Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a unique mix of marketing, usability and technology which can often cause confusion on how it is implemented across different organisations. An important part of your SEO strategy is getting the most out of your SEO dollars. This session will explain what your developers, designers, producers, content authors and marketers should all know about SEO to ensure you’re getting the maximum return on your SEO. A lot of SEO work undertaken by external agencies offers common sense advice and basic web standards information – in these tough economic times, are you getting value for your money or just throwing it away while your in-house web team aren’t involved in your SEO strategy? This session will give you the ground rules on setting up your SEO processes and systems within your organization to ensure that SEO is part of the day-to-day development and design of your websites. It will also cover when to bring in an external agency for SEO and what they should be utilised for to make sure you are getting the best value for money.

1. Beyond SEO
Scott Gledhill and Cheryl Gledhill
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2. intro
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3. intro
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4. intro
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5. intro
imagonovus
http://www. ickr.com/photos/imagonovus/2465392241/
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6. that’s not my job
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7. basics of SEO
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8. technical
HTML
URLs
server issues
invisible content
XML sitemaps
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9. content
keywords
headlines
page content
taxonomies
labeling
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10. external
linking strategies
content strategies
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11. agenda
internal, doing it better
external, using them better
today and tomorrow
beyond SEO
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12. internal SEO
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13. why bring SEO in-house
insider knowledge of business
complete control
focus
integration
learning experience
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14. roles of the SEO process
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15. common site build
Producer
Project Manager
Marketing
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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16. how to involve SEO
educate each silo about search
understand how to use each resource
buy in from the top (team KPIs)
checklists, to supplement this process
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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17. information architecture
labeling and taxonomies
linking strategies (super footers, navigational elements)
content strategies (top stories, related posts, landing pages)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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18. 18

19. visual design
branding and communication (retention of users)
HTML / CSS friendly design
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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20. developers hate SEO
surpris
es
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21. developers specs
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22. front-end development
web standards HTML / CSS / JavaScript
good HTML architecture (h1s, microformats, semantics...)
page optimisation (optimising visual design)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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23. back-end development
HTML / CSS template assembly
population of site-wide data (eg. meta-data, title, alt text, etc)
XML sitemap population
URL structures (sometimes rewrites)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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24. 24

25. server admins
url rewriting / primary URLs
robots.txt (depending on servers)
error handling (404)
page optimisation (gzip, CDN, etc)
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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26. http://www.3am.co.uk/diary/ 200 OK
http://3am.co.uk/diary/ 302 redirect
http://3am.co.uk/phwoar/ 301 redirect
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27. content writer
the most vital element in SEO
write content, understand search implications
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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28. 28

29. content writer
the most vital element in SEO
write content, understand search implications
provide quality content
write link bait
write meta data
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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30. producers
often responsible for SEO
legwork - inbound links
writing copy
analytics
site consistency
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31. project manager
oversee the entire process
establish processes and standards for SEO
establish checklists
establish testing processes
de-brief per project
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32. marketing
ultimate owners of SEO
identify prospects
understanding users/customers
selling products with the right landing page
user experience
conversion
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33. testing, testing, testing
developers test browsers, data, etc
SEO outputs should be tested
pre-launch vs post-launch
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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34. test how your website looks in SERPs
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35. in-house works when...
you get involved early!
establish SEO standards for the website building process
supplement with checklists, don’t depend on them
constant education and face time
IA Visual Design Front End Back End Server Content Pre-launch Post-launch
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36. external SEO
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37. do you need an external company?
orphanjones
http://www. ickr.com/photos/orphanjones/431843839/
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38. outsource is good because...
constantly changing algorithms
diverse experience
black hat white hat
cost efficiency
can step back from company jargon
expert view - get unpopular decisions across the
management line easier
boring
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39. get the best from your agency
prioritise for them
be involved - don’t just get reports
do you own research - keywords, verticals, competitors
share your business strategy
get a core SEO team together
experiment
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40. today and tomorrow
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41. universal search
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42. vertical search
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43. 43

44. indexing more
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45. takeaway - audio, video, podcasts, etc.
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46. real time search
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47. real time search information search
40% 40%
navigational search 20%
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48. de ned by publish time, not index time
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49. sydney dust storms
toolmantim
http://www. ickr.com/photos/toolmantim/3946766188/
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50. 15 minutes of lost time
Brendan Loy
http://www. ickr.com/photos/51629368@N00/2669857604/
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51. ‘real time’ mixed with ‘quick index time’
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52. caffeine
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53. real time service
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54. twitter, ickr, facebook, youtube, friendfeed...
instantaneous
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55. real time aggregation
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56. should you get in on real time?
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57. should you get in on real time?
is it relevant to your business or users? (eg. breaking news)
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58. should you get in on real time?
is it relevant to your business or users? (eg. breaking news)
don’t publish stale content
expand on real time with real content
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59. mobile search
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60. standards compliant code
quality content
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61. as at August 2009
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62. 62

63. 63

64. 64

65. 65

66. 66

67. links are not as important
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68. content structure
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69. This site requires the Macromedia Flash Player.
Download it here.
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70. .mobi domain
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71. mobilecaption
sitemap
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72. nd not search
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73. 73

74. 74

75. personalisation
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76. 76

77. 77

78. local search
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79. 79

80. beyond SEO
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81. 81

82. 82

83. the more we search, the more we want from search
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84. pimousse3000
http://www. ickr.com/photos/pimousse3000/3408701879/
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85. 85

86. 86

87. 87

88. 88

89. better interpretation, less gaming
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90. indexing of everything
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91. audio
video
ash
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92. talk for search engines?
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93. real, real, real time
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94. not fast enough
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95. how does SEO adapt to the future?
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96. we should be beyond basics
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97. sort your processes
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98. know your medium
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99. accessibility and content
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100. focus on users, enhance for search engines
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101. break the cycle
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