1. Topics in Technology and Marketing Pull Marketing: Search Engine Optimization

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ● SEO seeks to maximize: ● Search engine visibility ● Web traffic resulting from searches

3. Website Traffic ● Traffic - click-through (CTR) - is directly correlated to search results ranking ● Importance of being listed on Page 1 of a Google search return – Page 1 – CTR ~ 95% – Page 3+ equals commercial invisibility ● Importance of being listed #1 on Page 1 of a Google search return ● Page 1/#1 – CTR ~ 34% ● Page 1/#2 – CTR ~ 17% (~ 1/2 drop) ● Page 1/#3 – CTR ~ 11% (~ 1/3 drop) ● Page 2/#1 – CTR ~ 1% http://www.free-seo-news.com/newsletter423.htm http://www.seomad.com/SEOBlog/google-organic-click-through-rate-ctr.html http://www.seoresearcher.com/distribution-of-clicks-on-googles-serps-and-eye-tracking-analysis.htm

4. Website Ranking ● Ranking is proportional to Google's assessment of BOTH: ● The degree to which the content matches the intent of the query ● The authority of the content http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

5. Essential Strategies ● Three essential strategies ● Identify keyword phrases that prospects are using ● On-Page SEO - maximize the website's “match” to keyword phrases ● Off-Page SEO - maximize the website's authority – Ensure compliance with best practices – Establish business “credibility” – Increase number of backlinks

6. Keyword Matching ● Maximize the website's “match” to keyword phrases ● It's (mostly) all about content ● Useful, valuable information ● Lots of it ● Frequently refreshed and added to ● Relating to the subject of the targeted keyword phrases ● Containing specific references to targeted keyword phrases

7. Don’t Make Google Think ● Make it easy on Google ● Keywords in URL – YES: www.example.com/vintage-Fender-guitars-in- Austin.html – NO: www.example.com/about_us.html ● Keywords in tags – YES: vintage Fender guitars in Austin – NO: About Us ● Keywords in headlines – YES: Where to find vintage Fender guitars in Austin – NO: About Us

8. Maximize Authority ● Ensure compliance with best practices – dodgy businesses have dodgy websites ● Website registered with Google Webmaster Tools ● sitemap.xml file present in root directory – e.g. www.example.com/sitemap.xml ● robots.txt file present in root directory – e.g. www.example.com/robots.txt ● No HTML/CSS errors ● No broken links ● No 404 – Page Not Found errors http://www.xml-sitemaps.com http://www.mcanerin.com/EN/search-engine/robots-txt.asp

9. Maximize Authority ● All hyperlinks and image tags have keyworded title attributes ● e.g. Where to find vintage Fender guitars in Austin ● Where to find vintage Fender guitars in Austin ● All image tags have keyworded alt attributes ● e.g.

10. Maximize Credibility ● Establish business “credibility” ● Listings in local directories ● Listings in industry directories ● Listing in Google Places, Yahoo! Local, etc.

11. Growing Backlinks ● Common strategy for growing backlinks ● Build a network of Social Media/blog accounts – e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Blogger, LinkedIn, etc. ● Create keyword-rich posts with backlinks and publish to network ● Google finds posts and backlinks, and determines a high degree of relevancy between the two. http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

12. What It All Means ● A highly visible website will deliver streams of potential customers – for free ● An invisible website means that a business must invest ($$$) in advertising to generate leads in other ways ● SEO is primarily about content, not technical tricks ● Good content results in good SEO ● Yet – who typically does SEO? Techies... ● Good content is written to address the specific concerns of prospects ● Concerns expressed through Google searches using keyword phrases http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

13. What It All Means ● SEO is a process, not a destination ● It never ends – your website is never complete ● Yet – many businesses treat their website like a digital office sign – Once complete, no need to think about it for a long time http://www.seoinpractice.com/first-practical-seo-guide.html http://optimizer.builtwith.com/home.aspx

14. Questions?