LEARNING

SEO FROM
THE EXPERTS

How to Master

s
Every Aspect of
seo Search Engine
Optimization for
Business Success

A publication of
 2 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 3

IS THIS BOOK RIGHT FOR ME?

Not quite sure if this ebook is right for you? See the below description to determine if
your level matches the content you are about to read.

INTRODUCTORY
Introductory content is for marketers who are new to the subject.
This content typically includes step-by-step instructions on how
HubSpot’s All-in-One
Marketing Software
M w
Email SOCIAL
MARKETING CONTACTS
to get started with this aspect of inbound marketing and learn its
HubSpot brings your whole marketing
fundamentals. After reading it, you will be able to execute basic world together in one, powerful, integrated
marketing tactics related to the topic.

INTERMEDIATE This ebook!

system.

Get Found: Help prospects find you online

Convert: Nurture your leads and drive conversions
Analyze: Measure and improve your marketing.
U
CONTACTS
DATABASE
;
WORKFLOWS
Intermediate content is for marketers who are familiar with the More: See marketplace for apps and integrations

subject but have only basic experience in executing strategies and

tactics on the topic. This content typically covers the fundamentals
and moves on to reveal more complex functions and examples.
After reading it, you will feel comfortable leading projects with this
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n
SMART FIELDS analy
aspect of inbound marketing.
tics

ADVANCED
Advanced content is for marketers who are, or want to be, experts
on the subject. In it, we walk you through advanced features of
this aspect of inbound marketing and help you develop complete
mastery of the subject. After reading it, you will feel ready not only
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to execute strategies and tactics, but also to teach others how to
be successful.
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 4 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 5

LEARNING SEO
FROM THE EXPERTS CONTENTS
Curated by Anum Hussain

KEYWORDS: UNDERSTANDING THE FUNDAMENTALS /7

Anum Hussain is an inbound marketer at anum hussain, hubspot
HubSpot focused on generating leads for the
HubSpot sales team through top-of-the-funnel
Mastering on-page seo /12
marketing strategies -- visual and written Greg shuey, seo.com
content creation, social media, and blogging.
She is an active writer for the HubSpot Internet
understanding off-page seo /21
Marketing Blog, has previously written for rebecca churt, hubspot
the Boston Globe and LinkedIn, and also
maintains her own blog as a media wizard at Follow me on twitter
@anummedia the right way to build links /26
anumhussain.com. stephanie chang, distilled

How social media influences seo /38

dharmesh shah, HubSpot

how to increase clicks in serp /53

rand fishkin, seomoz

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“ Solve for the

g
”
humans!
-Dharmesh Shah CHAPTER 1

KEYWORDS:
Search engines have become a core resource for individuals looking for a UNDERTSANDING
FUNDAMENTALS
business, product, or service. Over the years, online search has reduced the
need for traditional means of searching, such as Yellow Pages.

Your business needs to adapt to the changes of the new consumer

searching landscape. In the words of HubSpot CTO Dharmesh Shah, “Solve
Anum Hussain, HubSpot
for the humans!”

Businesses no longer need to spend thousands of dollars on advertising in

directories and magazines. Every business with a website has the potential
to get found by more customers online through search engine optimization
(SEO) and inbound marketing.

Whether you have already invested in an SEO strategy or are just getting
started, this ebook will help you gain a stronger understanding of all aspects
in the SEO process. The ideas, best practices, and examples all come from
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Ebook!
SEO experts. Share This Ebook!

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SEO Basics: Understanding Keywords Why Do Keywords Matter?

Once upon a time, marketers focused on strategizing which keywords to Keywords or key phrases are simply the search terms someone types into
place across their web presence in order to increase their rankings in a a search engine, such as Google or Bing, when they are looking for certain
search engine results page (SERP). information. People are constantly using keywords: whether they are in
search for a specific product or just browsing to conduct personal research.
But the world of search engine optimization has been changing drastically --
particularly with the constant changes Google has been making to its search
algorithm over the past year. And all that emphasis you put on keyword
research and selection, in other words on-page SEO, is only worth 25% of
what actually impacts your spot in SERP.

