2.2. Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals

1. Key Areas of SEO

1. On-page Optimization: Focusing on various elements in the code of the page
   • Optimize page elements and improve SEO
   • Content / Keyword Choice / Meta Data
2. Technical Optimization: Optimizes the content of the site
   • Improving the website
   • Understood by search engines
   • Improve the code and structure
   • Making page improvements
3. Off-site Optimization: Focusing on actions outside the website
   • Develop good relationships with other webmasters
   • Acquiring inbound links / Engaging in social media / Writing link-worth content

2. Introduction to On-page SEO

1. Meta Data and Meta Tages (Data that describes other data)
   1. Individual Meta Tags
   2. Small snippets of text
   3. Identify important information about the page
   4. Found in source code
   5. Each page has a head element contains the meta data located at the top of the page
2. Title Tages 101
   • Major component of on-page optimisation
   • Describe your page using keywords
   • Place keywords at the front of the title tag and at the end of the title tag
   • Emphasises keywords at the beginning of a title tag
   • It helps site rankings and place brand name first to leverage branding. Therefore, it will have higher click through if brand name appears first
     • Keep brand names at the end of the title tag
3. Keywords in Title Tag
   • Use individual keywords rather than a descriptive phrase. E.g. "Programming certification course"
4. Title Tags Length
   • Title tag should no longer than 55 - 60 characters as additional characters will be cut off and it may impact click through to the site
   • Beginning of the title tag has the most weight
   • Use only important keywords. For instance, use only two keywords for tight focus.
   • Differentiate page and brand name with pipe symbol. E.g. Bachelor of Sciences in Marketing | SUSS
   • Use hyphens (-) to separate keywords & phrases. E.g. Bachelor of Sciences in Marketing - School of Business | SUSS
   • Shorten brand name if too long. E.g. Singapore University of Social Sciences - SUSS
5. Meta Descriptions
   • Block of text under the title & URL and it describes what the page is about
   • Keywords within meta description do not help a site rank. However, meta description does help SEO strategy as it can increase click-through rate to the website
   • Use no more than 150 - 160 characters
6. URL Optimization
   • Role of URL:
     • Describe a page
     • Contain important keywords
7. How to Use Heading Tags
   • Heading tags can breakdown into H1, H2 and H3 etc. where H1 is the most important
     • Foucs on H1 and H2
     • H1: One per page
     • H2: As needed for the site
   • Optimize heading tags ith keywords
   • Mutiple heading tags can be spammy
8. Creating and Optimizing Unique Content
   1. Relevance
      • Make content relevant to the theme
      • Match content to topics
      • Organize within subdirectories
      • Easy to locate by topic
   2. Unique Content
      • Create unique content to add value which include new informatiom and video or image
      • Copied content does not help rank
      • Quoting text is fine with own content
        • Link back to the page that had been quoted
   3. Duplicate Content
      • Google gives rank to the site that first published the content
   4. Keyword Use
      • Break up keyword usage
      • Do not use too many instances of a keyword to avoid spam
      • Can consider to use synonyms and topic association
   5. Linking
      • Link to other relevant pages on the site

3. Introduction to Off-page SEO

1. Off-site SEO Elements
   1. Off-site SEO
      • SEO performed from sources other than your site. Therefore, marketer can build links to their site
      • Increasing brand awareness on social media
   2. PageRank
      • Usage of the term "PageRank" declined but it is still useful
      • A site's authority is no longer tracked by its PageRank
   3. PageRank Description
      • An algorithm that analyzed web links to determine the relative importance of websites
      • For example, when a website links to another website, it is counted as a vote
        • E.g. Links / votes increase a site's PageRank and it could influence the search engine rankings
   4. PageRank Measurement
      • Value based on the amount and quality of links
      • Score is between 1 to 10
        • Moving up in rank increases exponentially
        • New website started at PageRank zero
      • Higher PageRank sites pass on their ranking to your site
        • Passing of ranks is referred as a page's authority
   5. Ranking Factors
      • Incoming links are valuable ranking factors
      • Link quality is critically judged
        • Low quality links can result in penalties
2. Who Is Linking to Your Content
   1. Earning Natural Links
      • Google analyzes many aspects of back links
      • Links should be earned naturally as it provides great user experience and content
   2. Main Link Judging Factors
      • Amount of links the website has
      • Quality of the links
      • Relevance of the links to the site
      • The placement of the links
      • Footer and sidebar links are less valuable
      • Best type of link is surrounded by text
3. Social Media
   1. Social Media Benefits
      • Correlation among social media and higher rankings
      • Indirect influence on SEO by engaging the user base
      • It can increase online brand visibility and improve reputation
   2. Social Media Links
      • Tweets and posts linked to the site increase opportunities and visibility in search results
      • It can increase social channel referrals and brand recognition
      • Brand development is important for SEO
   3. Social Media Importance
      • Useful for SEO and marketing efforts
      • Make social media part of the strategy

