Some best practices for optimizing content, including web copy, blogs, and social media. Properly optimized content can help boost your online brand visibility, provide better search engine ranking, and drive more traffic.

1. Best Practices for
Content Optimization

2. Agenda
• Content – Why it’s suddenly KING again
• Keywords Insight
• Web Copy
• Blogging
• Social Media
• Video Marketing

3. Content is King (Again)
Content based on keywords
• Google’s Panda update
• Marketing evolution Content based on social info
incorporating social media
– PUSH marketing needs PULL Content based on video
marketing support
– Consumers aging = more online Content based on keywords
purchasing power
– iPad and other tablets changing Content based on written word
content consumption
• Alexa’s top websites are all Content based on keywords
content driven
Content based on written word

4. Content is King (Again)
• HiveFire survey of 400 B2B • Objectives of content
marketing professionals marketing:
found
– 82% employ content marketing as
a strategy
– 83% of respondents who cited
their firm having a year or longer
sales cycle used Content
Marketing
– 86% of those who cited a sales
cycle of 1-3 months were users
– 66% of respondents with a 1-7
day sales cycle use Content
Marketing
– 79% of marketers share the
majority of their content online

5. Content is (should be) Dynamic
• Website copy
– More static than most content
• Blog posts
– Ongoing, relevant, informative,
opinionated
• Articles & Whitepapers
– Topical, detailed
• Video
– Engaging, fun, real
• Social media posts
– Transparent

6. Why Optimize Content?
• With more content available, getting
noticed is tougher
• 80 percent of all product or service
purchases starts with a Google
search
• Helps improve site search engine
rankings
• Increases Twitter followers
• Increases Facebook ‘likes’ AND
engagement
• Sum of the parts is greater than
individual components

7. Keywords
• Words & phrases used to
search out products and
services
• Short tail (head) keywords
– ‘Email Security’
– ‘Firewall Solutions’
– More overall searches
– Greater competition
• Long tail keywords
– ‘I need to improve email security’
– ‘I need a better firewall solution’
– Fewer searches
– Less competition
– Extended ‘variations’ of core
keywords

8. Keywords
• Keyword variations: • Modifiers add context
– Singular vs. plural – Buy
– Alternate word order – Seattle
– Synonyms and acronyms – US
– Keyword modifiers • A word on Google auto-
– Head vs. tail complete
– Opportunity to identify long tail
keywords
– GREAT opportunity to identify
blog/content topics

9. Optimizing Web Copy
• Map (ideally) no more than 2 keywords per
page (variations don’t count) Web
• Use keywords in key webpage Meta
components Copy
– H1 and H2 tags
– Alt image tags
– Meta title
– Meta description
• For page copy
– Use keywords and variations early
– Use keywords and variations as often as makes
sense (write for your audience)
– Use long tail keywords
– Sprinkle in keyword bolding and italicizing
– Interlink long tail keywords to other relevant site
pages (not all keywords)

10. KW in Meta Title
Keywords on this page:
- Preventing foreclosure
- Foreclosure assistance
KW in H1
KW in H2
KWs used early,
bolded, italicized
KWs interlinked to other
relevant pages

11. Optimizing Blogs
• Map (ideally) no more than 1 keyword per page
(variations don’t count)
•
– 2 KW’s isn’t bad, we just think that 1 is ideal
Use keywords in key blog Meta components Blogs
– H1 or blog title
– Alt image tags
– Meta title (which should be blog title in part)
– Meta description
• For blog copy
– Use keywords and variations early
– Use keywords and variations as often as makes sense (write for
your audience)
– Use long tail keywords
– Sprinkle in keyword bolding and italicizing
– Interlink long tail keywords to other relevant site pages or blogs
(not all keywords)
• Tag the blog with keywords when possible
• Share the blog socially – StumbleUpon, LinkedIn,
relevant LinkedIn groups, Delicious, Digg, Reddit,
Technorati, etc.

12. Keyword on this blog:
KW in Meta title
- Data Center Relocation
KW in blog title
KW used early, bolded,
hyperlinked to main site
KW italicized
KW as blog tag

13. Optimizing for Social
Here are some key ways to make your content optimized
for sharing across the social web: Social
• Titles: Media
– Don’t use BORING titles.
• If you’re going to draw people into your content you have to do it with
enticing titles.
• Title length:
– Titles should be as brief as possible
– Only 140 characters
• Leave room for people to add comments and #hashtags
• Leave room for the shortened URL
• Add enticing meta descriptions.
– When you share a post on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn,
and Google+, they automatically pull in a description of the
post.
– Most sites generate this description from the URL's meta
description.
– Use keywords in meta descriptions

14. Optimizing for Social
Here are some key ways to make your content optimized
for sharing across the social web: Social
• Social Sharing Buttons: Media
– Make sure your content has social sharing buttons available for
others to share – lots of ways to display
• High Quality Content:
– This will be MOST important for growth, continued readership,
and followers

15. Optimizing for Social
Here are some key ways to make your content optimized
for sharing across the social web: Social
• Use Imagery: Media
– Make sure your content has an image, preferably something
eye-catching.
– Images will get pulled along with the content making for a more
enticing article.
• Use Hashtags and/or Twitter usernames
– Use only when appropriate
– #hashtags (hyperlinked search terms) can be used in many
ways
• contests, tracking, support, gain followers, start following, etc).
– @username will alert the person whose username you’ve used
they’ve been mentioned
– Nice way to possibly drawing a comment or a retweet.