The only problem is, you can’t truly master the other 75% -- off-page SEO
discussed later in this guide -- until you understand and master the basics. Where Can I Learn SEO from the Experts?

95% of the U.S. Internet browsing population accesses search engines each
month. Furthermore, the U.S. online population makes an average of 37
Off-Page SEO search engine visits per person per month.
On-Page SEO
That’s a whole lot of time spent searching various keyword and key phrase
combinations!

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Determine Your Keywords Track Your Keyword Success

Keywords are at the heart of SEO, and selecting the right ones can make Now that you know what keywords to implement in your marketing strategy,
or break your SEO strategy. Compile a list of about ten keywords associated be sure to follow their progress and ensure they’re returning the value you
with your product or services. Plug these keywords into Google’s Keyword want from them.
Tool, and find variations that make sense for your business.
Let’s use HubSpot’s keyword tool to demonstrate how this process might
look like. The software continuously analyzes your keyword performance to
show you what keywords you’re ranking for, what the cost-per-click (CPC) for
those keywords are -- so you know how much you’re saving -- and how many
visits you’re sending to your website thanks to these keywords and/or key
phrases.

Use search volume and competition as a good measure for determing what
you can easily attack. But never settle on a list of 10-15 keywords, as the old
ways taught. Start with a small list, but continuously adapt and analyze your
choices as your business grows and adapts.

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What is On-Page SEO?

In the history of search engine optimization, the rank of a piece of content in
search engine results has typically come down to two key drivers: relevancy
CHAPTER 2
and authority built through content on your website. When optimizing your

mastering
content, focus your copy on specific keywords that match what people are
searching for online.

on-page seo
The first rule of on-page SEO is to think about what your target users might
be searching for and make sure those keywords are on the page. This
increases the likelihood of reaching those users as they go to Google, Bing
or other search engines.

Greg Shuey, SEO.com That being said, on-page SEO is basically about two things:

1 Picking the best keywords around which

to base each of your pages

2 Making it clear to search engines that your

page revolves around those keywords

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On-Page Optimization: The Old Way On-Page Optimization: The New Way
Marketers should still be using keywords.
Search engine algorithms rank web pages based on numerous factors.
But rather than littering them throughout every aspect of your page, think
The basic premise is that a page will show up in search engine results
about the value you want each page to provide, and which keywords match
because the website has a page that mentions the searched for terms. Of
that value. And rather than repeating the same word over and over again,
course, many websites use the same keywords on the same page.
you should use a diverse set of related keywords to help you rank for a
Hundreds of tools are littered across the web that allow you to measure variety of long tail keywords.

f
the keyword density of a page. Some of them teach that more is better. As
For example:
a result, webmasters would crank out keyword-stuffed text that was not
interesting and/or provided a horrible user experience. Link vs links

k
These keywords would be stuffed in various places, including: Build vs building
s s s

The URL Strategy vs strategies

k
s s

The on-page headings k

The page title Also rank for a verity of lateral keywords.
Aggressively throughout
The meta description tag the page content For example:

k
Lawyer vs attorney
Such tactics even ended up stripping out important keyword variations -- so
Dentist vs oral surgeon
the page wouldn’t rank as well, or at all, for the related keywords.
SEO vs inbound marketing

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 16 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 17

The Core Components of On-Page SEO

Title Tags & Meta Descriptions

Meta Tags Title tags and Meta descriptions are two of the most important tags when it
comes to SEO and enticing potential visitors to click through to your website.
Meta tags are the official data tags for each web page that are found in-
A title tag is an HTML tag which contains a sentence of text describing the
between the open and closing head tags in the HTML code. The most
contents of its associated webpage. These tags are the first aspect of your
popular Meta tags are the title tag, meta description, and keyword tag.
page that a search engine crawler – (crawlers are what search engines use
These tags alert search engines with relevant information describing the
to analyze the content of a site in response to a search to then present the
content of the page, which helps the search engines decide if your website
best results) comes across when visiting your website, so it’s important to
is an appropriate listing in response to a particular search query.
make a good first impression by optimizing them with your keywords and
brand. Titles generally run about 77 characters, so make sure to easy each
character wisely.

