SEO Publisher Roadmap

in 90 Minutes
Jessica Bowman
CEO, SEOinhouse

PRESENTED BY
 Jessica Bowman
CEO, SEOinhouse

Jessica Bowman is a trusted advisor to some of the

biggest brand and the best SEOs in the industry. She
has advised brands such as GEICO, Microsoft,
Salesforce.com, The Home Depot, Yahoo! Inc. and
Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Her 2016 book The New SEO
Handbook shows executives how to run SEO in a multi-
faceted, silo'd organization in a way that transforms
you into becoming an SEO Force to Reckon WithSM.
Jessica graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in
information systems management from Washington
@jessicabowman University, holds a B.A. in international economics and
management from Hiram College, loves foreign travel,
kicks butt at the game Connect Four, and has been
featured in The Art of SEO, the SEO Bible and Marie
Claire magazine.
 @jessicabowman

SEO Tactics & Everyday Operations

@jessicabowman
@jessicabowman
@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

ALL PILLARS ARE REQUIRED

It’s not à la carte.
 @jessicabowman

We’re going to to get geeky

for a few minutes
 @jessicabowman

PILLAR 1: Indexing & Crawling

 @jessicabowman

Ensure your site is “SEO Friendly”

 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Page load times

URL structures
Pagination
Header Tags
JavaScript
CSS
Title tags
Meta descriptions
Schema
Canonical
Etc.
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 Conduct a technical SEO audit to determine if your
site is “Search Engine Friendly”
 @jessicabowman

Example Technical SEO Checks

 @jessicabowman

Confirm content is visible to search engines

1. Search for the URL in Google

2. Click on “Cache” dropdown

1. Click “Text Only” link

Do for all
page
templates
2. Confirm all text and links are visible
 @jessicabowman

Do for all
page
templates
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 Review all templates in Google cache to confirm all
content and links you want seen by search engines
are seen by search engines
Is this the only way to view articles?
@jessicabowman

Not visible
to search
engines
 @jessicabowman

If you want to maximize

SEO traffic, you need unlocked content
visible to search engines
 @jessicabowman

Confirm your site is fully indexed

1. Search “site:www.yourdomain.ca”

2. Look at the number of results listed

1. Compare with the number of results with the

number of pages on your site
Remember this site? @jessicabowman

Not visible
to search
engines
Only 15 pages indexed @jessicabowman

No SEO
traffic for
article
content
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 Confirm your site is fully indexed
Option 1: First Click Free
@jessicabowman

Source: https://support.google.com/news/publisher/answer/40543
Option 2: Subscription Designation
@jessicabowman

Source: https://support.google.com/news/publisher/answer/40543
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 If not all content is currently in search engines,
determine how you want content to be accessible to
users:
• Always visible
• First click free
• Subscription designation
 @jessicabowman

Ensure pages load fast

(Google wants: 3 seconds or less desktop, 1 second or less mobile)

1. Go to Webpagetest.org and type your domain

2. Select a browser (desktop/mobile in Canada)
3. Look at page load times
Over 19 seconds to load (too slow)
@jessicabowman

Source: http://www.webpagetest.org/result/160602_3X_QY5/
Over 12 seconds to load (too slow)
@jessicabowman

Source: http://www.webpagetest.org/result/160602_SJ_QWQ/
 @jessicabowman

Download the full study at: http://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/ranking-factors

 @jessicabowman

If you produce news-worthy content

consider applying for Google Amp
Ensure content is optimized before expecting this to
drive traffic
Get details at:
https://www.ampproject.org/
https://www.ampproject.org/docs/get_started/about-amp.html
 @jessicabowman

North American Google Amp Users

 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Confirm your page load times are at least 5 seconds or less for
desktop devices
(Remember Google wants 3 seconds or less)

 Confirm your page load times are at least 3 seconds or less for
mobile devices
(Remember Google wants 1 second or less)

