SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
WHAT I S S E O ? • SEO is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to improve search engine ranking • The goal is to increase the amount of visitors to a website if your placement is in a high-ranking position on the search results page • Search engines including Google, Bing,Yahoo and other search engines.
SE R P Search Engine Results Page Displays webpages, images, news and video s
KE Y WO R D S • Words or phrases in your content users type in their searches • This area is heavily researched to determine what keywords to optimize • Examples: • Regular keyword: Forestry or Forestry Degree • Long tail keyword: Master of Science Degree in Forestry
TYP E S O F S E O • On Page SEO • Off Page SEO • T echnical SEO
TEC HN I C A L S EO • Most of these items are handled by the Web Communications team: • Template: page speed, optimized code • Robots.txt file • Sitemaps • Redirects • Apache rewrites • Broken Links/Update links- these are things you can check
Example of Backlink Request: My name is Angela and I am the Director of Communications for Accredited Online Schools. I would like to congratulate you on Southern Illinois University-Carbondale making the list - you're one of 2016's Best Online Colleges in Illinois. As one of the Best Online Schools I know now is a busy time for you. Students are getting ready to graduate, Spring session is in full swing, and the paperwork seems to never end. With that being said, I am here to offer you our Rankings OF F PA G E S E O Guide, where Southern Illinois University-Carbondale is listed as one of the best in Illinois. Y our ranking can be found here: Accredited Schools Best Online Colleges in Illinois 2016 • Domain Authority Our intent is to create visibility for you without giving you any added work during this busy season and to let • Backlinks – don’t fall for the prospective students know that you are one of the best they scams can find. • Social Media – doesn’t count towards Will you be able to add this ranking to your website ? the algorithm but… I am happy to send along a ranking badge or personalized press release for you as well, to make it more noticeable. Thank you for all you do – I look forward to speaking with you.
ON PAG E S E O – TI TL E TAG S • Title Tags • No duplicates • It’s pixel based but no more than 70 characters • Use keywords in your title, but don’t do keyword stuffing • Your title tag is automatically generated for you on the new template
ON PA G E S E O • Title Tags • Meta Descriptions • Heading Tags • URL Structure • Broken Link Resolution • Remove Duplicate Content • CONTENT!
ON PAG E S E O – ME TA DES C R IP T IO N S • Meta Descriptions • Displays on the SERP results area • No more than 156 characters • Again, use keywords, but don’t do keyword stuffing • Don’t use the same meta description on more then one page – it should be page specific
ON PAG E S E O – HE A D I N G TAG S • Heading Tags • The H1 tag is already used so don’t use one • Always use your headings in order (like an outline for a paper) • Don’t repeat keywords in each heading
ON PAG E S E O – UR L ST RUCT UR E • Don’t to: • URL Structure http://rso.siu.edu/?page • No spaces, no capital letters, use hyphens _id=44 • Name your pages logically • Name your files and images • Do this instead: logically too http://rso.siu.edu/tutori • Structure your pages in an organized al manner
ON PAGE SEO – BROKEN LINKS/REDIRECTS • Broken Link Resolution • Remove temporary redirects • Fix broken links right away • Remove Duplicate Content – use external links when needed
ON PAGE SEO – CONTENT • CONTENT! Content is King but don’t just add content to fill it up • Avoid thin content with no added value • Your content should feel natural and organic • Use headings to break up your content • Use images and video to support your content where appropriate • Engagement and Freshness help • Place keywords within your content in an organic manner • TIP: If you want to be ranked for certain search terms, those terms need to be on the page
SUM M A RY • SEO is ALWAYS changing • Nothing is black and white • It is not an instant fix, more of a work in progress
GOOGL E AN ALYTI CS About the new templates 16
GOOGLE A NALYTICS “Google Analytics helps you analyze visitor traffic and paint a complete picture of your audience and their needs.” DOES DOES NOT • Track website traffic • Track individual users • Provide approximate data • Provide exact data (even though it’s pretty close) • Allow us to find out what • Determine which pages are pages are viewed the most most important 17
GO O GLE A N A LY T I C S • Web Communications tracks website traffic on about 30% of campus websites since November 2014 • We plan to track all sites by the end of 2016 • We will share our data with you • Email lizhunter@siu.edu with your @gmail.com email address • Google Analytics is ver y complex 18
19 S O M U C H DATA
RESOURCES Google Analytics Support • http://support.google.com/analytics Google Analytics Academy • http://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/ Google Analytics Solutions Gallery • https://www.google.com/analytics/gallery/ • Dashboards, custom reports, and segments 20
WHY ? • T o help meet your website goals • Keep people engaged • Deliver information quickly • Drive action • Evaluation of visitor interactions on your site • Compare data to previous periods of time to measure success or areas for improvement • Learn about visitors to your site 21
EVALUATE VISITOR INTERACTIONS 22
EVA LUATE VISITOR INTERACTIONS: SESSIONS • T otal number of Sessions within the date range. • The period time a user is actively engaged with your website, app, etc. • Includes all usage data (Screen Views, Events, Ecommerce, etc.) • Location: Audience Overview 23
EVA LUATE VISITOR INTERACTIONS: USERS • Users that have had at least one session within the selected date range. • Includes both new and returning users. 24
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : PAG E V I E W S • Pageviews is the total number of pages viewed. • Repeated views of a single page are counted. 25
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : PAG E S / S E S S I O N • Pages per Session is the average number of pages viewed during a session. • Repeated views of a single page are counted. 26
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : AVG . S E S S I O N D U R AT I ON • The average length of a Session, in minutes/seconds • In the case of a “bounce” visit that has only one page viewed, the Sessions count is 1 but the Session Duration is 0 • Higher bounce rate will have a negative impact on average session duration 27
EVA LUATE VISITOR INTERACTIONS: BOUNCE RATE • Bounce Rate is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page). • Bounce does not mean they did not read the page • Bounce can happen if a user clicks a link to another website, clicks the back button to leave your site, closes an open window or tab, types a new URL, or the session times out 28
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : PAG E V I E W S & U N I Q U E PAG E V I E W S • Pa gev i ew s is the total number of times a page is viewed over time. • Repeated views of a single page are counted. • Un ique Pa gev i ew s is the number of sessions during which the specified page was viewed at least once. • For a single page, GA displays the percentage of the total pageviews for the entire site 29
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : AVG . T I M E O N PAG E • The average amount of time users spent viewing a specified page or screen, or set of pages or screens. 30
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : EN T R A N C ES & EX IT S • Entrances is the number of times visitors entered your site through a specified page or set of pages. • %Exit indicates how often users exit your website from that page or set of pages when they view the page(s). • Unlike bounce rate, which is recorded if the page is the ONLY page in the session, an exit records the LAST page in the session (meaning the user has viewed at least 2 pages) 31
EVA L UAT E V IS ITO R IN T ER AC T IO N S : MO R E A B O U T B O U NC E R AT E • Bounce Rate on an individual page is much more significant than Bounce Rate on the whole site. • Good Bounce Rate depends on the type of page • Improve Bounce Rate • Providing relevant content • Having a clear menu and actionable items • Have external links open in a new window 32
COMPARE DATA OVER TIME AND MEASURE SUCCESS 33
COMPARE AND MEA SURE: PERIODS OF TIME Month Semester Previous Year Comparison 34
Keep in mind that a lot of variables determine the cause of lower data year over year. *** Changes in messaging, changes in website structure, or even outside influences *** 35
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