1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Prepared by: Larry Stewart

2. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Topic Outline
Introduction
How Search Engines Work
SEO Building Blocks
Keywords
Crawler
Links
SEO Tools
Black Hat Methods
Summary and Conclusion
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Prepared by: Larry Stewart

3. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Introduction
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4. Definition of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)1
"Natural," or "organic," search engine optimization (SEO) is designing, writing, and HTML-coding a Web site to maximize the chance its pages will appear at the top of spider-based search engine results for selected keywords and phrases
Organic Listings: Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings)
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Prepared by: Larry Stewart

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SEO
Iterative process
Dynamic environment
Art
Science
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Why is it important?
Internet advertising 1H 2006 : $7.9 Billion2
Search ranking more site visitors
Internet users tend not to click through
Depends on webs role in your economic model
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7. Variation in Approaches
White Hat
Abide by terms and conditions set forth by search engines
Black Hat
Breaches search engine terms and conditions
May provide short-term gains
You run the risk of being penalized by search engines
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9. Defining Success (Context)
Search-Friendly (SEO)
High ranking
Terms and conditions set by search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Search)
User-Friendly
Site must satisfy the needs of visitors
Persuasive
Profitable for site owner
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10. How Search Engines Works
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11. Search Engine Operations
Gather Content
Crawler or spider moves recursively downloading content
Builds sophisticate index
Individual web searches run against index
Results are retrieved and ordered
PageRank & Relevance
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12. Google Search Placement4
Placement: importance and relevance
PageRank (importance)
Counts links
Weights links
Query matching (relevance)
sophisticated text-matching techniques
examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it)
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SEO Optimization
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14. SEO Optimization Categories
Keywords
Keyword selection and keyword-rich text
Crawler
A crawler-friendly site navigation scheme
Links
Link popularity
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15. Keyword Recommendations1
Page title: visible HTML text ,“Above the fold”
Page Size: "100 KB" limit is still is still widely held. The optimum page size is words (or 2000 to 20,000 characters)
Be specific
Example: “Apple iPod” verses “iPod”
exact phrase should appear generously throughout your site copy on every page
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16. More Keyword Recommendations5
Meta tags: use but don’t stuff
<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML, and XHTML">
Alt tags: use for graphics
<IMG src="star.gif" alt=“star logo">
Content is king
Write good content with relevant and important keywords in mind.
Geo Targeting
Add geocentric terms to target local areas
Domain Names
Use keywords as part of domain name
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Crawler-friendly
Engine spiders are primitive beings
choose simplicity over complexity
Goal
All your web pages seen by crawlers
Google: enter in searchbox “allinurl:utexas.edu”
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18. Suggestions to be Crawler Friendly5
Traditional <a href> tag
Keywords in subfolder names
Minimize quantity of subfolders
Cross link relevant terms and phrases within the site
Multiple paths to pages to eliminate orphans
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19. Avoid or Minimize: May Negatively Impact Crawler5
Flash (slow to load and difficult to navigate)
Frames
Java navigation
Session ID to track visitors
exact same Title tags on every page
set to require a cookie when a visitor gets to the page
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20. Link Development Inbound Links Impact PageRank
PageRank (Popularity, importance)
Number and quality of links pointing to a website
Measure of usefulness of site
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21. Link Development Tradeoffs
Advantage
it is dynamic, cumulative, and difficult to imitate
Disadvantage
takes time (vs. advertising)
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22. Link Development Approaches (White Hat)7
Quality content to start with
Cultivate quality link (not quantity)
Begin with web directories
Harness online publicity
Use Blogs and forums wisely
Investigate competitors
Understand their strategy
Online publicity, blogs and forums
See inbound links ("link:domain.com" in Google, "linkdomain:domain.com" in Yahoo)
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SEO Tools
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24. Search Engine Term and Conditions
Google
Yahoo
MSN Search
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29. Vendor Tools Example: Seo Administrator 8
Ranking monitor: site positioning in for keywords
Link popularity checker: checks inbound links
Site indexation tool: check site indexation
Server Log-analyzer: Administrator log analyzer
PageRank analyzer: analyze competitor sites
Keywords tool: suggestions, associations, competitor analysis
HTML analyzer: dissect html text in the same way that a search engine would (syntax, keyword density)
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31. Black Hat Methods

