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Optimizing your content for search engines

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Harumi Gondo

This document provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO) best practices for optimizing website content. It discusses techniques like including keywords in page titles, meta descriptions, headlines, and body text. It also emphasizes the importance of internal and external links for improving search engine rankings. The document provides recommendations like writing quality content, analyzing competitors, and using analytics tools to track SEO performance over time.

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Optimizing your content for search engines
Build online image Write for the Web Optimize for search engines Publicize with social media
“What kind of rabbits live in New Zealand?”
Optimizing your content for search engines
Organic Search vs. Paid ORGANIC PAID 70% of visitors click on Organic listings, 30% to Paid.
SEO (search engine optimization) Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to techniques you can use to improve the visibility of a Web site or a Web page in search engines
“Really, j-schools need to ditch AP style and start teaching their students SEO instead. More valuable to their careers.” -Robert Niles, The Online Journalism Review
“SEO will help you gain new readers online. AP style will not. If you need new readers to make money, then SEO will help you more than AP style. That's it. It's just the reality of publishing online today. You can either adapt and accommodate it, or shake your fist at it and resist.” -Robert Niles, The Online Journalism Review
Optimizing your content for search engines
6th
The meta tags are important because Google may use them as snippets for your pages. Google doesn’t take metatags as a variable for ranking, BUT it is important for conversions. In other words, what people read may entice them to click onto your site. Therefore, write compelling copy for your metatags.
3rd 4th
How search engines read Web pages • Page title • Headline • Description • Story • Related links The first line of the search result comes from the <title> tag. You need to make sure your title tag has the keywords people use to find you or the content of your story.
White hat SEO: search engine optimization according to rules Black hat SEO: cloaking, link farms
Optimizing your content for search engines
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Create easy to read descriptive URLs 1. When you publish your web page be sure to have the keyword(s) in the URL. 2. Keep the URL simple www.upi.com/science-new/moon-landing Not www.upi.com/science?=839302ei=?sourceid=1lsls You should not have more than three parameters in a URL, crawlers have a hard time reading these. Try to make your URL readable for humans as well as bots. Create URL structures that make sense: Cars / Fords / Mustangs/ Convertibles
SEO best practices • Write information-rich stories that people will want to read and link to • Link to sites that are relevant to your article, Web site
Things important for search engines • Google Pagerank (PR) • Links • Anchor text
Google Pagerank (PR): Google assigns weight/ranking to Web pages based on number, quality, authoritativevess • 10 • 9 • 8 • 7 • 6 • 5 • 4 • 3 • 2 • 1 • 0
Link to your story is like a vote of confidence The more authoritative the Web sites that link to your Web site/page, the more important the search engines will think it is. The most authoritative sites include .edu .gov .org Google PageRank
LINKING! = Article without links = island
Links are like a vote for your site. The more relevant, quality links you get the better your site will rank. One valid link from CNN.com > 10,000 links from a PR1 news blog 500 links from automotive websites for a fashion site will not help your case.
How do you get links? • Ask site owners of relevant sites to link to you. In exchange you could link back, but I don’t highly recommend reciprocation. It’s better to get one- way links. • The best to reach site owners in my experience is not by email. Call. Usually a number is on their website, or you could get their details from DNS lookup. • Contribute to forums and link back to your own site. • Write interesting articles that could go viral such as a top 10 list. When a list becomes viral you’ll receive a lot of links from referring sites. • Buy links from reputable sites with high PageRank.
Anchor Text Optimize your Anchor Text to improve: - Branding - Keyword Ranking UPIU is a good journalism mentoring site. Click here to view a good journalism mentoring site.
Optimizing your content for search engines
Optimizing your content for search engines
Optimizing your content for search engines
Optimizing your content for search engines
Case Study
4th
Competitive Analysis Type in the keyword that you want to rank for. Analyze the #1,2,3 positions for the following: • Age of domain • Keyword in title • Number of times keyword used in the body • Number of back links • Quality of back links • PageRank • Keywords in alt tags When you can determine these elements you need to compare point by point to your site. If you beat them in all these areas you wll likely take over their position.
What is your Web site about? • Build keyword list – Google Keywords – Google Trends – Google Wonderwheel – ~keyword
Recommendations 1. Write great content. Good quality content always surfaces to the top. 2. Get links 3. Organize your site, URL, title, keywords, alt tags, etc. 4. Study your competition – status quo 5. Analyze your data using analytic tools
SEO your article
Put keywords in: • Headline • Description • Story – Keywords in your story – Bold text in your story • Metatags
headline description story Insert search engine-friendly keywords in:
Optimizing your content for search engines
REMEMBER Google loves fresh, updated content The more you update the more frequently search engines will crawl your site
Tools • SEOMoz – seomoz.org • Bruce Clays http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/tools.htm • Aaron Wall’s – SEO Book – www.seobook.com • Webconfs.com • Iwebtools.com

