The Art of SEO (Theory in Practice) by Enge, Eric -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly Foreword Preface

Who Should Read This Book How to Use This Book Conventions Used in This Book Using Code Examples Safari® Books Online How to Contact Us Acknowledgments

1. The Search Engines: Reflecting Consciousness and Connecting Commerce

The Mission of Search Engines The Market Share of Search Engines The Human Goals of Searching

Who Searches and What Do They Search For?

Determining Searcher Intent: A Challenge for Both Marketers and Search Engines

Navigational Queries Informational Queries Transactional Queries

How People Search How Search Engines Drive Commerce on the Web Eye Tracking: How Users Scan Results Pages Click Tracking: How Users Click on Results, Natural Versus Paid

Distribution of Search Results and Traffic Different Intents and Effects of Listings in Paid Versus Natural Results Interaction Between Natural and Paid Search Other Factors to Consider

Conclusion

2. Search Engine Basics

Understanding Search Engine Results

Understanding the Layout of Search Results Pages How Vertical Results Fit into the SERPs

Algorithm-Based Ranking Systems: Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking

Crawling and Indexing Retrieval and Rankings Evaluating Content on a Web Page What Content Can Search Engines “See” on a Web Page?

Determining Searcher Intent and Delivering Relevant, Fresh Content

Document Analysis and Semantic Connectivity Link Analysis Problem Words, Disambiguation, and Diversity A Few Reasons Why These Algorithms Sometimes Fail

Analyzing Ranking Factors

Negative Ranking Factors Other Ranking Factors

Using Advanced Search Techniques

Advanced Google Search Operators Yahoo! Advanced Search Operators Combined Yahoo! Queries Bing Advanced Search Operators More Advanced Search Operator Techniques

Vertical Search Engines

Vertical Search from the Major Search Engines Universal Search/Blended Search

Country-Specific Search Engines

Optimizing for Specific Countries Profile of China’s Internet Usage

Conclusion

3. Determining Your SEO Objectives and Defining Your Site’s Audience

Setting SEO Goals and Objectives

Strategic Goals SEO Practitioners Can Fulfill Every SEO Plan Is Custom Understanding Search Engine Traffic and Visitor Intent

Developing an SEO Plan Prior to Site Development

Business Factors That Affect the SEO Plan

Understanding Your Audience and Finding Your Niche

Mapping Your Products and Services Content Is King Segmenting Your Site’s Audience Advanced Methods for Planning and Evaluation

SEO for Raw Traffic SEO for E-Commerce Sales SEO for Mindshare/Branding SEO for Lead Generation and Direct Marketing SEO for Reputation Management SEO for Ideological Influence Conclusion

4. First Stages of SEO

The Major Elements of Planning

Technology Choices Market Segmentation Where You Can Find Great Links Content Resources Branding Considerations Competition

Identifying the Site Development Process and Players Defining Your Site’s Information Architecture

Technology Decisions Structural Decisions

Auditing an Existing Site to Identify SEO Problems

Elements of an Audit The Importance of Keyword Reviews Keyword Cannibalization Example: Fixing an Internal Linking Problem Server and Hosting Issues

Identifying Current Server Statistics Software and Gaining Access

Web Analytics Logfile Tracking Google and Bing Webmaster Tools Search Analytics

Determining Top Competitors

Two Spam Examples Seeking the Best Uncovering Their Secrets

Assessing Historical Progress

Maintain a Timeline of Site Changes Types of Site Changes That Can Affect SEO Previous SEO Work

Benchmarking Current Indexing Status Benchmarking Current Rankings Benchmarking Current Traffic Sources and Volume Leveraging Business Assets for SEO

Other Domains You Own/Control Partnerships On and Off the Web Content or Data You’ve Never Put Online Customers Who Have Had a Positive Experience Your Fans

Combining Business Assets and Historical Data to Conduct SEO/Website SWOT Analysis Conclusion

5. Keyword Research

The Theory Behind Keyword Research

Understanding the Long Tail of the Keyword Demand Curve

Traditional Approaches: Domain Expertise, Site Content Analysis

Include Competitive Analysis

Keyword Research Tools

Keyword Research Data from the Engines Keyword Research with Tools Things to Keep in Mind

Determining Keyword Value/Potential ROI

Estimating Value, Relevance, and Conversion Rates Testing Ad Campaign Runs and Third-Party Search Data Using Landing Page Optimization

Leveraging the Long Tail of Keyword Demand

Extracting Terms from Relevant Web Pages Mining Keyword Research Tools Identifying Long Tail Patterns Editorial Content Strategies for Long Tail Targeting User-Generated Content Strategies for Long Tail Targeting