Meta descriptions are what appear on SERP describing the content of the
page being linked to. While these descriptions are not used by the search
engines to determine relevance, they are used by your visitors to determine
said relevancy and entice them to click – think about when you search! You
almost always read the description of each link before deciding to click,
right? Or at least skim. Make sure you include your keywords and the main
call-to-action right in this description.

TIP: Meta descriptions generally run about 160 characters. Don’t only use
those characters well, but stick to that limit so that when the description
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 18 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 19

Localization
Content
On-page content is a critical component of on- Where appropriate, you should add localization. This is extremely important

w
page SEO. Content is what the search engine to businesses who offer products and services to a specific geographic
crawlers need to associate your page with a region. If you are an attorney, you’ll want to have a page of content set up for
set of keywords and/or key phrases. Without each location you service. When building your content, you’ll want to include
it, crawlers are left in the dark as to what your localized keywords so that the search engines know you have offices and
page is about. operate in certain locations.

When building your content, it’s important to

Quick Action Items for Local Businesses
remember to give the crawlers enough to bite
If you are a local business, be sure to optimize your location easily and
into. A hundred words typically isn’t enough copy for these crawlers to read
quickly with the following tools:
and understand what the content is about. And this content shouldn’t be

s s s
stuffed with keywords either, as some search engines (as you’ll learn in later .Google Places
sections) punish websites for keyword stuffing.
.Bing Local
Instead, you should write about your product or service or idea naturally, and
.Yahoo Local Listings
let your keyword variations naturally fall into place. If that doesn’t happen,
go back and spring in some variations into the content so that the same
message gets across, just optimized!
Streamline Your SEO Efforts
To help keep track your on-page optimization efforts, HubSpot built an easy-
to-use template that you can download here. Use it to continuously improve
your on-page SEO, making it a streamlined process so it can become
integrated into your natural routine.
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20 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 21

On-PAGE SEO
STRATEGY
Are you tracking every CHAPTER 3
Facebook interaction

undERstandING
you have with your
leads? HubSpot not

OFF-PAGE SEO
only lets you track
every click on a link in
a social message, it
also lets you use that
data to compile lists of
influencers who you can Rebecca Churt, HUBSPOT
communicate with to
power your SEO efforts REQUEST A DEMO READ MORE
through social links!

3 Blogging Software & Analytics: Create and measure your blog.

3 SEO Tips: Get Automatic on-page SEO tips as you create blog posts.
Conversion Analysis: See which of your posts generate the
3 Content
most leads and converting the most leads and customers.

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What is Off-Page SEO?

Link Building
Off-page SEO is all about building online authority – trust and reputation –
for your website. Link building is essentially the practice of building inbound links to help give
your website authority. The modern efforts of “earning” links are discussed
Off-page SEO has long been defined by the quantity, quality, and relevance
more in the next chapter.
of links to your website that establish your SEO authority and ultimately
influence your search results ranking.

Authority historically was established as other websites linked to you;

Compelling Content
building your link portfolio. The problem, however, was that authority was Yes, optimizing for off-page SEO is still about content marketing. After all,
almost entirely defined by just links. without content it’s hard to earn those links. The best way to earn relevant
links from other sites to yours is to create unique, relevant content that
Essentially, off-page SEO used to be a fancy word for “getting more links,”
can quickly gain popularity online, particularly with your target audience.
but now it should focus on earning links through multiple channels instead.
The more useful, relevant and compelling your content is, the greater the
Understandably, it will require a paradigm shift to stop thinking about off-
chances someone else will find that content valuable and link to it.
page as just link “building” and instead as link “earning.”
Your content must align with your target audience – that persona that
Your site’s authority is only partly based on analysis of the sites that link to
surmises your ideal customer. Content must also be authentic and unique,
you. Off-page SEO is more than just link building (link building itself will be
and ultimately solve a problem or answer a question. That content then
discussed more in the next chapter). The way you diversify authority for your
also should be easily sharable which combined with solid on-page SEO best
website is through the conversations people are having about your brand
practices makes for awesome “link bait.”
and the references they make to it. A diversified link portfolio should look
something like what I detail throughout this chapter. Link Bait: Any content that
is created for the purpose of
attracting multiple readers &
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reshare or link to that content.