4. Introduction to Technical SEO

1. Laying the Structural Foundation With Technicial SEO
   1. Technical SEO focuses on how well search engine spiders can crawl the site and index the content. And it helps to set the SEO foundation
   2. Ability to determine technical sites issues is important when:
      1. Working with clients
      2. Building new sites
      3. Redesigning sites
      4. Performing technical websites audits
2. HTML Sitemap vs. XML Sitemap
   1. Sitemaps point search engines to page on the site to ensure pages are not missed by crawlers
   2. HTML sitemaps are easy to read and understand:
      1. Simple page containing links to pages within a site
      2. Smaller sites generally have a one-page HTML sitemap
      3. Larger sites generally split/categorize their HTML sitemap content
      4. It enables to better organize the website content
   3. XML sitemaps are created for search engines & SEO:
      1. A file intended to be read by search engine robots
      2. It includes behind the scenes activity of a webpage
      3. It includes unqiue info about each URL
      4. It provides search engines with extra data about a page
      5. It provides details about when the page was last updated and how often the page changes
      6. It allows search engine bots to analyze content more logically
3. 404 Pages Best Practices
   1. 404 Page Introduction
      • Error page that is presented when a page is not found
   2. Redirecting 404 Pages
      • Lots of 404 pages can harm the site
      • Minimize the amount of 404 pages produced
   3. Best Practices for Design
      • Provide users with helpful links
      • Look and feel should match the rest of the site
      • Display error message to limit user confusion
      • Helpful content make users stay on site:
        1. Call to action
        2. Homepage link
        3. Search box

5. Keyword Theory & Research

1. Choosing the Right Keywords
   • Attract searchers with specific keywords and more specificity will have less competition
   • Chance of ranking higher for queries
   • User engage in content
2. Stages of Search
   1. Awareness Stage
      • Initial stage does not require heavy visibility
      • Brand presence is beneficial for recognition
   2. Evaluation Stage
      • Users comparing merchants and prices
   3. Preference Stage
      • Users evaluate and develop a specific preference
      • They gain awareness of the brand, product, and service
   4. Purchase Stage
      • User actively looking to buy
      • Site has visibility during this stage
      • Higher chance of converting users
   5. Type of Search Queries:
      1. Navigational queries
         • Frequent visitor who appreciates content
         • Search directly for brand name
      2. Informational queries
         • Gain more information to make an informed decision before a purchase
         • Suggested search queries from other users
         • Identify keywords for potential content for the site
      3. Transactional queries
         • Provide accurate results and displaying a variety of sites
         • Not every transactional queries result in actual transaction. E.g. Newsletter sign up and free account set up
         • Therefore, it is essential to target keywords and getting brand recognition
   • It is important to formulate keyword choices and match audience intentions to generate conversions
3. Long Tail Keywords
   • Less frequently used and difficult to optimize as it is a challenge by predicting exact long-tail phrases
   • However, more traffics are generated by long-tail keywords as the phrases are often more specific
   • Higher probability of conversion, and it is less competivie and will ranks higher
4. How Users Conduct Searches
   1. Users' Search Preferences
      • 50% fragments (2 - 3 words) & 50% phrases (4 words and above)
      • 27% question form and 73% non-question
   2. Seasonality Trends
      • Changes in site traffic volume depending on the time of year
      • Insight can be better used to plan site launches
5. Getting to Know Your Audience
   1. Google Trends
      • Presents geographic data which helps us target keywords
      • Helpful for content that may generate lots of social shares
   2. Demographic Data
      • Provides topic and keyword ideas
      • Provides additional insight and helps to better optimize sites
6. Creating Your Ideal Buyers Persona
   1. Buyer Personas
      • Fictional characters representing specific users of a website
      • Personas help build user-centered sites & incorporate correct keyword naturally
   2. Persona's Age
      • Age could impact keyword choices due to lexicon differences
   3. Persona's Location
      • Location is important due to regional vocabulary differences
   4. Persona's Gender
      • Buyer gender can influence vocabulary
      • Sites might need a persona for both genders