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Search engine optimisation (SEO)

1 OVERVIEW OF SEO
What is SEO?
– making improvements on & off website - gain more exposure in
SER
– > exposure, > visitors finding u for the right reasons

Aina’s time
*search engine* what is it?
Imagine SE as a person. When some1 google about Malaysia
hotels, SE wouldn’t be blindly showing/feeding to that person all the
hotels in Malaysia. With all contents existing on the Internet, SE will
filter all of em and only show relevant and authoritative contents to
that person. It’s smart enough that it is able to consider the “online”
wellbeing of that person to only feed them with trustworthy results.
Like a mother feeding her children.
SE = mother, users = children

SE - smart enough to think that some links are more worthy/

valuable than o. When SE evaluates link, it’s not on a binary basis.
But rather a big ranging from most relevant to less relevant.
Scour the web, read, evaluate & store all the data they can find on
all pages on I

Goal of search engine/Factor influences SER/ exposure

find & understand all the content on the I
& quickly deliver RELEVANT & AUTHORITATIVE results based on any
phrase searched/Goggled by s1
: provide results that ppl will find useful, give users quality best exp
possible

SE analyses all webpages & picks up the pages that they believe are the
most relevant
∴ SE able to rank & display(using its algorithm) the results in order of
relevance to the phrase typed in

1. Relevance
2. Authority

Relevance
SE makes a clear distinction btwn content about the phrase and content
relevant to the phrase
:

SE understands a bit abt semantic and thematic connections btwn

words & concepts
How SE determines relevancy? Evaluate:
1. How your content is written & implemented in codes
 2. How o websites on the I are linking to u

Authority
Is ur website a trusted place that the SE want to show to its users?

Internet - lawless www, any1 can post anything

How SE determines authority? Evaluate:

1. What o websites linked to u
– Links pointing to ur website
– Reviews & what ppl are saying about u online -> (“term: sentiment
“)
2. Emphasises quality & relevance of a link
– SE hv safeguards in place to prevent spam of links
Aina’s time
More links linked to u doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. It’s just like a
spam.

Link from a:
well-respected site : gov agency, NGO involved in your field
Industry-related site: industry-leading blog

: Owner of a Malaysian hotel

Links from : travel review sites, local travel bureaus
1 month old site that has ntg to do w u//ur industry

SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages)

1. Paid listings (Ad) - Google Ads, Microsoft Bing Ads
2. 10 organic results (“term: 10 blue link”) -headline, description,
visible URL

Search results can show up in various ways, based on what the search
engine think is relevant & appropriate to the user’s query

Blended search results

Video, image, map, news, products
– a group of video clips
– a list of local businesses with maps
– a group of images showing products u can buy
– a block of recent news (social results)
– enhanced results: Google’s Knowledge Graph

SEO Expectations
● SEO = long term process, patience is needed
● SEO algorithm awlays change & ur SEO work needs to keep up
● Not a 1 time project
● SEO doesnt interact immediately. SE take time to discover changes
- new content, new links, website’s performance. Takes time to
reassess your quality, relevance, authority b4 those changes are
reflected in the search results
● Takes time to -develop and execute ur strategy, research keywords,
create valuable content, attract relevant links, resolve technical
issue
● SE constantly go thru improvements, but they are not in our control
● * ure optimising for 2 audiences: SE & real human beings

Intent - must understand user intent when creating content - targeted,

useful, engaging
-better understand what users are looking for & how they search &
develop content thar matches this

How SEO Affects Business

Primary financial benefit of SEO?
 – able to measure your results
Web analytics let u see:
-how successful u are in attracting users
-the return on your financial investment

2 KEYWORDS: FOUNDATION OF SEO

Keyword Research Cycle

What is keyword?
=What ppl type in in SE

How to Do Keyword Research?

