant Contact is not using “click here” in their links. They are using compelling keywords and calls-to-action like Buy Now or Try it Free. [click to build] Use variations of your keyword that are related, in the content on the page and in anchor text. You’ll see that Constant Contact has used “emails, email list, and email templates” in addition to the main keyword, “email marketing.” [click to build] Use keywords in image names and in the image alt tags [click to build] And last but certainly not least, use keywords in the url address on the page So obviously on this web page, their main focus and keyword was “email marketing” and they did a very good job of optimizing their web page.
- So your next question may be, “Well how exactly do I control the title tags and meta descriptions and some of these other things you’re showing me.” If you are using a WordPress website, you can use this wonderful, free plugin, called WordPress SEO by Yoast. It not only allows you to easy modify the title tag and meta description, it also coaches you through various elements related to your keyword on the page and optimizing the page. This is one of the reasons why I recommend WordPress to my small and mid-sized business clients. If you don’t use WordPress, you’ll have to look into how you can change these elements in what you are using.
- Here are some additional on-page best practices to consider as you’re designing your web pages. [click to build] Make sure that your content is meeting the searcher’s intent. When someone lands on your web page, is it what they were looking for? Does the page and the information on it be what you would expect to find when you search that keyword? What do your competitors have on their pages for the same keyword search? Does your page look as good or better? And make sure that single page is giving someone all the information they are looking for. Pricing, location, how it works, how to purchase and any other important information that goes into the decision to purchase, donate, or request information. [click to build] A visitor will decide whether or not they think you are a credible, trustworthy business that is an expert in their field in literally seconds. Make sure you’re using a professional, clean design, good images, and concise copy. You certainly don’t want to lose your visitor in seconds, after all the hard work it took you to get them there. [click to build] Many businesses and non-profits don’t realize how important page load speed has become in recent years. Not only does the general public now expect your web pages to load in 2 seconds or less, the search engines have started to use page load speed as a determining factor in search results ranking. Get off the gang server hosting you may be on and sign up for VPS hosting. It’s well worth the investment. [click to build] With the huge increase in mobile usage, the day is long gone that you can ignore having a mobile friendly website. You must use responsive design so that your website is readable on a smartphone and a tablet. [click to build] One final consideration. Do searchers click your search result and stay on your webpage and visit other pages in your website, or do they immediately hit the back button and click your competitor’s link in the next search result listing? Search engines watch and keep track of this behavior. If everyone who visits your page leaves quickly, it signals the search engine that the searcher didn’t find what they want in relation to the keyword that they searched and your web page might not be the best place to send searchers. It speaks to the quality of your page.
- We’ve talked about on-page optimization of your website, now let’s talk about the most important off-page factor, inbound linking.
- It is estimated by leading search marketing professionals that who links to your website, largely impacts where you end up in the search results. When other websites link to yours, it signals to the search engines that your web page is important. The more quality websites that link to yours, the more important and popular you appear to the search engines. But quality is much more important than quantity where linking is concerned. The search engines pay attention to metrics like trust, spam, and authority. If you’re connected to a bunch of spammy websites, unfortunately you’re going to get categorized as spammy, just by the company that you’re keeping. So what exactly should you be looking for? What do the search engines consider a good link? [build to click] A link from Wikipedia is more important and holds more weight than a link from a site that nobody’s ever heard of and doesn’t get more than a couple of visitors a month. Sites with huge, global popularity can really boost your rankings, but what if you’re just not ever going to get a link from one of these sites. Who are the big, important websites in your market? How about the Chamber of Commerce, your local Economic Development office, or a reputable local club or service group? [build to click] Links from important sites in your industry matter more than general sites or sites that have nothing to do with your market. If you sell or represent a product or service, make sure the main, corporate site is linking to yours. If you belong to any industry associations or groups, make sure you’re listed in their online directory and they are linking back to your site. This shows the search engines that you are important in the industry that you do business. [build to click] Look for highly trusted sites to earn links from. Universities, government sites, and non-profit organizations represent examples of high trust domains. [build to click] This is not a one time effort and then you’re done. You need to show that your relevance doesn’t fade by continuing to earn new links, over time. Believe it or not, link signals tend to decay over time, so you need to keep fresh, new links appearing. [build to click] Social media is treated differently by the search engines. None of us are exactly sure how mentions in social media play into the ranking factors. Links are still considered far superior and more lasting than social shares, but stay tuned for possible changes over time in this category. [build to click] The anchor text (or clickable words) that is used in these inbound links from other websites is one of the strongest signals to the search engines that you should rank for a particular keyword. If dozens of links point to a particular page on your website and they all have the same keyword in the anchor text, your page has a much higher probability of ranking for that keyword phrase.