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 24 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 25

Co-Marketing Social Media

Co-marketing defines the efforts of lots of cross promoting, networking and Social media hasn’t always been on the radar as part of off-page SEO. When
community building. It’s a partnership between two or more companies it first came to surface it was often being used inappropriately (still is by
in which both companies jointly market each other’s content, products or some today). Users or businesses thought to basically spam social networks
services. and followers instead of putting real thought and work behind it. To them
social media was just one more way to get links. Social media in some way
The great thing about co-marketing is, like the idea with guest posting, that
is the new forums or blog commenting with an opportunity to have real
you have access to another company’s social networks, prospects, leads
conversations.
and/or customers, which ultimately increases your reach. And what better
than to have one or more companies brag about the content that you are Read more about how social media impacts SEO in the chapter by
creating, especially since it benefits them too? It’s brilliant. Dharmesh Shah!

PR

g g
'
'
g
When you think of PR you may think of it as just an announcement that

g
blasts multiple new sources. However, well planned and optimized PR can
' be awesome for your SEO efforts. PR should promote genuine and ethical
dialogue driven content to improve a brand’s organic search engine results.
Effective PR outreach should include more than the traditional publication
channels. Your strategy should include outreach to bloggers, industry
influencers, and social media leaders.

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 26 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 27

Why Search Engines Care About Links

Search engine algorithms rank web pages based on numerous factors.

CHAPTER 4 The basic premise is that a page will show up in search engine results
because the website had mentioned the terms that were being searched

THE RIGHT WAY

for on the website page. Of course, many websites use the same keywords
on the same page. But in order for search engines to determine how these

TO BUILD LINKS
pages should be ranked, they take into consideration two major factors:

1 The quantity of links that point

to that page and site.

2 The quality of links that point to

Stephanie Chang, Distilled that page and site.

The more trustworthy your page appears to be, the higher your page will
rank in search engine results

(See search ranking factors for more details).

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The Value of A Link The Wrong Way to Build Links

The value of a link serves two major benefits: The initial purpose of search engines counting the quantity and quality
of links linking back to any webpage was to ensure that only those pages
1 Links increase the authority and trustworthiness
providing valuable and trustworthy content to their users would be ranked
of a page to search engines, which increases the
highly in the search engine results.
overall authority of that website.
Unfortunately, this provided opportunities to game the system and find

2 Links help search engines connect the relevancy easier, quicker solutions to build massive quantities of links back to
of a page with specific keywords -- based on the webpagesin order to rank highly for different search results.
keywords that are used in a link’s anchor text.
To better understand the true power of link building, let’s review the sneaky
and quick link-building tactics some sites employed, and how search
Anchor text is the clickable text on a hyperlink. For example, let’s say engines developed algorithmic changes to combat it.

'
hypothetically a page was linked to in one of the following ways:

'
Bob’s Hardware Store

'
versus

'
'
Buy power tools at Bob’s Hardware Store

The second link with the targeted keyword “power tools” will likely rank
higher in the search engines.

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Directories Paid Links

The Problem with Paid Links

The Problem with Directories
Paid links are links garnered in exchange for payment. They may include
A good directory’s intent is to categorize the internet into different a larger network of link buyers and sellers usually involving a link network
categories/subcategories, while providing links to good websites in those or a group of low-quality sites that link to a specific webpage to increase
categories. Although there are legitimate directory websites, many were the authority of a website. Other times, there may be a reciprocal linking
built solely for the purpose of building links back to webpages without program, where a group of websites link to one another.
consideration of link quality. This is the wrong way to build links.
Paid links are like paying someone to be your wingman to impress a girl
rather than having a genuine friend by your side who can vouch for how
How the Search Engines Fixed It great you really are!