*do it from customer’s perspective
1. Brainstorming
– what products & services do you offer
– Tools - Google Search Console - offers insights on how exactly ppl
find ur site (keyword)
– Tools to expand keyword: Google Trend, Answerthepublic
Fare class eligible discount ticket
High value air transport
Cheap flights

2. Search volume metric

Fx: to see what kind of demand there is to a phrase

Long-tail keywords - not difficult to rank

3. Keyword categorisation

Keyword Research Tools

1. Moz Keyword Explorer - free & paid
 – Search volume, suggests related keyword, what type of site &
content are at the top search specific domain, subdomain & pages

2. Google Trends
3. WordStream
4. Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
5. SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool

Keyword Attributes/ Things to consider when

choosing your keywords
1. Relevance
– Q: Does they keyword found reflects the nature of products u
offer?
– Put urself in customer’s shoes & discover their intent

2. Search Volume
= num of searches/month for a keyword

3. Competition aka Keyword Competition aka Keyword Difficulty

∴ Specific keywords hv a meaningful search volume relevant

not too competitive

Keyword Distribution
Spreadsheet
Benefits of maintaining a spreadsheet for the keywords u use
● organises & documents -the content of ur site & -keywords that

content is targeting

Ongoing Keyword Evaluation

Evaluate keyword performance
 – allows marketers to measure exactly what value selected keyword
is providing

Unable to determine in advance

– if the keywords are driving conversion actions
– This is the ultimate goal of using keywords; but u need to start
using them 1st to know if they’re driving conversions

Tips: use analytics: Google Search Console

If a keyword - aggressively bid on on cost-per-click(CPC) markets?
-there’ll be significant competition from paid ads > hard for organic side
> solution: develop alternative keyword

3 CONTENT OPTIMISATION: HOW SE &

PPL VIEW WEB PAGES
Content Optimisation
=process of improving the quality & relevancy of your site's content

<how both users and search engines interpret what makes good
content>

How human read a piece of content

: Backpacking in Korea
Not clear, narrative all over the Trustworthy - listen to u next time
place, no central theme to focus
albeit hving the keywords here &
there
Not trustworthy Trustworthy
Text describing some landmarks How to backpack thru all those
of Seoul
 How to backpack thru all those
of Seoul Korean landmarks
Pictures of oceans & beaches W maps & hiking guides
Parking regulations at the Trail recommendations
highways
∴ both ppl and SE expect clarity & quality from ur web pages
– they want content they can trust

SE can detect shares

– a lot of sharing > SE view as a sign of trust > increase SE visibility

∴content optimisation: optimising content so it can benefit both users

and SE
∴2 key concepts: tight, relevant themes & building trust

Optimising Site Structure

What a SE does?
Crawls & navigates an entire website to learn what’s there, how it’s
organised, what it’s all abt, where exactly all the content can be found

∴ Site structure: must be logical & easy for ppl to understand & navigate
Internal linking

Metaphor: bookstore

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/seo-foundations/optimizing-site-
structure

Optimising Textual Page

Optimising Non-Textual Element

 1. Use text surrounding nontext element to describe what it’s abt
– audio: description, transcription
– Img: img captions

SE: do analyse the text close to nontext

2. Use code - mark up structured data
– Ways to do it: Schema.org using JSON-LD There’s some code
that embeds img/video
– When add markup; test it w SE tools: Google structured data
testing tools
– Help SE understand what this img/vid is all abt

SE: v good at evaluating text form. Hv a hard time evaluating img etc

From this

To this
Optimising For Personalised Search

2 ppl searching for the = thing yields =/ SERPs

Why? Cos result is personalised based on:
– location
– Device u’re using
Mobile vs desktop
– Search history

4 CONTENT OPTIMISATION: TECHNICAL

SEO
Interpreting the Code Behind Webpages
SE doesn’t see a webpage like a human do. They see code.