- So how do you get quality sites to link to yours? [click to build] Start blogging. Blogging is hugely important in helping you establish credibility, trust, and getting the word out about what it is that you’re doing. Each blog post is new, fresh content for your website and an opportunity for you to engage your audience and pull in new followers and fans. Share valuable information, be entertaining, and let your own personality and experiences distinguish you from the competition. Hopefully your audience will find such value in what you’re saying that they’ll link to your blog article and share it with their friends. [click to build] Content is king online. You need to create and share unique, valuable content. It can be a white paper, a how-to guide, a tips and trick sheet, an ebook, an infographic, or a case study. The idea here is that you are sharing valuable content in an area that you are an expert in to help or inform your audience. You’re not selling your product, service or company here. If it’s just a huge pitch to buy something, it will turn people off. But a valuable piece of free content is something that other websites will link to and your audience will share with their friends. [click to build] Get your customers to link to you and share your information. One idea is to use a partnership badge. An image that can link back to your site that your customers can post on their site. [click to build] Do something to earn attention from the press, other bloggers, and the news media. Whether it’s something related to your industry, your community, a cause, a contest, a fundraising effort. Everybody loves a feel good story, so go out there and do something good. [click to build] Link building is really about old school, building relationships. It’s about searching out others in your industry or who are interested in your industry, introducing yourself, taking an interest in what someone else is doing, getting to know them, sharing their stuff, and in turn, you’ll hopefully get a group of people who are interested in what you’re doing and will link to your web pages and your blog. Two side notes: [click to build] First, don’t ever, ever buy links. This is strictly against Google’s policies. And even though it’s sometimes hard for them to detect, if they catch you buying links, you can suffer severe penalties, including being banned from the search engine results. [click to build] Second, if you do find out that a bad, unreputable site is linking to yours, ask them to remove the link. If they ignore you, submit a Disavow Link Request through Google to have the link removed. [click to build] A great resource for beginners to link building is the Beginners Guide to Link Building from the great folks at Moz.com. This is a free ebook that will give you a great head start on your link building efforts.
- Now let’s go through a list of 10 SEO tools that can make your optimization efforts easier and more comprehensive.
- Moz looks inside your rankings, traffic, links, social media, and content to help you improve your online performance. Get detailed reports, discover website errors and missed conversations. Professional SEO tools that help optimize your website and improve rankings. Free and paid versions available.
- WordTracker is a keyword research tool. This is a paid tool.
- WordStream is actually a Pay Per Click management tool, but it has a selection of great, free keyword tools to help in your keyword research.
- Ubersuggest is a free keyword suggestion tool that makes use of different suggest services.
- Also from Moz, Open Site Explorer is a free tool that identifies content and link building opportunities. Research and compare competitor backlinks, identify top pages, view social activity data, and analyze anchor text.
- Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about a website’s traffic. It tracks where your website traffic comes from and what visitors do on your website once they arrive. It allows you to see all the traffic that is coming from search engines, which ones, and what keywords searchers used to find your site.
- SEO Tool by feed the bot displays domain strength, links, image seo, social counts and mentions, page and technical seo, pagespeed and more…all free.
- This free SEO Toolkit from Microsoft gives detailed analysis and search engine friendly suggestions to help improve the relevance of your website in search results.
- Google Webmaster Tools is another free web service from Google that allows you to check indexing status and optimize visibility of your website. It includes a variety of tools to help you improve your website’s performance.
