Introduction to SEO

Girl Develop Burlington

Tuesday, September 15th - 6:00pm to 8:30pm Thursday, September 17th - 6:00pm to 8:30pm

Welcome!

Learn something new and improve your current skills, in a fun and open environment!

Rules:
- We are here for you!
- Ask questions!
- Help each other
- Have fun!

Introductions

Tell us a little about you!

• Who are you?
• What do you hope to get out of class?
• What is your favorite animal?

What we'll cover today

• What is SEO?
• SEO vs. SEM
• SEO - Past, Present, Future
• How does SEO work?
- Algorithms
- Search Engine Results Page
- Ranking Factors
- Keyword Research

What is SEO?

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

Definition: "SEO is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's unpaid results - often referred to as "natural," "organic," or "earned" results." - Wikipedia

Process - On-going monitoring effort.

Un-Paid - You can't pay Google to be #1.

SEO vs. SEM

SEM = Overall Marketing efforts on the search engines

SEO = Optimization efforts to improve visibility
Source: http://upcity.com/blog/seo-or-ppc/

SEO
Past, Present, Future

When was SEO born?

1991

What were Search Engines originally designed to do?

Browse cataloged information

Great work!

SEO
Past, Present, Future

What were some of the early search engines?

(1993)

(1994)

(1994)

SEO
Past, Present, Future

When did Google come about?

(1997)

Google's mission was to improve and simply how data was indexed.

What does that really mean?

SEO
Past, Present, Future

What did early search look like?

2003 - 2005 Unethical Optimization Tactics
Google started to penalize for Black Hat Tactics

2006 - 2009 - Google released "Universal Search"
User insights and tracking egnited during this time!

2010 - 2013 - Focus on user experience.
Forcing brands to earn rankings through quality, user-focused content or face penalties in search.

SEO
Past, Present, Future

Search today = Personalized. Explorative.

• Unique, Local Results. (Example)
• Mobile Accessibility - Simplicity. Call Now.
• Responsive SERPS Format ( Example )

SEO
Past, Present, Future

What can we expect to happen?

• More Personalization.
• Instant Gratification.
• More strict rules and regulations
• Different ways business' are exposed

How does SEO work?

SEO Terminology

Keyword / Search Query
A word or phrase that is entered into a search engine

Organic Listing
A result that shows on the search results page.

Ranking
The position of a listing within the search engine results

SEO Terminology

Algorithm - A program that delivers results within a search engine

Heard of these Algorithm Updates?

- Panda Update - Content

- Penguin Update - Spam

- Pigeon Update - Local

- Hummingbird Update - Intent

- Mobile friendliness - Mobile

SEO Terminology

SERPS - Search Engine Results Page

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=macbook+pro

SEO Terminology

SERPS - Search Engine Results Page

Try it for yourself!

General Product - "Large TV"

Type of Business - "Italian restaurants in Burlington"

Specific Item "Blue Nike sneakers"

SEO Terminology

Google + Local

SEO Terminology

Google + Page

SEO Terminology

Ranking Factors

Keyword Research

Keyword Research

Give it a try! Put your consumer hat on.
Write down the words you would type to find the items below:

Keyword Research

Keyword Research

Switch Hats. Put on your SEO Expert Hat.
What are the next steps?

• Make a List
• Keyword Volume and Insights
• Prioritize and Strategize
• Execute

Keyword Research

Google Trends - Learn more about your product(s)! https://www.google.com/trends/

• "Mini Cooper"
• "Kitchen Aid Mixer"
• "Michael Jackson"
• "Selfie"

Keyword Research

Other Resources:

• Google Adwords Keyword Planner
  
  

What's up next?

• How SEO fits into a Digital Marketing Strategy?
  
• Internal and External Linking
• Content Marketing
  
• Optimizing for the User's Intent
  
• Social Marketing
  
• Measurement and Tracking
  
• Other SEO Best Practices