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SEO and WordPress 

truth “SEO has evolved to become the result of an actual marketing strategy versus marketing tactics” Rae Hoffman Read the article: http://sugarrae.com/rants-in-bitchland/google-propaganda-marketers-wake-up/ 

seo planning is step 1 • rank cannot be bought • must be earned • seo is not an item to be left to the end • plan first • w/o planning, you’ll never get where you want to be Photo credit: Oatsy40 

seo components • A strong SEO strategy has three core components: – links – content – social media • What's become more pronounced in the last year is the relationship between these elements. • Best user experience, e.g. mobile compatibility is no longer optional Read more: 5 SEO Trends Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know for 2014 

expectations are blown apart... • Nothing is the same • No tricks • No games • No kidding. • Follow best practices Photo credit: Morgali Photography-House Explosion 2009.12.22 Ohio Ave Extension 

pandas, penguins, hummingbirds 

panda rules • Summer 2011 • High‐quality, original • Trust • Authentic, interesting • Not full of ads • Involved • Useful/UX • Not overly optimized • Google notes Read Google’s post about quality: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building- high-quality.html 

penguin – this bird can’t fly • Debuted April 24, 2012 • Updated May 25, 2012 •  rankings of websites that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines • demote black‐hat SEO tactics, e.g. link schemes Read Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: https://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf 

hummingbird – nimble, fast • September 27, 2013, Google’s self‐given birthday gift, core algo • improved, more natural search • focused on natural speech • finding you precisely what you seek 

fundamentals • solid, strong brand • great copy • adds value • well‐designed site • useful information • fast • mobile responsive 

what are you working towards? • Know your goal • Research • Competitor analysis 

content is king • Owned/Earned/Paid • Increase Owned/Earned • Create • Distribute • Share & Interact 

Content Development • Photos • Videos • Text / written articles • Curated content • WordPress app makes it easy on the go Photo credit: Yutaka Tsutano 

taxonomy • Map it out • Identify primary • Supporting branches • Categories – One per post • Tags as modifiers – Not contained in post titles 

Plan Blog Categories Cupcakes Chocolate Birthday Decorating Parent Category Child or Secondary Categories 

Plan ‘Tags’‐ Micro Categories Dark Chocolate White Chocolate Milk Chocolate Child Category Chocolate Tags 

Why strategy? If you put effort into planning your marketing and content strategy you you’ll have a higher success rate and also continue to execute based on a strategy, versus reacting to what is wrong due to lack of organization. 

schema.org • html tags to markup pages • Search engines rely on this markup • created by the four major search engines 

Google’s markup helper • Optimize Your WordPress Blog Content with Google’s Markup Helper • Google’s Markup Helper Read an article guiding you through how to optimize your WordPress blog content: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/01/optimize-wordpress-blog-content-googles-markup-helper/ Use Google’s Markup Helper: https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/ 

wordpress SEO • Best in class • Light weight • Easy to configure • Updated regularly • Content analysis functionality • Optimize your sites titles and descriptions with the snippet preview. • Automatically generate XML Sitemaps 

all ins • Title – page – file media library • Text • Tags – alt – post – H2, H3 • Page • Subheads • Descriptions 

other considerations • Inbound links • Bold • Cross site links as on‐ page navigation • No “click this link” rather, “click for map to our location” 

author, author • Rich snippets • Google Profile – rel=”author” and rel=”me” • Best writer about this is Joost de Valk aka Yoast http://yoast.com/wordpress‐rel‐author‐ rel‐me/ Learn from Google: What are rich snippets? https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/99170?hl=en 

rich snippet example 

share, friend, participate 

lather, rinse, repeat • monitor • adjust • refresh • keep alert to Google’s changes • competition Photo credit: 1950sUnlimited