SEO: Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals Title: SEO: Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals Course material - knowledge required - for certification Copyright © 2018 eMarketing Institute Web: www.emarketinginstitute.org Contact us eMarketing Institute c/o Web Media ApS Tove Maës Vej 7, 3.tv. DK-2500 Valby, Copenhagen Denmark VAT ID: DK 3531871301 Email: [email protected] 2 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 9 2. Introduction to Search Engine Optimization .................................................. 11 What is SEO? ............................................................................................................................. 11 Why it matters? ........................................................................................................................ 12 Common SEO techniques.......................................................................................................... 13 Content creation as an SEO technique ............................................................................................... 15 SEO as a marketing strategy ..................................................................................................... 15 3. Understanding Search Engines ...................................................................... 19 How do search engines work? .................................................................................................. 19 How do people interact with search engines? ......................................................................... 20 Search engine facts and figures ......................................................................................................... 20 Search engine marketing .......................................................................................................... 21 1) Keyword analysis ............................................................................................................................ 22 2) Site popularity ................................................................................................................................ 22 3) Web analytic and HTML tools ........................................................................................................ 22 4) Sponsored results ........................................................................................................................... 23 Why search engine marketing matters? ................................................................................... 23 4. Search Engine Friendly Site Design and Development ................................... 26 Indexable content ..................................................................................................................... 26 Title tags .................................................................................................................................... 28 Meta tags .................................................................................................................................. 30 ‘Spider tags’ ........................................................................................................................................ 31 The description meta tag (or meta description) ................................................................................ 31 Link structure ............................................................................................................................ 32 Nofollow links ........................................................................................................................... 33 Keyword usage .......................................................................................................................... 35 URL structures ........................................................................................................................... 37 5. Basics of Keyword Research .......................................................................... 41 3 What is keyword research? ...................................................................................................... 41 Phases of keyword research............................................................................................................... 42 Keyword research tools: free and paid ..................................................................................... 45 Moz Keyword Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 46 Advanced Web Ranking ..................................................................................................................... 46 Raven Tools Research Central ............................................................................................................ 47 Keyword Spy ....................................................................................................................................... 48 Wordtracker ....................................................................................................................................... 48 KeywordEye ........................................................................................................................................ 49 SEMrush ............................................................................................................................................. 50 WordStream Free Keyword Tool ........................................................................................................ 50 SEO Book Keyword Tool ..................................................................................................................... 51 Bing Keyword Research ...................................................................................................................... 52 The value of a keyword ............................................................................................................. 52 Keyword demand and the legendary long-tail ......................................................................... 53 6. Google Rankings ........................................................................................... 57 What affects Google rankings? ................................................................................................. 57 Usability and user experience ............................................................................................................ 57 Content, content, content! ................................................................................................................ 58 Tips for improving Google Rank ................................................................................................ 59 7. Google Panda and Other Algorithm Updates ................................................. 62 The rise of Google Panda .......................................................................................................... 62 Understanding the evolution of Google’s algorithms .............................................................. 63 Quality raters and machine-learning algorithms ............................................................................... 63 More refined content analysis ........................................................................................................... 64 Duplicate and rehashed content ........................................................................................................ 64 Search pages on websites .................................................................................................................. 66 Too many ads ..................................................................................................................................... 66 A chronology of updates since Panda 1.0 ................................................................................. 67 4 Getting ahead in the post-Panda internet world...................................................................... 71 Brief lesson for a radically new SEO environment ............................................................................. 71 8. Link Building ................................................................................................. 74 The importance of link building ................................................................................................ 74 Types of links ............................................................................................................................. 75 Natural (or editorial) links .................................................................................................................. 75 Manual (or outreach) links ................................................................................................................. 76 Self-promotional (non editorial) links ................................................................................................ 76 Starting a link building campaign .............................................................................................. 76 What are your assets? ........................................................................................................................ 77 Links come in many flavors ................................................................................................................ 77 Social links .........................................................................................................................................