Several studies have shown that in the past year, search engines (especially
Google) have started removing free directories from their index. This means How the Search Engines Fixed It
that the links gained from those directories are no longer counted towards
All the aforementioned methodologies go against search engine guidelines,
a website’s overall link quality/quantity count! This also implies that relying
specifically Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, and can result in severe
on directories to build links to a website is a short-term strategy -- especially
consequences. Search engines are able to spot these types of link building
since Google has started taking action on both directories and the websites
activities by detecting website registration connections or finding websites
that have relied on this tactic to rank highly in the search engine results.
that follow specific linking patterns.

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Consequences of Low-Quality
Article Marketing Link Building Tactics
There are signs that low-quality link building tactics, such as the three just

The Problem with Article Marketing mentioned, will remain a short-term strategy. It’s clear that search engines
don’t like ranking websites that take actions purely for the purpose of
Article marketing involves writing one unique article, and then rearranging
ranking and not for benefit of the user’s experience. Or in Dharmesh Shah’s
the words to transform that one article into multiple versions. This
words, for the “humans.”
rearranged article will then be placed on different, usually low-quality article
sites with highly optimized anchor text links. Over time, search engine algorithms have also become increasingly complex
to fight what search engines view as spammy tactics that try to game their
This tactic helped a website from being penalized by search engines for
system.
duplicate content (the exact same content across lots of different sites), and
boosted both page strength and relevance.

“
How the Search Engines Fixed It
SEO is not about optimizing
for search engines, it’s about
The search engines now identify low quality content through user

”
engagement, and by correlating website features. Networks of sites where
you can place this kind of content are even easier for them to identify. As a optimizing for humans.
marketer, the primary warning sign should be sites where you can post your
content with no editorial oversight from the website owner. -Dharmesh Shah

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The Right Way to Build Links

Google’s Search Algorithm
Modern link building focuses on high-quality, original content that provides
Over the past two years, there have been advances to search engine value to users and incorporates an involved audience.
algorithms that specifically target websites involved in these low-quality link
Although this type of link building isn’t easy nor quick, it is the best
building strategies. Google has launched two major algorithmic changes.
safeguard against future search engine algorithms, as authoritative, well-
managed websites are the type of sites that search engines want to see
1 Panda rank highly in their results.

High-quality, unique content on a website that builds links can come in many
Panda was designed to target low-quality sites, such as article marketing
forms, such as:
sites. This update was significant because it affected approximately 12% of
all search results and shifted the viability of low-quality content sites who
had depended on these link building tactics as their business model.
Company Blogs
2 Penguin Write appealing content that other people will WANT to link to.

Penguin targeted over-optimized websites, such those that had too much
keyword-based anchor text -- especially from low-quality sites. It also further
Visual Content
targeted sites involved in link building schemes, such as the ones previously Powerful, unique, or even comical, images lead people to link to
mentioned. your website. This includes video content as well!

Both Penguin and Panda are periodically refreshed. These major algorithmic
changes force sites to focus on organic methods for garnering links.

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s
36 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 37

Product Launches SITE GETS FOUND

Building anticipating around a product launch inspires people to
talk about your business, which can lead to links to your site.

You don’t need to hire

a SEO expert -- just
Guest Blogging listen to the experts in
Creating valuable content for other websites provides an easy to
this guide and own SEO
link back to your business -- be sure to provide the guest site with
yourself! HubSpot’s
beneficial content, and don’t bury the entire post in links.
built-in search engine
optimization makes it
Link building can also come from building a targeted and involved
easy to pick the right
community. The more regular visitors a site has, and the more passionate
keywords and find link-
those fans are, the more likely webpages will be read, shared, and linked to.
building opportunities
A perfect example is My Starbuck’s Idea, where users can pitch ideas about
that increase your
the next Starbuck’s offering.
website’s search rank.
REQUEST A DEMO READ MORE

3 Keyword Analysis: Find and track your most effective keywords.

3 Link Tracking: Track inbound links and the leads they’re generating.
3 Page-Level SEO: Diagnose and fix poorly ranking pages.
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How Social Media Influences SEO

As mentioned earlier in this guide, SEO has a lot to do with relevancy and

CHAPTER 5 authority. But recently, things have changed a bit.

how social
More and more, search engines have begun to incorporate social context
into their search results. And it’s high time we dived into what role social
context is playing in SEO, and how marketers can adjust their strategies to

media
match the changing character of search. So without further ado, let’s get
into the nitty gritty of what’s being called “social search” and learn how it

influences seo
affects marketers.