SE - can index all types of content

∴Code must be clean, efficient and free from coding errors

> save SE some confusion >SE trust ur page to be a good web for its
users

Human sees:

SE sees:

Web is made of languages. Languages SE can understand:

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) standardised code used to create
webpages
 – specify all aspects of a web pg
● File locations

● Pg layout

● Font

● Colour

● Sizes

● Side menus

● Link data

● Content placement

JavaScript
JQuery
Angular
AJAX
HTML 5

Understanding How SE Index Content

How SE discover new content on the web

1. By following links (like how u click to go from 1 page to another)
2. From XML(Extensible Markup Language) sitemap
HTML sitemap XML sitemap
List of links on a webpg list of site's content in a special
format that SE can easily read
Once SE discover ur content, they'll index it by URL (Uniform Resource
Locator) = locations of webpgs on the I
● A single, unique URL -impt. Why? SE can =/iate that pg from the o.

● Structure URL – help SE understand site’s structure

Solution:
Ways to ensure SE pick up ur new content:
1. Hv links pointing to it. Create links for SE to follow. How? 1. Create
 1.
an HTML sitemap – link to from the footage of ur website
2. Create XML sitemap for them to read -sitemaps.org – learn spec
syntax & ways to create XML sitemap
3. Meta tags to inform them
4. Robots.txt files to guide them
5. Unique & structured URLs

If u don’t want SE to find ur webpg? (pgs u don’t wanna show up on

SERP)
: members only : test pg
1. robots.txt file (robostxt.org) -can create rules in files in the main
root folder of ur site > SE sees this file, will read & follow those
rules u’ve set. Cons: will not stop a page from being indexed or
ranked. B: help SE crawl ur site
2. noindex meta tag - stop pages from showing up in SERP entirely
*don’t block the pg on robots.txt too, or else, the tag will never be
found

Working W Canonical URLs & Redirects

URL Parameters
=data appended to the end of URL
U: 1. Control what content shows up on pg
:Reordering :?sort=lowest-price :?order=highest-rated :?so=newest

When done right, ≠ URL, ≠ content

Done wrong? ≠ URL, = content

SEO issue w URL Parameters

1. P1. Create duplicate content
When SE index ur URLs & turns out they’re the = content, it means u’re
competing w urself > ↓ SE visibility > SE prefers pgs from o competing
sites that are less confusing

O reason duplicate content exist:

2. P2. Content is moved from 1 location to another on ur website
● old location & the new location are in the SE index at the = time

Solution if u hv these?
1. S1. P1. Use canonical tag. REL-Canonical Meditech
● Tag- u add to ur page & acts as an instruction for SE

● tell SE no matter what URL shows up in the address bar for this

content, index this URL as the primary URL

2. S2. P1. tell SE directly thru Google Search Console & Bing
Webmaster tools - define which URL parameters SE should ignore

3. S1. P2. Whenever u move content, implement redirect rules

– Redirect types:
● 1. 302 or temporary redirect

U: for short term content moves :u want to show an alternate page while
ur site is down for maintenance, tells SE that the page its looking for
isn't there now, but it will be back soon. So please don't do anything to
ur index
 ● 2. 301 or a permanent redirect
U: For long-term or permanent content moves, which SE are really
concerned with. tell SE that although they’ve indexed a previous URL for
that content, that old URL doesn’t exist anymore. The SE should take
everything it knew about that old URL & apply it to the new 1 where that
content now lives.

*Leave temporary 302 redirects for too long, SE may start treat them as
permanent redirects
*Some tech used to redirect URLs: JavaScript or Meta Refresh tags -
some SE cant pick up or process
Result? -the wrong page indexing indefinitely & -ranking slipping over
time

∴ Make sure SE know which URLs ur pages live on & u have unique
URLs for each of ur pages > help SE index ur pages properly

Leveraging Microformats

1. Use schema.org defined microdata

Microdata - gives us a special syntax to use to help SE identify very

specific types of content on ur pgs -help SE understand the semantic
focus of various content

Markup types avail:

1. Schema.org (microdata)
2. Open Graph (microformat)
3. RDFa

Schema microdata
● becoming the dominant markup of choice

● allows them to identify very specific attributes of that content

● Hv various content; recipe, product reviews, embedded video,

describe a book with things like the title, author, publishing date, &
number of pages, identify an upcoming event by name, location,
dates, or even pricing (schema types are always expanding)
● helps SE identify spec pieces of content