- This is Microsoft’s version of webmaster tools. Also a free service.
- Now you’ve got traffic coming to your website, but what do you say to them. How do you write for the web?
- It’s important to understand that people don’t read on the web like they do in a print format. In general, people scan first to sniff out the main points, and then, if you’ve provided them with enough cues that your credible, trustworthy, and deserving of their time, they may comb through your pages for more details. Web users will spend more time reading on content-targeted and interior pages of your site, vs. the home page or a landing page. To capture and hold the attention of your visitors, you must tailor your content for optimum scannability, sell the benefits, not the features, and only include the information that is absolutely necessary to get your point across.
- You must be in touch with their interests, culture, needs, know the problems they are trying to solve, what their education level is, and any limitations they have in order to write for them. Be careful not to make the mistake of talking down to your audience. [click to build] Who is your intended audience? Are they IT professionals, Moms, teenagers, bankers, sports lovers? Identifying your target audience helps you effectively communicate ideas and keeps you focused on the right subject and tone. Your readers want content that addresses their concerns and speaks to them at their level, in a voice they can relate to. [click to build] Where is your audience located? Are they in the US or international? This knowledge furthers your ability to address them properly.
- [click to build] Out of respect for your users’ time and reading skills, keep your writing simple and concise. Avoid jargon, acronyms, idioms, and techno speak that your audience may not understand. Most people prefer a conversational tone to a formal tone because it’s more personal and direct. [click to build] Highlighting carefully chosen keywords can attract readers’ attention to specific areas of the page. Using design treatments such as boldface or colored text adds emphasis and draws the eye to important elements. Highlighting entire sentences or long phrases slows readers down, so single out just those words and phrases that communicate key points. [click to build] Headings and subheadings should be used to break text into manageable chunks and making it easier to read and comprehend your copy. Their main purpose is to point readers to the content they seek. Headings and subheadings should have a 60 character maximum, should appear larger and bolder than body text, left justify, and don’t set in all caps. [click to build] Meeting Low Literacy Needs. The number of web users with low literacy may be as high as 30%. Writing text that’s aimed at the 6th grade reading level, especially on high-exposure pages such as the homepage, category pages, and product pages. Pages deeper inside the site can be written at an 8th grade reading level. [click to build] It’s OK to Toot Your Own Horn. Sometimes a little self-congratulations is appropriate, such as when you’re highlighting noteworthy accomplishments. The goal is to appear knowledgeable without coming on too strong. [click to build] Long, rambling text frustrates audiences. In general, the word count for Web content should be about half of that used in conventional writing. Break your content into smaller chunks. It’s helpful to keep paragraphs under five sentences. Each paragraph should have one topic sentence and one idea. [click to build] Ask yourself whether somebody reading the first two lines on your page will take away the information you want to convey. Make sure the most important point on a web page is stated within the first two lines. [click to build] When describing steps or items in a series, use bulleted or numbered lists.
- So what exactly do you write about? Here’s 5 ideas to get you started. [click to build] We’re all knowledgeable about different areas of our field, industry, or job. Write about topics that you’re an expert in that your audience may not know about. [click to build] You know those questions that your customers continuously ask that you say, “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that.” Great, take those frequently asked questions and write about them. Answer those pesky questions before anyone else has a chance to ask them. [click to build] Tips, tricks, and how-to guides are hugely popular. Give out some practical, helpful advice. [click to build] Share links to your website or to another non-competing site with helpful, relevant information that you think your audience would appreciate. Share news in your industry or a link to a thought provoking discussion. [click to build] What information do you have access to that the general public doesn’t. This makes great content for a behind the scenes or exclusive article.
- So we’ve got all this great traffic coming to your website, but unless you’ve paid attention to design and usability best practices, your visitors may be leaving your site, never to return.