Dharmesh Shah, HUBSPOT

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What is Social Search? Examples of Social Search

“Social search” is an evolving term for the way in which search engines
factor a user’s social network -- also referred to as social graph -- into how 1 Google+ Your World
results are displayed after a search query.
In early 2012, Google unveiled Google Plus Your World, a unique integration
In social search, content that has a social connection to you in some way is
between Google search results and the Google Plus social network that,
prioritized. A social connection could mean someone you are linked to via
when activated, prioritizes content that has been shared or received a +1 by
Facebook, Twitter, or any other major social network.
your Google network.
Alternately, some forms of social search prioritize content that has been
In addition to Google Plus Your World, Google social search results from
shared by social media influencers, even if those experts aren’t directly tied
multiple networks are now mixed throughout your results based on their
to you.
relevance; and content with ties to your network are displayed with a higher
relevance than their counterparts. Searchers only see social search results
'
when they are logged into Google and have their social networks connected.
'

'

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2 Bing Social Search 3 Facebook Social Search

In summer of 2012, Bing announced a new version of its search engine. It Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has indicated that he’s interested in
included an entirely new layout that closely integrates a searcher’s social launching a social search engine powered by Facebook user activity. He
network into the results displayed for a given search term. explained, “Search engines are really evolving towards giving you a set of
answers… like, I have a specific question, answer this question for me. And
According to Bing, the social results -- which include the ability to directly
when you think about it from that perspective, Facebook is pretty uniquely
ask advice from your Facebook network -- “complement the standard search
positioned to answer a lot of the questions that people have.”
results without compromising them, offering you the chance to start a
conversation and get advice from your friends, experts and enthusiasts right According to Zuckerberg, Facebook handles close to 1 billion search queries
within the search experience.” per day already. Many of these searches are for individuals or company
pages, but the potential exists for inquiries related to decision-making or
reviews.

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Social Search and Inbound Marketing Audit Your Existing Strengths

Even if the social search playing field hasn’t been completely defined Take a look at your top ranking and most shared content. Is there overlap?
yet, one of the key takeaways from the early actions of Google, Bing, and If you’ve found a type of content that is simultaneously strong in search and
Facebook is that as marketers, we need to start seeing our search engine frequently shared, it’s worth optimizing that content even further.
optimization strategy and our social media strategy as utterly intertwined.
Here’s how you can do just that.

Update Company Profiles

Step Make sure your social media tools
If, as in the example above, I search Bing for “Inbound Marketing,” a few
1 are informed by your SEO tools.
things will happen.

The best way to come out on top of social search is to have a fully integrated 1) Bing will give me traditional search results.
marketing platform where social media and SEO are fully linked.
2) Bing will show me friends who have written or shared “inbound
Ha, of course we’d say that -- we sell that platform. marketing” content.

Truly though, having a blog with built-in social sharing and as-you-type SEO 3) Bing will bring in “People Who Know” who include the keyword “inbound
recommendations definitely helps. With or without that kind of technology, marketing” in their profile or frequently shared content.
however, there are some steps you can take to leverage the growing use of
For the latter circumstance, it doesn’t hurt to put your main keywords as
social search.
part of your company’s profile online. The combination of that profile and the
strength of your content and shares will add up.

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Make Your Top Keywords Social Step Find and encourage your social
2 media influencers.