Trending, Seasonality, and Seasonal Fluctuations in Keyword Demand Conclusion

6. Developing an SEO-Friendly Website

Making Your Site Accessible to Search Engines

Indexable Content Spiderable Link Structures XML Sitemaps

Creating an Optimal Information Architecture

The Importance of a Logical, Category-Based Flow Site Architecture Design Principles Flat Versus Deep Architecture Search-Friendly Site Navigation

Root Domains, Subdomains, and Microsites

When to Use a Subfolder When to Use a Subdomain When to Use a Separate Root Domain Microsites When to Use a TLD Other Than .com

Optimization of Domain Names/URLs

Optimizing Domains Picking the Right URLs

Keyword Targeting

Title Tags Meta Description Tags Heading (H1, H2, H3) Tags Document Text Image Filenames and Alt Attributes Boldface Text Avoiding Keyword Cannibalization Keyword Targeting in CMSs and Automatically Generated Content SEO Copywriting: Encouraging Effective Keyword Targeting by Content Creators Long Tail Keyword Targeting

Content Optimization

Content Structure CSS and Semantic Markup Content Uniqueness and Depth

Duplicate Content Issues

Consequences of Duplicate Content How Search Engines Identify Duplicate Content Identifying and Addressing Copyright Infringement How to Avoid Duplicate Content on Your Own Site

Controlling Content with Cookies and Session IDs

What’s a Cookie? What Are Session IDs? How Do Search Engines Interpret Cookies and Session IDs? Why Would You Want to Use Cookies or Session IDs to Control Search Engine Access?

Content Delivery and Search Spider Control

Cloaking and Segmenting Content Delivery When to Show Different Content to Engines and Visitors How to Display Different Content to Search Engines Versus Visitors

Redirects

Why and When to Redirect Good and Bad Redirects Methods for URL Redirecting and Rewriting Redirecting a Home Page Index File Without Looping

Content Management System (CMS) Issues

Selecting a CMS Third-Party CMS Add-ons

Optimizing Flash

Flash Flash Coding Best Practices JavaScript and AJAX

Best Practices for Multilanguage/Country Targeting

Targeting a Specific Country Problems with Using Your Existing Domain The Two Major Approaches Multiple-Language Issues

Conclusion

7. Creating Link-Worthy Content and Link Marketing

How Links Influence Search Engine Rankings

The Original PageRank Algorithm Additional Factors That Influence Link Value How Search Engines Use Links

Further Refining How Search Engines Judge Links

Additional Link Evaluation Criteria Determining a Link’s Value

The Psychology of Linking

Why Are Links Created? How Can Sites Approach Getting Links?

Types of Link Building

Using Content to Attract Links Marketing Content for Link Acquisition Directories Incentive-Based Link Requests Direct Link Requests Manual Social Media Link Creation Gray Hat/Black Hat

Choosing the Right Link-Building Strategy

Outline of a Process Link-Building Process Summary Putting It All Together

More Approaches to Content-Based Link Acquisition

A Closer Look at Content Syndication Leveraging User-Generated Content Creating Link Bait/Viral Content

Incentive-Based Link Marketing

Helping Other Sites Boost Their Value Customer Discounts/Incentives

How Search Engines Fight Link Spam

Algorithmic Approaches to Fighting Link Spam Other Search Engine Courses of Action

Social Networking for Links

Blogging for Links Leveraging Social News and Tagging Sites Forum and Social Network Participation Offline Relationship Building Some Success Stories Using YouTube Social Media Tips for More Sites Social Media Summary

Conclusion

8. Optimizing for Vertical Search

The Opportunities in Vertical Search

Universal Search and Blended Search The Opportunity Unleashed

Optimizing for Local Search

Foundation: Check Your Local Listings Introduction to Local Business Profiles Local Agency Management Optimizing Your Website for Local Search Engines

Optimizing for Image Search

Image Optimization Tips Optimizing Through Flickr and Other Image Sharing Sites

Optimizing for Product Search

Getting into Google Product Search

Optimizing for News, Blog, and Feed Search

RSS Feed Optimization RSS Feed Tracking and Measurement Other RSS Optimization Considerations Blog Optimization News Search Optimization

Others: Mobile, Video/Multimedia Search

Mobile Search Video Search Optimization

Conclusion

9. Tracking Results and Measuring Success

Why Measuring Success Is Essential to the SEO Process

The Tracking Cycle: Produce, Launch, Measure, Refine Using Analytics As a Business Case for SEO

