Useful Tips on The Power of SEO - BritMumsLive June 2014

Useful Tips on the Power of SEO and the World Beyond

#BritMums Live

Presenter Jo Turnbull

June 2014@SEOJoBlogs

#BritMumsLive @SEOJoBlogs

Who is SEO Jo Blogs?

• Jo Turnbull started in SEO while working for a mobile tech company

• Moved agency side 2009• Freelance online marketing

consultant, helping small and medium sized businesses with their marketing

• Organiser of Search London• Editor and Events Organiser for

State of Digital


What is SEO?

Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/31246066@N04/5415215092/


• SEO = Search Engine Optimisation• “Natural” position of a website in the search

results

Definition of SEO


Simple – Easy - Option

It is not just an add on to think about when the site has been built

Photo from being30.com


It’s Like Forgetting the Key Ingredient

Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/alisdair/809161517


Why is SEO Important?


High CTRs

Long Lasting Effect

Low CPAs


It is Important Because:


SEO Used to Be• Meta Titles• Keyword Stuffing• Spammy Links• Ranking in

Google• Guaranteed

Results



Elements of Ranking• Title Tags • Meta Description Tags • ALT Tags • H1, H2, H3 (and accompanying CSS) • Keywords in the content • Internal Links (images vs. keyword rich text) • URL Structure• Advanced Linking• Authority• Age of domain


Brilliant Basics


Brilliant Basics• H1 tag• ALT Tags • Keywords in the

content • H2 tag• URL Structure


Do You Know This Man?


Panda and Penguin


Some Clarity

• Panda – Feb 2011 (Europe April) – cracks down on thin content, content farms

• Penguin – April 2012 - “over optimisation penalty” adjusted spam factors like keyword stuffing. This was a site quality update but affected links.

• Hummingbird – September 2013


SEO Is More Than Just Keywords


1. SEO involves Twitter


• Ben Holbrook wrote a post about his favourite things to do in Barcelona

• He then scheduled tweets to promote it every day for a couple of weeks

• He added the #lp (Lonely Planet) hashtag when tweeting

• Lonely Planet then retweeted the post to their 1M+ followers

• 10,000+ unique visitors to Driftwood Journals, 33 re-tweets and 128 “favourites”.

Twitter Affects Traffic


Traffic Affected Rankings


That Post is Still Driving Traffic


2. SEO is About Networking



“Search London” Grew

• Networking group for those in search• Jan 2012 – 592 members• 5 meetups 2012• January 2013 – 1100 members • Increase 86%• June 2014 – 1315 members



How Did it Grow?

• Strong domain - www.meetup.com • Good speakers – don’t be afraid to

ask• Catchy titles each presentation• Guest posts• Interact with others at the event• Email members• Tweet before, during and after• Central venue



3. SEO is About Integrating Off and Online

Tweets Matter


Tweets Affected Traffic


4. SEO Includes Facebook

• Write content and use social media to help it go viral


4. Facebook Brings Traffic

• Ben “liked” the Facebook pages of each place mentioned in the post

• Emailed places he had written about, suggesting shares

• Ben also contacted the Madrid tourist board

• 2.1k Facebook likes• 100 tweets• Almost 4,000 unique

page views within a week


5. SEO Includes Sponsorship• A financial services company

sponsored a sporting event in a capital city

• The aim was to increase brand awareness and traffic



5. Impact on Traffic and Social Media

• Organic traffic: Up 100%• Direct: Up 41% • Referral: Up 9%• 22% Increase in conversions• 463% Increase in blog traffic referrals• 1,723 new Facebook fans gained on non-paid digital

efforts alone• 5% increase in Twitter followers in one month• 46% growth in FB likes


SEO has a Positive Experience on Brand

• 68% participants agreed about leaving with a more positive view of the brand

• 50% participants more likely to buy from the company

• 96% participants agreed the company was a great fit for a sponsor

• 65% participants viewed the company as a genuine brand

• 90% participants can’t wait for the next event


6. SEO is PR• Word of Mouth Online• Work with the PR department• Compliment Relationships• Networking + SEO• SEO + PR = Great Results• Long lasting effect



SEO is About Tying it All Together

• Twitter• Networking and Relationships• Creating good content• Facebook• Sponsorship• PR


What Should You Do?



1. Love Your Site



2. Don’t Be Afraid of Google

Matt Cutts



3. Create Content Users Want to Read



4. A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

Photo from driftwoodjournals.com


5. Share Great Content



6. Love What You Do



Summary

• Love Your Site• Don’t Be Afraid of Google• Create Content Users Want to Read• A Picture Tells a Thousand Words• Share Great Content• Love What You Do


Share Great Content

Get in Touchhttp://[email protected]

Photos from Being30.com, DriftwoodJournals.com, Flickr and Bas van den Beld

Thank You


Marketing

Useful Tips on The Power of SEO - BritMumsLive June 2014