16. Optimizing for Social
Where else, besides Twitter, should you share your
content socially, at a minimum? Social
• Linkedin Connections – This can be a highly Media
effective group to share your content.
– Probably likeminded folks in your industry
– Respected and trusted (connected)
– Potential referral network
• LinkedIn Groups
– Specialized interest group that will have higher
interest than general public
– More likely to read and share
– Possible customers and lead gen
– Make sure you respond to any comments or
questions

17. Optimizing for Social
Where else, besides Twitter, should you share your
content socially, at a minimum? Social
• Facebook Pages Media
– Show fans what that you’re actively creating relevant
content.
– Ask questions about the content
– Create conversations around content
– Always respond to comments and questions
• Google+
– Show fans what that you’re actively creating relevant
content.
– Ask questions about the content
– Create conversations around content
• Honorable Mention:
– StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Google Bookmarks, Delicious
Bookmarks

18. Optimizing for Social
Where else, besides Twitter, should you share your
content socially, at a minimum? Social
Media
Why titles
and desc are
important.
They’re front
and center!!

19. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
STATS:
• Forrester Research concludes that the implementation of video
increases the chances of first page Google search results by 53%.
Video
• A Kelsey Group study found
•55% of people who view a video visit the company’s website
•30% visit the a physical store
•24% make a purchase as a result.
•Today almost 9 out of 10 web users engage with online video
•Comscore estimates that companies using online video see sales lifts
between 20 – 40%
•44% of universal search results on Google feature video
TIPS:
• Optimized or not, content is king and video is at the top of the content
pyramid.
•Make videos that contain valuable information first.
•Videos with actionable advice, helpful instruction, and verifiable data
will be most valuable to users. (instructional, how-to’s, etc)
•Salesy content won’t fly.

20. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
These are the main optimization activities for videos on YouTube* that
we follow (YouTube because it’s owned by Google, and if YouTube was
a search engine it would be the number two search engine in the world,
behind Google). Video
• Title text:
– You have 99 characters to optimize your title text
– Consider your target keywords and any other keywords
you may want to rank for
– Don't forget to include your branding and descriptive text.
• If you have little chance of getting that top spot, aim for second
to boost views by proxy, related videos also get lots of views.
• Description:
– You have 5,000 characters, which is a lot, so use all that
space to write as much about your video as possible.
– Place most compelling content in the first couple sentences
– Link to related pages on your site, or to other videos on your
channel.
– Because user ratings and views play a factor in your search
rankings within YouTube (and therefore Google), make sure
to ask for people to rank your video, but also share and
embed your video.

21. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
• Tags:
– Useful for search terms you use in your title text and
description, including names and branding.
– Be sure to use quotation marks around each tag, especially Video
if you’re using a keyword phrase as a tag, otherwise
YouTube will consider each individual word a tag. (IE ->
“abc technologies”)
– Check tags on other popular videos in a search result for
videos with similar content and use them. This will increase
your chance of being in the ‘related videos’ results.

22. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
• Broadcasting and sharing options:
Video
– Privacy: Most marketers may set videos to private
while working on them prior to an official launch date or
campaign, just don't forget to later set them to public.
– Comments: It's up to you whether you want to enable
comments. Just remember: if you disable commenting,
users will go elsewhere to talk about your video, your
brand, or your message.
– Video responses: These help boost views because
they are automatically linked to your original.
– Ratings: These have a direct impact on your rankings,
so make sure you set this to "yes."
– Embedding: Blogs and social media shares really
boost views, and help your message get to new
audiences outside of YouTube, it's a good idea to keep
this enabled.
– Syndication: Again, anything to boost your views will
help your video rank higher in YouTube and Google, so
keep this enabled.

23. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
• Getting views:
Video
– YouTube considers a video "viewed" after eight
seconds of runtime, so make sure your video has
enough "pull" to get you past that hump.
– Embedding it in your company blog or on product
pages can boost video views and encourage discovery.
– Post your videos to your Facebook channel.
– Encourage others to share your video on social media
platforms within the video itself by asking people to
share it in your video itself and in the description.
– Seed your videos on bookmarking and listing sites.
– Distribute links to your videos in press releases and
embed them in social media releases.
– Promote views of your video by buying them through
Google AdWords.
– Chunk your videos into smaller parts and link them all
together using playlists.

24. Optimizing Video (YouTube)
• Getting ratings:
Video
– Rank your own video -- I'll never tell.
– Encourage others to rank your video
by asking for it within your video,
description, etc.
Presentation Sources:
– Mashable.com
– SearchEngineWatch.com
– SearchEngineLand.com
– Hubspot.com

25. Thank you!
☺