 Consider Google Amp if you need it, but don’t expect results
unless content is optimized
 @jessicabowman

Confirm pagination correctly

marked up in the code
 Example Pagination Code
@jessicabowman

Page What should be in the code

<link rel="canonical" href= “Page-1-URL-here" />

1
<link rel="next" href=”Page-1-URL-here" />

<link rel="canonical" href= “Page-2-URL-here" />

2
<link rel=”prev" href=”Page-1-URL-here" />
<link rel="next" href=”Page-3-URL-here" />

<link rel="canonical" href= “Page-3-URL-here" />

3
(last page)
<link rel=”prev" href=”Page-2-URL-here" />
 @jessicabowman

This is only the beginning

of ensuring your site is
“Search Engine Friendly”
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 Conduct a technical SEO audit to determine if
your site is “Search Engine Friendly”
 @jessicabowman

PILLAR 2: Content
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

User intent match

Link worthiness
Share worthiness
Usefulness
“Wow” factor
Amount of copy
Synonym usage
Uniqueness
Keyword usage
 @jessicabowman

How much content is needed?

See what Google likes

McKesson Corporation Confidential and Proprietary

39
6/15
 625 words

@jessicabowman

Search for:
Harley-Davidson
XG750R Flat 471 words, many photos
Tracker

580 words

40
 @jessicabowman

580
Words
 @jessicabowman

Minimum 250-500 words,

but often this isn’t enough
See what Google likes

42
 @jessicabowman

Download the full study at: http://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/ranking-factors

 Client
Site

@jessicabowman

#1 High Ranking Competitors

Ensure this
isn’t you

44
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Ensure your online content length is in line with ranking sites

 Adjust editorial guidelines to ensure copy is at least 500 words per

page

 Adjust writing process to include checking the search results to see

what the length of the competition before determining the length
of the article
@jessicabowman
 SEO Content Strategy Return on Investment
@jessicabowman

Greatest ROI
Keywords in Article Copy

Meaty, lengthy, robust content that

offers more than the competition and
keeps the user on the page

Content so interesting it makes

people want to share it

Keywords in Page Title

Tag + Meta Description

Keywords in
sub-headlines

Keywords in
image ALT
Least ROI Text
 @jessicabowman

The topic of the page must be obvious

What people type in search engines
must be in your page copy
@jessicabowman
@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

XG750R FLAT TRACKER:

580 1 time on the page

Words Flat Tracker:

2 times on the page

XG750R:
13 times on the page
 More keyword
repetitions
@jessicabowman

471
XG750R FLAT TRACKER:
3 times on the page

Words Flat Tracker:

5 times on the page

XG750R:
11 times on the page

More image than

other ranking
pages
 @jessicabowman

Search engines care most about

content visible in the default view
Watch carousels and tabbed content
 Too little content in @jessicabowman

the default view, this

will hinder SEO
rankings

Unique paragraph for each

rotation, but only one paragraph is
visible on the main page

Cent for rotations 2+ are slightly

less valuable, but you should still
incorporate keywords
 @jessicabowman

201
Words
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Adjust writing process to identify keywords prior to writing
 Adjust writing process to ensure there are 250-500 words on the page,
which adjusts based on the content ranking on page on in search engines
 Adjust writing process to review competing pages on page 1 in Google to
determine content format, topics addressed, etc. to one-up the
competing content
 Adjust editorial guidelines to ensure keywords are repeated on the page
at least 3-4 times
 Adjust editorial guidelines to ensure keywords appear in headlines
@jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

Page title tags become the link in

your search results listing
Think of it as an ad or email subject line, it’s all about
getting the click in the search results
 @jessicabowman

Meta description tags become the link

description your search results listing
Think of it as an ad or email subject line, it’s all about
getting the click in the search results
 @jessicabowman

Invest time in crafting page title tags

and Meta descriptions
Look at Google to see what you’re up against
 @jessicabowman

Page title tag:

Breaking cover: The new Harley-
Davidson XG750R flat tracker - Inside
Motorcycles Magazine

Meta description tag:

Breaking cover: The new Harley-
Davidson XG750R flat tracker -
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Ensure you are writing a unique page title tag and Meta
description for each page.

