Introduction to how search engines work, key SEO success factors, and the various elements that contribute to how content is indexed, found to be relevant, retrieved, and displayed on Search Engine Results Page. This was the first in a series of three SEO workshops for the #opensm community.

1. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
How Search Engines Find Your Content
A workshop series by Beth Browning

2. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
What is Search Engine Optimization?
• At the Highest Level it’s
– Driving traffic to websites from Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).
– Optimizing a variety of variables such as content, website structure, as
well as internal and external links (just to name a few) to increase the
visibility and position on a search engine results page.
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3. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Organic vs. Paid
• Search Engine results pages are divided into “sponsored links” and organic
listings.
• Organic search defines search results that come up naturally based on the
authority and relevancy of the various websites competing for search
results.
• Paid search refers to ads that are relevant to the search, but where the link
has been displayed because the search engine gets paid by the website
owner for every click.
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4. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
The anatomy of a Search Results Page
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5. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
How is SEO Done?
• SEO is largely done through the use of incorporating keywords your target
audience uses to search the internet.
– Keyword(s) = the words or terms that a person enters into the search box when they are
looking for something on the internet or on a website
• SEO today is about more than keywords and links. SEO is still the process
of optimizing web pages so they will be found on Google, but it’s also a lot
more.
• It’s about integrating with the other internet marketing strategies such as
social media marketing, content marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), blogging,
and website design.
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6. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Key SEO Success Factors
• Well-structured and easy to navigate website
– Your website should be organized in a hierarchy that makes it easy for
visitors and search engines to understand and follow the relationships
between pages
– Pages within the navigation should be labeled in a clear fashion and
when possible include important keywords
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7. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Key SEO Success Factors
• Content
– Relevant – is related to the products and services sold on the website
– Quality – error free and grammatically correct
– Unique – has not been published on another site
• Content that appears on the internet in more than one URL is considered to be
duplicate content.
– Search engines will most likely only show one link to a piece of content
– Sites that copy and publish someone else’s content will at best get no credit for the content and at worst
be penalized for it
– Fresh – search engines reward websites that frequently update and add new content
– Optimized - The use of keyword phrases appropriately incorporated into text, images,
and video (don’t forget about local)
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8. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Key SEO Success Factors
• Keywords + Content
Here’s the formula:
• Good Keyword(s) + the WRONG context = the WRONG Theme (LOW
RELEVANCE)
• Good Keyword(s) + the RIGHT context = the RIGHT Theme (HIGH
RELEVANCE)
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9. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Key SEO Success Factors
• Links
– External Links - back links are links that come to your site from another website – a
link from one site to another is like a ‘vote’ for that site and it sends Google and the other search
engines a positive signal about the website and its credibility.
• Do Follow – links from most websites. Google follows these links from one website to another when they crawl
a website. The links count as votes and the ‘link juice’ gets passed from one page to the other.
• No follow – links from blog comments and most social networks. Google does not follow these links – no-
follow = no link juice BUT they are an important social signal and do have value
– Internal Links – the linking structure within your own site and how those links are
written and displayed
• Content Distribution – promoting content through various channels
including social media networks to increase visibility
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10. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
How Search Engines Work
The first Layer:
•Search engines do the following when finding content:
– Search the internet for relevant content –this is called “crawling” or “spidering”
– Index the content – store what they find and identify patterns in the data so it can be
easily retrieved
– Process the content – compare the search term to the indexed content
– Calculate relevancy – determine which pages are most relevant to the search term
– Retrieve – display the results on a Search Engine Page
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11. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
The Personalization Layer
• Search History – Google keeps a record of the searches and incorporates it into calculating
what’s relevant
• Social Sharing – if you share it, you must like it and Google will give you results that are
similar
• Social Connections – content that has been shared by people you’re connected to on Google+
• Previous Search – Google looks at what you just searched on and combines it with your new
search to see if it makes sense to include both terms in the results
• Mass Personalization – in addition to your individual behavior, Google takes overall search
behavior into consideration
• Location – the physical address of the computer
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12. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
And then there’s Local Layer:
• Relevance:
– How related is the business to the search term. Let’s say you want to be found for the phrase
“Chinese Buffet” in addition to “Chinese Restaurant.” If you don’t mention “Chinese Buffet” in your
content, Google has no way of knowing that you offer it and you will not get a place in the local
results.
• Prominence:
– This is determined how prominent or “well-known” a business is. This is gathered from a variety of
sources on the web. It’s all about citations, which in the case of local SEO, are a good thing. A
citation is a mention or ‘citing’ of your business on a web page. The more often Google sees your
business listed, the more certain Google is that your business is legitimate.
• Distance:
– This is the easy one. Google calculates the distance from your location to the businesses in the area.
The more specific you make your search, the more is taken into consideration.
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13. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Other Factors - Semantic Search
• Search Engines are becoming answer engines
• Semantic search is technology used by the search engines that tries to
figure out what’s behind the search request – what are they really looking
for?
– If someone types “soy candles” into the search box, do they mean:
• Buy one?
• Learn how they are made?
• Learn how to make them?
• Benefits of Soy Candles?
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14. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Other Factors -Natural Language Processing
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) is technology that incorporates a
measure of Artificial Intelligence into the mix
• NLP is page specific which means that you don’t have to focus the content
of your entire website on 1 – 2 topics
– NLP is all about themes - it looks at the context of your page and whether or
not the keywords used within the content relevant to the theme of the page
• NLP also takes into consideration how well your content is written, not just
how the well the keywords are used
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15. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
How Search Engines Find Your Content
(and Display it on a Results Page)
Search engines
listen to the social
signals
It starts with your ideas and creativity
Promote your content on social
networks Your prospective customer searches on a Keyword
Search engines consider
•Location
•Personalization
•Social Signals
•Quality
•And more…
People Spread the Word
You do the keyword research
Search engines crawl and index your pages
Search engines follow the
links to your site (they
keep track of where the
links came from)
You turn the ideas into great content You build external links
(many of them happen naturally ) The right people find you

16. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
There is no such thing as being # 1
• Focus on being relevant to your audience, not on your
rankings
• If you are driving traffic organically, you’re doing the right
things
• The important thing is that you are found by the people who
need your services – Google is sort of a match-maker that way
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17. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Discover Your Customers
Taking the mystery out of SEO - my services
Website Analysis and Competitive Intelligence
- Provide insights regarding strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity for improving and optimizing an online
presence within the competitive landscape.
Teaching
-Conduct hands-on search engine optimization workshops for beginners to advanced
Search Engine Marketing
-Develop marketing strategies and plans to promote both brand and business through search engine optimization
Mentoring
- Relationship based training and knowledge transfer of skills to accelerate the growth of individuals and improve
retention and performance.
Content Creation
- Generate online content that is interesting and engaging for website visitors and is optimized for search engines.
Register for one of my workshops at: http://seotrainingpennsylvania.com/
For more locations, visit: http://www.searchengineacademy.com/
Subscribe to my blog for regular tips and insights (plus occasional musings): http://discover-your-customers.com/blog/

18. Open Social Media: Where we tell it like it is
Thank You!
Questions?