● SE will have much deeper semantic understanding of what this

content truly is & can return it in the SERP for an array of relevant
search queries

:recipe text
For SE, short sentences & many line breaks - awkward & cant
understand what each line means
Solution: augmenting the code behind this recipe text using the
schema.org microdata for recipes
– tell SE exactly what this content is;recipe (properties for
ingredients, prep time etc)
– SE: not only confirms that this is definitely a food recipe, also
includes all of this metadata around the recipe that will help to
return this content to users that are looking for it

various implementation methods:

● JSON-LD or JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data, embedded

or inline microdata
● RDFa or Resource Description Framework in Attributes

microformatting

2018 - Google & Bing recommend JSON-LD but they do support other
noted methods

∴ hv a brick & mortar business//u're doing e-commerce sales? make

sure u're using schema for your local business content//ur product
content
∴ rule: anytime u can specifically identify content for SE, u probably
should

Working W Server-Side/Web Server Factors

Things that affect SE visibility/help pgs load quickly:

1. Hardware & resources of comp: Num & type of processors, amnt of

memory, network quality, I connection – resources are appropriate
to serve pgs quickly & minimise downtime
 – Web server is just a comp- performance computer relies on
hardware & resources

2. Physical location of web server

– Visitors interact w website, SE collect data - how fast all the
elements of ur pgs are loading for them
– Web server must be geographically located where most of ur
potential website visitors will come from
– =/ country – page loads v slowly
– International SEO
Expect intl visits? use a web hosting solution - help distribute requests
for ur pgs across a global network of computers

& even if you're serving up pgs locally, consider speeding things up

using Content Delivery Network (CDN) >help serve big files like imgs or
a video from these servers that are located all over the world.

3. Cashing – enable server site cashing > can minimise time

consuming database workload
– Everytime a user requests 1 of ur pgs, website may be configured
to pull content & info from a database on ur web server
: E commerce system & Content m/ment system :WordPress, Dribbble,
Jumla etc work this way , calls from a database. Hv a plug-in // settings
built in for cache
– W cashing: web server interacts w database only once to generate
a given pg & save a copy of that content on the server for a period
of time
– Once copy is made, each subsequent view of that page will load
the content that's been saved on the server, bypassing any
redundant database work.

4. SE prefers secure sites

HTTPS – Google indicated that this can be a ranking signal

July 2018 – Chrome began warning users when they’re accessing HTTP
site

5. Web server must consistently run & never experience any

downtime
– If always down > SE consider unreliable & don’t suggest to users
Solution: use online services that monitor server uptime & downtime

web hosting perspective: load content fast, securely and reliably will not
only keep your users happy with your website, but it will also make your
site more attractive to the search engines who send them there

Google Search Console

aka Google Webmaster Tools

U: learn
-what info Google has abt ur website
-how it views ur website's overall performance in search
-how we can use it to provide Google w instructions around how to best
crawl and index your pages

search.google.com/searchconsole > add property >domain/URL >verify

ur website
Msgs – warning, alert

If you want to quickly look up a page to inspect it maybe you want to see
if Google has indexed it for example, you can always use the URL
inspection box at the top of the page.

Section: Performance
Search results report (organic search visibility)
1. Queries that ur site is showing up for in SERP
2. Pgs that’re showing up. see clicks, impressions, click-through-rates,
and average positions for keyword queries and landing pages against
devices, geographies,etc

Discover report (what & how often ur content appeared in Google’s

Discover)

Section: Index
(probs Google hv when trying to index ur content)
-duplicate content, block content, crawl anomalies
Impt – identify type of error affecting ur =/ URLs
Solution: -301 redirects, fix web server configurations

Site map allows u to submit XML site maps to Google > GC evaluate
submitted URLs
Type; sitemap outlining the content pgs of ur website, video site maps,
img & mobile site map formats

