Search Engine Optimisation
Assumptions
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Tag optimisation <H1>, <H2>, <B>, <TITLE>
Content is King
Inbound links
Anchor Text
Keyword Density
Keyword Frequency
Expert / Authority Sites
Parental Documents
On-Page SEO / Off-Page SEO
SEO resource vs PPC resource
Why SEO is more important
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Q4 is coming; PPC ROI goes down, bids up, competition everywhere.
Direct-To-Merchant deals more difficult to land.
Google disabling “routing/jump” pages.
Return of the Portal
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Still use PPC, but reinvest spend on your brand.
Build portal, do it properly.
Free natural traffic is extra revenue.
Add to favourites, email capture.
Campaign deals, CPM/CPC hybrids.
Tangible asset.
Writing for Search Engines – On Page SEO
Well crafted content is good for:
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Human beings
Accessibility
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Search Engines
You don’t need to compromise.
RELEVANCY RELEVANCY RELEVANCY
Body Text
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The initial content, the first 2-3 paragraphs, is the MOST IMPORTANT. Especially the first
150-200 characters.
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Keyword Phrases (used by your target user/market) presented consistently and
logically throughout body text will boost rankings.
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When possible, Keyword Phrases should be used at the start, or near to the start of
paragraphs.
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Ideal target is 200 – 300 words per page.
Things you may not know.
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The Title tag has a stronger weight with regards to Googles ranking – BUT – Google
will try to match keywords and phrases in the Title tag with links and text in the page.
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Title tag should be varied to reflect each page. First 60 characters are the most
important, title tag should be no longer than 15 words.
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Keyword density of around 2-7% is recommended (won’t trip filters).
KD = “Keyword Count” divided by “Total Words” x “100”.
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Keyword frequency (repetition) of around 3-7 times per 100 words is recommended.
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Keyword prominence – words at the beginning of a page, paragraph, header are
assigned a greater value than those at middle or end.
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Keyword proximity – the distance between 2 related terms, the shorter the difference
the better the page will rank for that phrase.
Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO
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Links are your currency on the web and are your net worth.
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Not all links are equal, a reciprocated PR4 guest book link is not the same as an on
topic PR4 link from an authority site.
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Focusing on one aspect of a link (PR, anchor text, placement) neglects the
understanding each link can have on your rankings.
Copywright Greenlight
The Link Exchange
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On Page Placement
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Anchor Text
Expertise
Total score for this link = 48 out of 60
Copywright Greenlight
3rd Party Authority
Parental Authority
Honesty / Integrity
The Link Exchange
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On Page Placement
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Anchor Text
Expertise
Guest book link = 16 out of 60
Copywright Greenlight
3rd Party Authority
Parental Authority
Honesty / Integrity
The Link Exchange
Google
decides not to value anchor text so heavily in its
next update and cranks up its honesty filter.
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What
if 3rd Party Authority is considered the ‘new
black’?
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The
value that you had accrued in Anchor text is
devalued, and you have little value in the currency that is
flavor of the month.
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Anchor text is your only currency, then a devaluation of
your key link currency WILL hurt your rankings.
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On Page Placement
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Anchor Text
Expertise
Guest book link = 9 out of 60
Copywright Greenlight
3rd Party Authority
Parental Authority
Honesty / Integrity
Links and Attributes – Off Page SEO
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Links have different qualities, weightings and attributes.
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The weightings change making links worth more or less each update.
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If you drop in rankings you may not have been penalised, just have less of the “incurrency”.
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Important as you need to know what links to go after as they right links can take a
long time.
Copywright Greenlight
Search Engine Optimisation – Best Practice
Where is a good example of SEO?
Keyword Rich Title Description
Spider Friendly URL
Keywords in URL
Text Based Menu Links
<h1> For Page Heading
Search Engine Friendly Keyword Rich Text
Search Engine Optimisation – Kelkoo Rewarded
Precise Page Titles
433,000 UK Pages indexed by
Google
Clear, keyword rich page
descriptions invite click throughs
Dynamic URLs and Solutions
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Spiders *can* be put off from crawling your site by heavily dynamic URLs
http://www.domain.co.uk/session.php?=F38cmdu03/product.aspx?ID=7563&CID=100
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Eliminate sessionIDs for spiders.
Re-write the URL as:
http://www.domain.co.uk/7563/100
Shorter, cleaner and spider friendly! One for your technical team.
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MOD_REWRITE for Unix/Linux based systems.
ISAPI_REWRITE for Windows based systems.
Check with your host if you are able to install these modules, if not, you will need to
change hosts.
Robots.txt
Robots.txt
Robots.txt – A text file that you place on your server which
instructs search engines spiders to NOT crawl a page on your site.
Always use on the following pages:
Pages under construction, CGI-BIN, Redundant information.
Always use a robots.txt file even if its empty.
Here is an example:
User-agent: *
Questions?