 Ensure your writing process requires writers to visit Google

search results to see what is performing well in Google
before writing the page title tag and Meta description text.
@jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

PILLAR 3: Internal Links

(Links from one page on your site to another page on your site)
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Number of links
Text in the links
Text near the links
Location in the architecture
 @jessicabowman

All links (within your site and on

other sites) pass 3 types of value:
RELEVANCY

AUTHORITY

TRUST

66
6/15
 @jessicabowman
Must be related to
Horse Dental Care

It must be authoritative

Page called:
Page about It must be trust-worthy Is Floating a
Horse Dental Care Horse’s Teeth
Necessary?

The link text reads: This IS about

Process called “floating: A process called “floating”
 @jessicabowman

No link
 @jessicabowman

Be descriptive in internal links.

Descriptive Not Descriptive
floating a horse’s teeth Click Here
process called “floating” Learn More
Get Details

McKesson Corporation Confidential and Proprietary

69
6/15
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Audit the site for internal links that should be added

 Ensure your writers link out to other content on your site

 Ensure your process gets links from already published

content that should contain a link to newly published
content.
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 4: External Links

(other sites linking to your site)
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Number of links
Your authority on the topic
Your trust
Citations
External Links to lower-level internal pages
Number of external linking domains
 @jessicabowman

Nurture authorities in your market

so they link to your content
 @jessicabowman

Consider SEO in social media so that

the links you get from social media
help SEO
 @jessicabowman

Use caution if you hire an agency

to do your SEO link building
Links need to look natural, search engines do not want you
getting links. You need to earn them because your content is
so great that people want to link to you on their own.
 @jessicabowman

Identify existing processes that

get links and see how the links can be
enhanced to help SEO
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Look at what you are already doing get links (sponsorships,
etc.) and identify ways to enhance the links

 Consider an influencer nurturing campaign that will get

influencers to write about and link to your content more
often
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 4: Social Media

(Your posts and external posts)
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Content in social shares

Number of shares
Who is sharing
What is being said
Which URL is shared
How often shared
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Use keywords in social posts

 In social posts, share pages that you want to rank high in

search engines
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 6: User Experience

(Customer journey from search box to a page on your site)
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Number of times your site is clicked

Number of times your site is re-clicked
Time spent on the site
Bounce rates
Site speed
 @jessicabowman

What are those on page 1 including

on their pages that you aren’t?
 @jessicabowman

Are you getting the CTR from

search results?
@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 7: SEO Team

 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Level of technical SEO skills

Tools used
Continuing education
SEO Budget
SEO Team structure
Number of people on the team
Level of detail in SEO requirements
Activity allocation
Level of respect from non-SEO teams
Ability to predict SEO issues
Effectiveness of SEO training
Effectiveness of SEO toolkits for non-
SEO teams
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 8: Non-SEO Teams

 @jessicabowman

Who are the non-SEO teams?

• Writers
• Content Strategists
• Editors
• Public Relations
• Corporate Sponsorships
• Graphical Designers
• User Interface Designers
• Developers
• Project Managers
• QA Testers
• And anyone else who impacts anything online
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Are they doing their 20% that makes 80% of the

impact?

Are they using job aids to help them implement their

20% of SEO?

Are they properly trained to apply their 20% of SEO?

Are accountabilities in place to ensure they’re doing

their 20% of SEO
 @jessicabowman

Example: Writers
Have they been trained on keyword selection?
Have they been trained on copy optimization?

Are they doing keyword selection?