More Related Content

Optimizing your content for search engines

  • 1. Optimizing your content for search engines
  • 2. Build online image Write for the Web Optimize for search engines Publicize with social media
  • 3. “What kind of rabbits live in New Zealand?”
  • 5. Organic Search vs. Paid ORGANIC PAID 70% of visitors click on Organic listings, 30% to Paid.
  • 6. SEO (search engine optimization) Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to techniques you can use to improve the visibility of a Web site or a Web page in search engines
  • 7. “Really, j-schools need to ditch AP style and start teaching their students SEO instead. More valuable to their careers.” -Robert Niles, The Online Journalism Review
  • 8. “SEO will help you gain new readers online. AP style will not. If you need new readers to make money, then SEO will help you more than AP style. That's it. It's just the reality of publishing online today. You can either adapt and accommodate it, or shake your fist at it and resist.” -Robert Niles, The Online Journalism Review
  • 10. 6th
  • 11. The meta tags are important because Google may use them as snippets for your pages. Google doesn’t take metatags as a variable for ranking, BUT it is important for conversions. In other words, what people read may entice them to click onto your site. Therefore, write compelling copy for your metatags.
  • 13. How search engines read Web pages • Page title • Headline • Description • Story • Related links The first line of the search result comes from the <title> tag. You need to make sure your title tag has the keywords people use to find you or the content of your story.
  • 14. White hat SEO: search engine optimization according to rules Black hat SEO: cloaking, link farms
  • 16. Free BMWs Free Car Free Car Free Car Free Car Free Car Come Get it! Free Giveaway Cheap BMWs Best cars in the world Cheap used cars no money down Cheap car Cheap car Cheap car Cheap car Very cheap new car
  • 17. Create easy to read descriptive URLs 1. When you publish your web page be sure to have the keyword(s) in the URL. 2. Keep the URL simple www.upi.com/science-new/moon-landing Not www.upi.com/science?=839302ei=?sourceid=1lsls You should not have more than three parameters in a URL, crawlers have a hard time reading these. Try to make your URL readable for humans as well as bots. Create URL structures that make sense: Cars / Fords / Mustangs/ Convertibles
  • 18. SEO best practices • Write information-rich stories that people will want to read and link to • Link to sites that are relevant to your article, Web site
  • 19. Things important for search engines • Google Pagerank (PR) • Links • Anchor text
  • 20. Google Pagerank (PR): Google assigns weight/ranking to Web pages based on number, quality, authoritativevess • 10 • 9 • 8 • 7 • 6 • 5 • 4 • 3 • 2 • 1 • 0
  • 21. Link to your story is like a vote of confidence The more authoritative the Web sites that link to your Web site/page, the more important the search engines will think it is. The most authoritative sites include .edu .gov .org Google PageRank
  • 23. Links are like a vote for your site. The more relevant, quality links you get the better your site will rank. One valid link from CNN.com > 10,000 links from a PR1 news blog 500 links from automotive websites for a fashion site will not help your case.
  • 24. How do you get links? • Ask site owners of relevant sites to link to you. In exchange you could link back, but I don’t highly recommend reciprocation. It’s better to get one- way links. • The best to reach site owners in my experience is not by email. Call. Usually a number is on their website, or you could get their details from DNS lookup. • Contribute to forums and link back to your own site. • Write interesting articles that could go viral such as a top 10 list. When a list becomes viral you’ll receive a lot of links from referring sites. • Buy links from reputable sites with high PageRank.
  • 25. Anchor Text Optimize your Anchor Text to improve: - Branding - Keyword Ranking UPIU is a good journalism mentoring site. Click here to view a good journalism mentoring site.
  • 31. 4th
  • 32. Competitive Analysis Type in the keyword that you want to rank for. Analyze the #1,2,3 positions for the following: • Age of domain • Keyword in title • Number of times keyword used in the body • Number of back links • Quality of back links • PageRank • Keywords in alt tags When you can determine these elements you need to compare point by point to your site. If you beat them in all these areas you wll likely take over their position.
  • 33. What is your Web site about? • Build keyword list – Google Keywords – Google Trends – Google Wonderwheel – ~keyword
  • 34. Recommendations 1. Write great content. Good quality content always surfaces to the top. 2. Get links 3. Organize your site, URL, title, keywords, alt tags, etc. 4. Study your competition – status quo 5. Analyze your data using analytic tools
  • 36. Put keywords in: • Headline • Description • Story – Keywords in your story – Bold text in your story • Metatags
  • 39. REMEMBER Google loves fresh, updated content The more you update the more frequently search engines will crawl your site
  • 40. Tools • SEOMoz – seomoz.org • Bruce Clays http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/tools.htm • Aaron Wall’s – SEO Book – www.seobook.com • Webconfs.com • Iwebtools.com