32. Head of the webspam group at Google
Matt Cutts
Worked on his Ph.D Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Undergrad Comp Sci and Math (Graduated with M.S.).
Moved into information retrieval after classes from the university's Information and Library Science department
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34. Link Exchange Advertisement
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35. Keyword Consulting Advertisement
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36. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Black Hat Terms
Link Farming: exchanging reciprocal links
Keyword Stuffing: Hidden text, Stuffing text in every nook and cranny
Cloaking: stealth, deliver different page to a search engine for indexing
Doorway Pages: bridge, jump page, designed to appeal to search engine spiders
Fast meta refresh: used to quickly switch doorway pages to the page the user is supposed to see
Code swapping: swap it on the server with the "real" page once a position has been achieved. also sometimes done to keep others from learning exactly how the page ranked well.
Bait and Switch: loads the page with a popular search words such as sex, travel or antivirus when is irrelevant to site
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Online Resources
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38. Search Engine Standards
Google
Yahoo
MSN
Web Robots
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39. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Keyword Tools
Overture tool
Wordtracker tool [recommended]
Google Sandbox Tool
Espotting Tool
Related Pages
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40. Conclusion and Summary
Website Success
Search-friendly
User-friendly
Persuasive
Search-friendly Optimization components
Keywords
Crawler
Links
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41. Questions

42. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Bibliography
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43. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Bibliography
1 Thulow, Shari. “What Search Engine Marketing Does Your Site Need?” Clickz. 15 Nov < >.
2 “2006 Second Quarter Results (October 4, 2006) .” Interactive Advertising Bureau. 15 Nov < >.
3 “Event Homepage.” Search Engine Strategies 2006 Conference and Exposition. 15 Nov < >.
4 “Our Search: Google Technology.” Google Website Nov. 2006
< >.
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44. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Bibliography
5Laratro, Joe. “Dos and Don’ts of Search Engine Optimization.” MoreVisibility. 15 Nov <
6 Thulow, Shari. “Link Development: The Key to Successful SEO ” Clickz. 15 Nov < >.
7 link farming. webopedia. 15 Nov <
8 SSEO Tools. SEO Administrator.
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Prepared by: Larry Stewart

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Backup
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46. Vendor Tools Example: Seo Administrator 8
Ranking monitor: monitor web site positioning in the major search engines for keywords
Link popularity checker: checks inbound links across a number of search engines
Site indexation tool: check site indexation in Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines
Server Log-analyzer: Administrator log analyzer automates (Number of unique IP addresses, Number of visitors… )
PageRank analyzer: analyze competitor sites
Keywords suggestion tool: Keyword suggestion services, Keyword Associations, search query suggestions, Competitor analysis
HTML analyzer: dissect html text in the same way that a search engine would (syntax, keyword density)
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Prepared by: Larry Stewart

47. Prepared by: Larry Stewart larry.stewart.ut@gmail.com
Black Hat Terms
Link Farming: exchanging reciprocal links with Web sites in order to increase search engine optimization
Keyword Stuffing: Hidden text, Stuffing text in every nook and cranny
Cloaking: stealth, deliver one page to a search engine for indexing while serving a different page to everyone else.
Doorway Pages: A Web page that is designed to appeal to search engine spiders.
Fast meta refresh: used to quickly switch doorway pages to the page the user is supposed to see
Code swapping: swap it on the server with the "real" page once a position has been achieved. also sometimes done to keep others from learning exactly how the page ranked well.
Bait and Switch: Another technique combines word stuffing with "bait-and-switch," which loads the page with a popular search word such as sex, travel or antivirus, even though the word has nothing to do with the site content.
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Prepared by: Larry Stewart