Are they doing copy optimization?
 @jessicabowman

Example: Designers
Have they been trained on graphic optimization for the web?
Are they optimizing graphics for the web?
 @jessicabowman

Example: Public Relations

When they get placement, are they trying to get a link?
Are they trying to get journalists to use keyword-rich messaging?
 @jessicabowman

Example: Developers
Have they been trained on technical SEO?
Are they ensuring the site is optimal for search engines?
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Identify every role that impacts anything online (your website or third party
websites), then determine:
 Have they been trained to apply their 20% of SEO that makes 80% of the impact?
 Do they have the job aids to remind/help them apply their 20% of SEO?
 Are they actually doing their 20% of SEO?
 Are there accountabilities in place to ensure they’re doing their 20% of SEO?

 Train roles that need SEO training

 Create the job aids for each role
 Implement SEO accountabilities organization-wide
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 9: SEO Processes

 @jessicabowman

Is SEO incorporated into the processes/workflows

that impact the website, such as:

Editorial calendar creation

Content preparation process
Writing Process
Editing Process
Posting Process
Creating a new template
Moving a Page
Removing a Page
 @jessicabowman

Example: Removing a Page

 @jessicabowman

WEBPAGE

You take it down,

you lose all the
value
 @jessicabowman

WEBPAGE 301 WEBPAGE

redirect

Roughly 90% of all

value is passed
 @jessicabowman

WEBPAGE 302 WEBPAGE

redirect

Roughly 90% of all

value is passed
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Review your process for how redirects are handled to ensure
they account for SEO needs of permanent, 301 redirect

 Identify all SEO processes to determine if SEO needs have

been integrated into the process
 @jessicabowman

Pillar 10: SEO Metrics

 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

Typical SEO Metrics, such as:

SEO visits
SEO conversions
SEO # of pages viewed
SEO bounce rates
Priority keywords doing well
Priority keywords that need work
Search volume on page 1, 2, etc.

Measure the critical drivers, such as:

What % of articles are not optimized
What % of articles are not getting internal links
@jessicabowman
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEMS:
 Ensure you are monitoring key SEO metrics and adjusting
processes, content, links and strategies based on
performance

 Ensure you are monitoring Google Search Console data

 Determine the critical drivers vital to SEO success for your

strategy/roadmap, find ways to measure them, then report
them to executives so they can manage teams accordingly
 @jessicabowman

SEO is Extremely Holistic

 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
Your Current Performance Scorecard
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
Your Current Performance Scorecard
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
Your Current Performance Scorecard
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman
Your Current Performance Scorecard
 Your SEO Strategy Scorecard
@jessicabowman

Add internal link check High Medium High High

& updates to new
article process
Audit top 200 priority High
pages for links pointing
to it from other pages
Train writers to select High
keywords and optimize
copy
Create job aids for Medium Medium
writers & editors
Adjust writing process High
to review competing
content to determine
how one-up
 Your SEO Strategy Scorecard
@jessicabowman

Add internal link check High Medium High High

& updates to new
article process
Audit top 200 priority High
pages for links pointing
to it from other pages
Train writers to select High
keywords and optimize
copy
Create job aids for Medium Medium
writers & editors
Adjust writing process High
to review competing
content to determine
how one-up
 Your SEO Strategy Scorecard
@jessicabowman

Add internal link check High Medium High High

& updates to new
article process
Audit top 200 priority High
pages for links pointing
to it from other pages
Train writers to select High
keywords and optimize
copy
Create job aids for Medium Medium
writers & editors
Adjust writing process High
to review competing
content to determine
how one-up
Conduct a Technical SEO High
audit and allocate large
budget to fix issues
 @jessicabowman

ALL PILLARS ARE REQUIRED

It’s not à la carte.
 @jessicabowman

ACTION ITEM:
 Determine which pillars you are going to work on in your
roadmap, and what you’ll do for each
 @jessicabowman

@jessicabowman

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
 @jessicabowman

Background
14 years of dedicated SEO experience
SEO training live and online
Worked with some of the biggest brands online
Questions?
Jessica Bowman
SEOinhouse.com
jessica@seoinhouse.com