Make a list of the keywords for which you want to rank highly. Does the
The reason social is such a natural extension of search is that it adds both
content you share on social media and your blog cover those keywords?
relevancy and authority. Think about this: According to Nielsen Research
Zero in on one or two of your most desirable keywords and find ways to
92% of consumers worldwide trust recommendations from friends and
make content under those keywords more shareable.
family more than any form of advertising. This is up from 74% in 2007. As
At a bare minimum, include social sharing buttons on your content. Beyond recommendations from peers become more prominent online, the influence
that you may want to experiment with encouraging social sharing through they levy will weigh more heavily into activity on search and social sites
pay-by-tweet downloads or using easy share links throughout your posts, like combined. For this reason, it’s wise to start thinking of your company or
in this example. organization’s fans as extensions of your inbound marketing team.
f
Find Your Influencers
k
k

Spend some time to get to know the people who consistently share your
k content. Pull together a list of contacts with more than a thousand followers
k
k

and a history of engagement in your content. Knowing your social media

influencers will help you expand your reach online and ultimately increase
the rate at which your content gets found online.

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Nurture Your Influencers Step Watch for changing factors in

3 social search.
Once you’ve discovered your evangelists, think about ways to nurture and
encourage them. At the simplest (and possibly most meaningful) level, find a
While there are a few core principles at work in social search, individual
way to thank them for spreading the word about your company. As a second
factors will continue to develop in the near future. As you’re considering
step, consider inviting them to a special open-house or providing them
the social channels you use, think about the role each plays in your search
sneak peeks of upcoming news or announcements. The HubSpot software
engine of choice.
allows you to easily compile a smart list of social media influencers in order
to nurture through email communication.
Don’t Rule Out Google+
When Google+ first entered the social media space, many marketers
wondered if it was really worth diverting marketing attention into yet another
social network. Forbes magazine’s Paul Tassi even wrote it in a eulogy last
year. But when the parent company of said social network is the biggest
search engine in the world and starts to integrate its content into search
results, it’s worth dipping a toe in the water. My advice? Take these quick
steps to create and optimize your Google+ page and then experiment with
how content does on it.
Note: Be careful when nurturing your influencers that you are not offering
them benefits in exchange for talking about your company. That’s not
inboundy at all and really questionable, ethically. In fact, in some cases, it
may even be illegal.
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 50 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 51

Don’t Rule Out Bing Step Remember the golen rule.

4
Not only did Bing account for 30% of all searches the springof 2012, Bing
also has a more diverse social search offering than any other search engine.
With Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Klout and Foursquare tied in, Bing may give Years ago, when HubSpot first started teaching people about search engine
social active companies an edge. optimization, one rule was essential: Above all else, create good, useful
content. The rest will follow. From Panda to Penguin, and everything else
you’ve learned from the previous experts, search has changed quite a bit in
Keep Your Facebook Pages Active the last few years, but that cardinal rule has held strong.
While search is clearly not Facebook’s
Even with the rapidly growing influence social sharing has on search
primary purpose yet, Facebook
results, the good news is if you’re creating good content, you’re already
does have a team of engineers,
half-way there. Useful content is by nature more search-friendly than sales-
including former Google engineer Lars
oriented content. It is also more likely to be shared. The increasingly formal
Rasmussen, working on an improved
relationship between search and social is really just a natural extension to
search engine for the site. Futhermore,
what has always been true -- content that is relevant and can be trusted
data from HubSpot’s social media
as authoritative will continue to drive both your search and social media
scientist Dan Zarrella even shows
marketing.
that there’s a relationship between
Facebook shares and link building --
a major aspect of off-page SEO!