Remove URLs functionality – content u don’t want to index

*only removed for 6 months

Section: Enhancement
Web vitals report
-pg performance on mobile & desktop
-how site performs; 3 metrics (ranking signals – so u want to always
check this & address issue):
LCP -measure how much time it takes to render the largest content
element visible in the viewport
FID - measure any user interaction delays
CLS - measure how much a page layout shifts during the loading

Mobile usability report

(issues ur content might hv on mobile &
accelerated mobile pgs section – return errors//warnings ab tur amp pgs

Section: Security & manual actions

-malware, hacking, if Google has applied a manual action to the site that
may stop it from showing up in the search

Section: Link
(which pg are linked to from external sources & who is lining to u) – impt
for off-pg optimisation efforts
-internal linking – on-pg optimisation
5 LONG TERM CONTENT PLANNING
Long-Term Content Strategies

- With many businesses turning to online as a medium to market their

products and services, it's more important than ever that business
owners understand why having a content strategy will help propel them
forward and achieve success with their search objectives.

A content strategy = planning, creation, and management of usable

content

● Plan
-understand TA & their needs(where they hang out & converse online)
-understand what’s impt to them
-Couple this w keyword research: understand themes & kinds tof topic
u’ll want to produce content for.

● Creation
writing usable, relevant, and targeted content
-write content & publish it on web – attract traffic to site

For SEO purposes, content attracts audiences and links. & relevant, HQ
pages > SE regard as authoritative

content must be written regularly for the keywords & audiences u're
targeting

● Management
content management system - lets team members write, edit, post &
maintain content quickly & efficiently >help w workflows & encourage
collaborative environment

A Succesful Content Strategy

Components of content strategies:

1. Define goals & obj
Basics: know what keywords u’ve researched & chose to target, what ur
audiences are looking for, what u want them to do when they get to your
site
2. Understand key audiences & their needs -develop formal & web-
spec marketing personas (customer's role in an organization,
location, demographic, or psychographic information, their
interests and their behaviors)
3. Every1 in comp must involve – not sth u can tackle alone
4. Every1 must maintain a healthy respect for online reputation m/
ment
-craft policies for to write & publish content on behalf of the comp, part/
ly socmed
:what employees can post, editorial procedures
5. Monitor trends – keep a pulse on industry, renew keyword research,
review content structure & strategy, find out whats new whats nots,
maintain industry r/ship, continuous contact w influencers &
industry leaders

Different Types of Content

1. Textual format – art, blog, product description, stories

2. PDF files, Word documents, presentation slides can be published
on the web (post slide to slide hosting services:SlideShare b4
presentations – provide link so audience can view & download &
 share - catalyst for sharing and buzz from content that u've already
created
3. Imgs: Google.com and search for your company or brand name in
Google image search. Does it return the results that you expected?
- users expect images to be a part of the online experience
4. Infographic = a concept or a large set of data visually - help ppl
absorb a lot of infor in a meaningful way that can quickly be
understood
5. Video. dulu: high-speed I & plug in installed in browser to watch vid
Tips: properly select vid title, description, tags, & categories > position
vid to be found
-transcribe vid for closed captioning or sub

Getting Ideas For Content

1. come up w a few themes for ur site – how u can use those as

contents
-educational – stats/fact from industry & expand – value from experts
-procedural
-informational – news, (industry new u’re reporting/commenting)(who
u’ver hired)(recap of a conference u hosted/attended), driving directions
to ur store, biographies or key executive team

2. Scan competitors
● search keywords & site

-What kinds of things are they writing about

-Are there categories that you can offer a new unique insight into?
-Are there hot topics that you can expand on, or burning questions that
you can answer?
● Answer the Public, or the plug in tool Keywords Everywhere - get

insights into what ppl want to know about a given topic or query
● socmed; tweet, post
 3. Hidden sources of content
● customer

-leave reviews/feedback -> case study/testimony > put on site(SE: good

content & authority)
-UGC - : thorough review of product to post on ur website -contest
where customers write abt their experiences for a chance to win a
sweepstakes//prize
● (look at ppl in the industry)

- vendor; write joint case study that u can publish on site

-industry partner give u an award
-approach ur professional networks

Work W An Editorial Calendar