- Our audiences have a very short attention span. You don’t have much time to engage your visitors once they get to your website. In fact, [click to build] you really only have about 5 seconds to engage them. And as if only having 5 seconds isn’t bad enough, in that short amount of time, you have to [click to build] Tell your visitors who you are [click to build] Tell your visitors what you do [click to build] Convey to them that you’re credible and trustworthy [click to build] Convince them you’re an expert in your field and your industry [click to build] And lead them in a direction to help solve their problem or get information they’re seeking And the way your web page is designed and the way it looks, has a very large impact on whether or not your visitor is going to spend more than 5 seconds on your site. If your page confuses your audience, don’t look professional, and doesn’t provide a clear path to the information that visitor is seeking, they will leave your site, most likely never to return. And no, they won’t call you. The few seconds they spent on your website has cemented in their minds an impression of your business. Regardless of what your brick and mortar store or office looks like, if you lost them online, 9 chances out of 10, you won’t get the opportunity to make a better impression in person or on the phone.
- But it’s important to remember that not everyone sees your homepage when they visit your website. You can’t control the first page that someone visits, so you need to have a few basic elements on every page of your website to help visitors get their bearings and quickly determine if they are in the right place. [click to build] Your company logo should always be in the upper left hand corner of your web pages [click to build] Your logo should be a link back to your homepage [click to build] Your phone number should be in the upper right corner or in the header [click to build] Your website should have navigation in the header to the most important pages of your site. Best practices say no more than 6 or 7 links. Use plain, descriptive words as your links. This is not the place to be cute or clever. Don’t use made up words. Just say it like it is. [click to build] You should have at least one call to action. What is the goal of the page? What do you want someone to do? You need to tell them. If your page scrolls and is long, you should have multiple calls to action that are visible as you move down the page [click to build] Every website should have a footer. You should include navigation to the important pages of your website, particularly, any links to pages that didn’t fit in the header. [click to build] Your should have links to your social media accounts on every page. Here on GotoWebinar’s website they are in the footer. I prefer them in the header, but regardless of where you put them, they should be in the same place on every page of the website. Including these basic elements, help orient your visitors to where they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going on your website. You don’t want to make them think. You don’t want to make them look for things. Put your elements in the standard places that all other websites do.
- You want to put your best foot forward at all times and project a professional experience on your website. Don’t lose visitors over flaws and errors in your website’s design. Visitors form a first impression in literally a second and a half. The mere instance they see your webpage, they make an unconscious decision about whether they want to invest any more time even reading through your page. If your content is old and out of date, they won’t call you and they won’t come and visit you. This is a huge misconception that I hear from small businesses all the time. Well, they’ll just call us if they want up-to-date information. No they won’t. They’ll hit the back button and click on your competitor in the search results. Some Don’ts in Design Basics include: [click to build] Flash and Animation don’t grab visitor’s attention. It drives them away. It’s extremely hard to concentrate on what to do and where to go on a website when there are moving images all over the place. In addition, older operating systems may have problems with Flash, which will make your site appear broken. [click to build] Frozen Layouts don’t allow your website to conform to the device it’s being viewed on. Mobile has become such an incredibly large part of internet usage that you must have a mobile friendly website. Use a responsive design that will adjust to the device your visitor is using, whether they are on a smart phone, tablet, or computer. [click to build] Don’t Break the Back Button. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get back to where you started, only to find that you’re being held hostage on someone’s website. That’s a sure fire way to make sure visitors will never return to your website. [click to build] Web-wide Conventions are used for a reason. They are the norm. Visitors have come to expect certain things in certain places and for website features to behave in a certain way. Don’t deviate from what is expected. It confuses visitors when you try to do things in unexpected ways.
- The oldest usability guideline for any type of navigational design is to help users understand where they’ve been, where they are, and where they can go. [click to build] Changing the color of the anchor text, or the clickable words, on a webpage tells a users when they have already visited the page.
- Generally, dark colors are best for text and light colors are best for backgrounds. Low contrast can cause eye strain and discomfort. The right color contrast ensures legibility and readability on your site. Remember reading online is much more difficult than reading on paper. [click to build] Highly contrasting text and background colors makes it easier. Black text on a white background or something similar is easiest to read. And nothing screams out amateur more than a busy background. Get the paw prints and hearts off the background of your website. It not only looks bad but text set in a busy background decreases readability.
