This is an overview of search engine optimization (SEO). It's a basic description of what SEO is, how search engines work and the different parts of the SEO process. It starts with the value of keywords and ultimately keyword research. Then we move to on-page optimization and what to focus on during this part of the process. We also review the value of content and how Google determines if your content is valuable! The presentation briefly touches on domain authority and page authority. It also looks at user/usage data, layout designs, loading speed and the spam checklist. There is also a slide dedicated to the basics of local marketing for business. Finally it all comes down to link building or link earning as we call it. Here are some ideas on how to build relationships that ultimately will turn into quality links pointing to your website.

1. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
PLUSH MARKETING

2. WHAT IS SEO?
• It’s the practice of improving and
promoting a website in efforts to
increase the number of visitors a site
receives from search engines.
• The goal should be to improve and
optimize a website for people and
search engines at the same time.
• It’s not about getting as many people
to view a site. How can you get the
right people to view your site to
convert the most sales/leads?

3. HOW DO SEARCH
ENGINE RESULTS
WORK?
• Search engines have data centers all over the
world that store billions of interconnected
documents. They use automated robots called
crawlers (spiders) to crawl all websites.
• Personalized results (when logged into Google)
are different from the default search. The image
on the right shows an example of that. I’ve
searched the Miami Dolphins before so Google
remembers that and returns that result first as I
type “Miami.”
• Searches are returned based on your ISP location
(city/town)

4. THE ALMIGHTY
ALGORITHM
• Each year Google changes its
search algorithm over 500 times to
help return users better results and
to deal with those taking advantage
of the bad SEO tactics.
• Top indicators include keywords,
content value, on page
optimization, domain/authority
(links), user usage, spam check,
design, structure and load speed.

5. KEYWORDS
• Search engines return results based
on our search queries.
• KW research is looking for KW that
relates to the topic a website would
like to rank high for in search engines
• Shorter KW combos are harder to rank
for then long tail keywords. A short KW
example would be “coffee”
• Long tail keyword example would be
“best coffee in Bethesda Maryland”

6. KEYWORD
RESEARCH
• Start with a seed keyword and look for related KW
phrases. My seed keyword or starting phrase is
“johnnie walker”
• Average monthly searches tell us how popular a
specific keyword or phrase is searched for each
month.
• Common mistakes are going after Broad KW, KW
with too much competition, KW that don’t get
enough traffic or KW that don’t convert for a
particular website.
• Qualifying KW can have one of the following in the
KW phrase: Time/Date (Morning/April), Price/Quality
(Cheap/Best), Intent (Buy/Shop), Location
(NY/Online). An example is “best Johnnie Walker
for 2014”

7. KEYWORD ON PAGE
OPTIMIZATION
• Determine focused keyword for each page/post and never
repeat throughout the website
• Make sure the keyword appears in the URL
• Make sure at least one image appears on the page/post
with proper Alt description
• Meta Keywords are less important these days especially
in Google but still good to add for site usability and
organization
• Adding sub heading tags (I.E. H1 or H2 headings) with
the keyword is good practice
• Interlinking and external links is extremely important for
content on a website that is related

8. SEO TITLES AND
DESCRIPTIONS
• SEO titles are the top blue bolded text in a
search result
• Descriptions are the text under the URL link in
the search results
• Make sure to include your KW in the title
• Make sure to include your KW in the
description
• Tip: View your description like an add. In this
short amount of space it’s vital to write a
description that would grab the visitors
attention.

9. QUALITY CONTENT
ISN’T KING IT
EVERYTHING!
• You must have good content to engage people
on your site, have them share it and ultimately
have SEO rank pages higher.
• Web pages, infographics, video series, a new
tool, interview series, how to guide, Q&A,
webinar, blog posts are examples of content.
• Content without value = Spam
• The more in-depth your content explores the
more it can be about something of value or an
answer to a question/search query.

10. THE GOOGLE
CHECKLIST FOR
QUALITY
• Would you trust the info presented in the article?
• Is this article written by an expert who knows the
topic well?
• Does the article have spelling, stylistic or factual
mistakes?
• Does the article provide original info?
• Does the article describe both sides of the story?
• Does the article contain interesting info beyond the
obvious?
• Would you bookmark this article?
• Would you expect to see it in a magazine?

11. CREATE AND
MEASURE VALUE
• How To - Does it help you
accomplish a task? An example is
“how to add email to a mobile
device” or “how to make pizza”
• Emotional Response - Do you feel
something?
• Point Of View - Positive or negative
• Perceived Value - Is the content
created by a person who is famous,
or has authority on the subject.

12. DOMAIN/PAGE
AUTHORITY
• Domain Authority - the linked based
authority of all links pointing to all the
web pages on a specific domain,
tells the search engine how
important a site is to people.
• Page Authority - Page rank, and
trustworthy factor measure the value
of a single page.
• DA = Value of entire domain
• PA = Value of single page

13. USER AND USAGE
DATA
• The goal of the search engine is to return
extremely relevant content.
• If someone clicks on a search result in Google,
visits the corresponding web page and
immediately goes back to the search results,
it’s considered a high bounce rate and bad for
your search rankings. In your Google Analytics
report you can check your average bounce
rate.
• If people constantly visit a website and spend a
lot of time on a website after finding it in the
search results it’s considered extremely
relevant and the search rank of that page will
be increased.

14. SPAM CHECKLIST
FOR GOOGLE
• What is the value of the content
on your website?
• Is the content yours or copied?
• Does your site receive trusted
links?
• Do you link to trusted
websites?

15. WEBSITE LOADING
SPEED MATTERS
• Make sure your website loads
as fast as possible
• Reduce file size especially
pictures to help pages load
faster
• Optimize the server the website
is stored on to allow pages to
load faster.

16. DESIGN AND
LAYOUT
• Responsive - Google reports there will
be more mobile searches than
desktop searches at the end of 2014
• Navigation must be easy almost
instinctual for visitors
• Your website must be easy to
understand what each page is about
• Your website has to look good to be
trusted and to rank well

17. THE BASICS TO
LOCAL MARKETING
FOR BUSINESS
• Add Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) to
local online directories that make sense and make
sure NAP is consistent.
• Add schema markup to website (products, articles
& location page) for extra SEO benefit.
• Create/modify Google My Business Account to
appear in Google Maps and local search results.
• Create Bing/Yahoo local search engines accounts
too. Google has most of the market but not all of
it!

18. EARNING LINKS
THE RIGHT WAY
WITH LINK
BUILDING
• Reach out to other people in your industry that either do what you do or
something related to your business and create relationships.
• Focus on a few links from website that have high domain/page rank
authority instead of looking for many links from low ranking sites.
• Create partnerships and cross promote with business that make sense.
• Social Sharing - share links to content that is extremely valuable. Create
content that someone would want to share.
• Participate in local community activities and networking events (chamber of
commerce)
• Guest writing on articles where owners really care about content
• Participate in forums and comments WITHOUT leaving backlinks. Real
participation with quality comments that could influence/help people and
have them seek out your content.
• See what content your competitors are producing that is being shared the
most and create content about the topics but do it better

19. SEO REQUIRES
TRUST/PATIENCE
• Most websites just starting with SEO will not
see much improvement for 6-8 months.
• If you have a small amount of marketing
dollars left, that you need to convert into client
or sales ASAP…SEO is not the answer.
• SEO is a longterm plan that requires
maintenance and updating
• Stick to the plan. Adapting overtime to Google
updates or analytics on your website is ok but
drastic overhauling changes are not and can
really waste your time.

20. WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY?
PLUSH MARKETING