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 LET SOCIAL MEDIA

^
52 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 53

FUEL YOUR SEO

Are you tracking every CHAPTER 6

Facebook interaction

how to
you have with your
leads? HubSpot not

increase
only lets you track
every click on a link in
a social message, it

clicks in SERP
also lets you use that
data to compile lists of
influencers who you can
communicate with to
power your SEO efforts Rand Fishkin, SEOMOZ
through social links! REQUEST A DEMO READ MORE

3 Lookup: Automatically look up social information for your leads.

Listen: Listen to chatter and track clicks on all of your social posts.
3
Segment: Segment your leads based on the social activity.
3
Trigger: Trigger emails, update profile information, and adjust your
3 lists based on social interactions.
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 54 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 55

The Search Ranking Myth The Value of Ranking CTR

Today, queries don’t just return a list of ten blue, ordered links. They return
Historically, traffic from search engines has been about a very singular
results with images, videos, profile pictures, and all manner of meta data
pursuit -- that of rankings.
that help searchers choose the best result.
While you want to land on the first page, there’s much more to optimizing for
Ranking #1 years ago brought ~40% of the traffic to a particular query
SERP placement.
results page. Today, that figure is less than 20%. Meanwhile, rankings in
Higher rankings lead to more clicks and visits from interested searchers, lower positions have gained some of those clicks. Here’s a few reasons why:
and that search traffic is uniquely valuable because of its high relevancy and
timeliness -- people search when they’re interested or ready to perform an
action. google+
However, in the last few years, the relentless focus on rankings alone has
ignored the reality of change in the world of search results, and the value of
clickthrough rate (CTR).
IMAGES

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s G DATE

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 56 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 57

Improve Rank CTR with Author Images 5

Furthermore, make sure that byline name matches the name on
your Google+ profile.
In order to see an author image appear in Google search, you need to have
Visit Google’s Authorship page, and submit your email address to
“authorship.” Here’s how to do it:
6 Google. Regardless of the number of articles you publish on this
domain, you’ll only need to go through this process once.
Make sure your Google+ profile page has a profile photo that is a
1 In the “About” section of your Google+ profile, make sure the
recognizable headshot. 7 profile discovery box, “Help others discover my profile in search,”
Make sure you have an email address (for example, jdoe@hubspot. is checked.
2 com) on the same domain as your content (hubspot.com). If you
don’t have an email address on the same domain, Google has an
alternative method for linking your content to your Google+ profile.
Learn how here.

In the “About” section of your Google+ profile, add that email Once Google approves your authorship request, your Google+ profile
3 address so it’s easier for Google to associate your Google+ will update with the domain on which you’re a content contributor in the
account with your domain. “Contributor to” section of your Google+ profile. By default, it will also
automatically make your email address visible to the public. If you want to
4 In addition, make sure each article you publish on that domain has
a clear byline identifying you as the author (for example, “By John
keep your email address private on your page, you can change its visibility
here.
Doe” or “Author: John Doe”).
You may also receive an email confirmation from Google once your request
for Authorship has been approved.

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 58 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 59

The Holistic View of Search Rankings

When optimizing for search

Conclusion
traffic today, marketers can’t
s
think just about rankings, they
need to be holistic in their

and additional
approach to the visibility and
appearance of listings.

resources
Google+ author profiles, as
explained, can make headshots
appear alongside descriptions.
Video XML Sitemaps can be
used to show a video capture image. Rich snippets protocols can be applied
to e-commerce listings for pricing, availability, quantity and other consumer-
friendly details. And these are only the tip of the iceberg.

A marketer who dives deep on this topic can find dozens of opportunities
to enhance their listing and earn more traffic. Because these days, it’s not
enough to rank. Marketers need to earn their clicks.

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 60 Learning seo from the experts learning seo from the experts 61

yellow
s
START TRACKING
YOUR SEO SUCCESS
pages

Take your search engine

optimization to the next level
and find out how many leads
and customers your SEO
efforts are reeling in. Get
The world of search began a long time ago. Where we once upon a time
a free demo of HubSpot’s
used Yellow Pages as our search tool of choice, we’ve now transitioned to
sofware to find out!
search engines.

And after reading through each chapter in this guide, you should have a
start-to-finish understanding of every aspect of search engine optimization.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that all this won’t come together with a
snap of a finger!

Tackle one chapter at a time. Start by understanding what SEO involves and
what it takes. Then work on on-page SEO until it’s fully integrated into your
efforts. After that, you can expand on your SEO strategy with off-page tactics
http://bitly.com/HubSpot-Demo
and truly start seeing the full picture come together for success.

Happy optimizing!
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