- Limit the number of font styles on your site and apply them consistently. The same applies to color. [click to build] Use no more than four different colors and three typefaces in the main areas of your site or it will appear unstructured and unprofessional. People don’t trust sites that look like a ransom note. Another rule for text is don’t use all caps. All cap text reduces reading speed by about 10%
- When there’s too much going on, it’s extremely difficult for visitors to quickly identify what’s important and create order. Visually crowded sites are overwhelming. [click to build] Using white space throughout your site helps your visitors process information and gives a clean, uncluttered look. Having adequate white space around content points draws visitors attention to important information you’re sharing, without causing eyestrain. When you provide enough white space it relieves spatial tension on the page.
- If your website is a big hot mess of colors, fonts, and images, no one is going to take the time to even try and figure out what is going on. They’re going to leave. [click to build] Web text should be short, scannable, and approachable. Typically you should write half as many words for the web as you would for print. When your website is trying to appeal to a broad consumer audience, it is best to write for an 8th grade reading level. Your web pages should be using a font that is at least 10 points if not larger. Do not use a smaller font to try and cram more words on the page. San serif text is the fastest and easiest font to read online, which is exactly the opposite of print text. When in doubt about what to use online, use Verdana. It’s the most readable online font, even in small type. Modern, simple, professional, Verdana is the recommended font for use in body text, where readability is critical. It is high in user preference. And always use left justified text.
- If you are are too nosy too soon, people will refuse to answer your questions. Websites have to build up a bit of a relationship with users before they can start asking them too many personal questions. [click to build] Think carefully about what information you truly need at each stage of the relationship building process. If you really need a mailing address because you’re going to send them something in the mail, then ask for it. But if you have no intention of sending information through the US Postal Service in the near future, gather that information at a future point in time or when you’re talking to your prospect on the phone.
- Images and graphics on your website are an extremely important part of the overall look and feel you convey to visitors. Meaningful visuals on your site can complement text to show, rather than tell, what products and services look like. [click to build] Choose images that are large enough to be viewed on the page, but can also zoom in to show enhanced detail. [click to build] Optimize your images. This means to save them in as low a resolution as possible without sacrificing visual quality. Tools like Yahoo’s Smush It and TinyPNG can decrease your image file sizes without effecting image quality. [click to build] Use image alt tags to describe your images. This not only helps with on page search engine optimization, it also provides a description of the image when it’s moused over. [click to build] One of the best ways to have a truly ugly ecommerce site is to use product images of different lengths and widths. Set standard image sizes on your site and use them consistently.
- Now I’m going to take you on a little trip to the Google Zoo to meet a Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird.
- Welcome to the Google Zoo. All these animals and birds might be confusing, but it’s important for you to have a general understanding of how these impact your SEO and your web activities. [click to build] Google Panda is a change to Google search results ranking algorithm that was first released in February 2011. The change aimed to lower the rank of “low-quality” sites and return higher-quality sites near the top of the search results. There have been numerous updates to Panda since 2011, each adding to and changing how Google looks and ranks low-quality. [click to build] Google Penguin is a process or program that runs on the index regularly. So just because you haven’t been hit with a Penguin penalty yet, doesn’t mean you won’t be. Penguin Is also a Google algorithm update that was first announced on April 24, 2012. It is aimed at decreasing the search engine rankings of websites that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines by using black-hat SEO techniques, in particular those that are buying links or obtaining links through networks designed primarily to boost Google rankings. [click to build] Google Hummingbird is a search algorithm that was released on August 30, 2013. Hummingbird places greater emphasis on page content making search results more relevant, ensuring that Google delivers searches to the most appropriate page of a website, rather than to a home page or top level page. Think about why people are looking for something, rather than what they are looking for. As a web owner, it means you need to design your content around answering the needs of your audience, not just providing them with facts. Hummingbird is paying more attention to every word in a search query, ensuring that Google understands the intent of the search.
- We’ve covered a lot of information today about websites, hosting, WordPress, and ways that you can improve your online performance. What if you still have questions?
- Here is all my contact information again. I’ll leave this slide up as we go into our Q&A session.