Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Neil Patel QuickSprout
1. The Fundamentals
The Fundamentals
• • • • Research, research, research Content is king Cleanliness is next to Godliness Are you LinkedIn?
1. The Fundamentals ------------------------------------------------2. Keyword Research
Keyword Research
Don’t be foolish! Just because a keyword has high search volume, it doesn’t mean it is a good keyword to target.
Low Hanging Fruit
Find descriptive keywords with few competitors and high search volume.
1. The Fundamentals ------------------------------------------------2. Keyword Research ------------------------------------------------3. Content is King
Content is King
Content helps search engines determine what to rank a web page for.
The Good Stuff
• Evergreen content • Fresh content • How to guides, lists, and resourceful information
Why not start a blog?
You can easily add content through a blog, update it whenever you want, and still get site wide search engine love.
The Bad Stuff
Irrelevant and duplicate content can hurt your rankings. Stay away from it.
1. The Fundamentals ------------------------------------------------2. Keyword Research ------------------------------------------------3. Content is King ------------------------------------------------4. On Page Factors
On Page Factors
Don’t forget the basics: headings, meta tags, title tags, sitemaps, domain name, URL structure, site structure, and alt tags
Ideal URL Structure
• • • • • Keyword rich No extraneous characters The shorter the better No underscores Sub-domains over sub directories
Ideal Site Structure
• • • • Cross linking within the content Nofollow junk links Keep pages under 100 links Link to internal pages
Optimize Your Images!
• Every image should have a unique alt tag • Use of the long description tag • Enable enhanced image search in Google Webmaster Tools
1. The Fundamentals ------------------------------------------------2. Keyword Research ------------------------------------------------3. Content is King ------------------------------------------------4. On Page Factors ------------------------------------------------5. Link Building 101
Link Building 101
If you want to be popular on the web, you have to get other people to link to you.
What makes a good link?
• • • • Rich in anchor text In text link Relevant/authority site Permanent link
What makes a bad link?
• • • • • Paid text link Footer/site wide link Spammy/irrelevant site Too rich in anchor text Reciprocal link
Want a high PageRank?
If you want a high Google PageRank you better get those links.
How to Build Links
• • • • • Write good content Create buzz in the blogosphere Leverage social media sites Leverage directories Email website owners
Don’t Lose Your Links
If you want to move to a new domain or change the URL of a web page, make sure you do a 301 permanent redirect.
Slides
Have questions? Contact me. Neil Patel (562) 292-3834 neil@quicksprout.com www.quicksprout.com
Appendix
• tools.seobook.com/firefox/seofor-firefox.html • siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ • google.com/webmasters/tools • mattcutts.com/blog/dashes-vsunderscores