Measuring Search Traffic

Basic Overview Selecting the Right Analytics Package Valuable SEO Data in Web Analytics Segmenting Search Traffic with Multiple Parameters Referring Sites Using Analytics Dashboards A Deeper Look at Action Tracking Separating the Analytics Wheat from the Chaff

Tying SEO to Conversion and ROI

Attribution Setting Up Analytics Software to Track Conversions Segmenting Campaigns and SEO Efforts by Conversion Rate Increasing Conversion Determining Project ROI

Competitive and Diagnostic Search Metrics

Search Engine and Competitive Metrics Site Indexing Data Link Building, Link Tracking, and Link-Based Metrics (Including Anchor Text Analysis) Rankings Crawl Errors Tracking the Blogosphere Tracking Your Blog(s) Search Engine Robot Traffic Analysis Web Traffic Comparison Temporal Link Growth Measurements

Key Performance Indicators for Long Tail SEO

Brand-to-Non-Brand Ratio Unique Crawled URLs Search Visitors per Contributing Page Keywords per Page Search Visitors per Keyword Index-to-Crawl Ratio Search Visitors per Crawled Page

Conclusion

10. Domain Changes, Post-SEO Redesigns, and Troubleshooting

The Basics of Moving Content

Large-Scale Content Moves Mapping Content Moves Expectations for Content Moves

Maintaining Search Engine Visibility During and After a Site Redesign Maintaining Search Engine Visibility During and After Domain Name Changes

Unique Challenges of Domain Name Changes Premove Preparations

Changing Servers

Monitoring After Your Server Move Other Scenarios Similar to Server Moves

Hidden Content

Identifying Content That Engines Don’t See Identifying the Cause of Non-Spidering Hidden Content That May Be Construed As Spam

Spam Filtering and Penalties

Recognizing Low-Quality Domains and Spam Sites Competitors Can Report You Duplicate Content Basic Rules for Spam-Free SEO Identifying Search Engine Penalties Reinclusion/Reconsideration Requests

Content Theft Changing SEO Vendors or Staff Members

Potential Problems Document SEO Actions and Progress Rapid Training Clean Up

Conclusion

11. Honing the Craft: SEO Research and Study

SEO Research and Analysis

SEO Resources SEO Testing Analysis of Top-Ranking Sites and Pages Analysis of Algorithmic Differentiation Across Engines and Search Types Using Experience and Instinct

Competitive Analysis

Content Analysis Internal Link Structure and Site Architecture External Link Attraction Analysis What Is Their SEO Strategy? Competitive Analysis Summary Using Competitive Link Analysis Tools Competitive Analysis for Those with a Big Budget

Using Search-Engine-Supplied SEO Tools

Search Engine Webmaster Tools Google Webmaster Tools Bing Webmaster Tools Yahoo! Site Explorer, Yahoo! Search Engine Link Commands

The SEO Industry on the Web

Blogs Forums Communities in Social Networks

Participation in Conferences and Organizations Conclusion

12. Build an In-House SEO Team, Outsource It, or Both?

The Dynamics and Challenges of Using In-House Talent Versus Outsourcing

The Value of In-House SEO The Value of Outsourced Solutions Leveraging SEO Knowledge in an Organization

Solutions for Small Organizations

In-House SEO Specialist Outsourced Agency/Consultant/Contractor

Working with Limited Resources/Budget

Basic Low-Budget SEO Ideas

Solutions for Large Organizations

Contracting for Specialist Knowledge and Experience Applying SEO Recommendations Intelligently

Hiring SEO Talent

How to Select the Right SEO Practitioner Pitching the Person Sample Job Opening

The Case for Working with an Outside Expert

How to Best Leverage Outside Help

Selecting an SEO Firm/Consultant

Getting the Process Started Preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) Communicating with Candidate SEO Firms Making the Decision

Mixing Outsourced SEO with In-House SEO Teams Building a Culture of SEO into Your Organization Conclusion

13. An Evolving Art Form: The Future of SEO

The Ongoing Evolution of Search

The Growth of Search Complexity Google’s Dominance

More Searchable Content and Content Types

Engines Will Make Crawling Improvements Engines Are Getting New Content Sources Multimedia Is Becoming Indexable

Search Becoming More Personalized and User-Influenced

Determining User Intent User Interactions New Search Patterns User-Driven Search Results Growing Reliance on the Cloud

Increasing Importance of Local, Mobile, and Voice Recognition Search

Local Search Mobile Search Voice Recognition Search

Increased Market Saturation and Competition SEO As an Enduring Art Form Conclusion

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