Technical SEO - An Introduction to Core Aspects of Technical SEO Best-Practise

1. Technical SEO with #DigitalMarketingShow

2. Who dat SEO C hicks? Lisa Myers: Founder & C EO of Verve Search + Founder SEOC hicks.com Nichola Stott Founder & MD of TheMediaFlow + SEO C hicks blogger Hannah Smith Principal C onsultant, Distilled + SEO C hicks Blogger J ackie Hole SEO & PPC C onsultant /Owner 22M + SEO C hicks Blogger J udith Lewis Head of Search, Beyond + SEO C hicks Blogger Bridget Randolph C onsultant , Distilled + SEO C hicks Blogger

3. Technical SEO Elements • C rawling and indexing • C ommon but “lethal” Technical issues • International Domain Strategy • Mobile SEO • Large Site Migration • Structured Data mark-up • Tools we love @SEOC hicks #DigitalMarketingShow

4. C rawling & Indexing Hannah Smith @hannah_bo_banna

5. crawling how search engines discover content image credit

6. indexing how search engines store content image credit

7. if your content is not crawled it will not be indexed

8. if your content is not indexed it will not rank

9. image credit

10. do you have indexation issues?

13. common issues

14. crawl errors image credit

17. poor architecture image credit

18. aim for just 3 to 4 navigation levels

19. so any given page is just 4 or 5 clicks from the homepage

20. duplicate content (or substantially similar content) image credit

21. every page should have unique content

22. or rel=canonical

23. Lisa will explain how…

24. C ommon but “lethal” Technical Issues Lisa Myers @LisaDMyers

25. C anonicalisation C anonicalisation is the process of choosing one URL when there are several choices! C anonical URL = Preferred URL

26. Multiple URLs – Same C ontent

27. Potential Link Dilution

28. Transferring “Link J uice” http://vervesearch.com http://www.vervesearch.com http://vervesearch.com/index.php

29. Increased Link Authority http://www.vervesearch.com = C anonical URL 982 Links

30. How to fix it You have options: - Use 301 (permanent) redirect - C anonical meta tag

31. 301 redirects This is a permanent redirect that: Redirects human visitors Redirects search engine spiders 302 redirects (temporary redirects) on the other hand will ONLY redirect human visitors and not carry “link juice”.

32. C anonical Meta Tag In the HTML of all duplicate URLs insert a code like this: <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.canonicalURLhere.com/” /> This code tells the search engine spiders that all link authority should be allocated to the canonical URL. Does not redirect VISITORS!

33. Nike c clucking bell lucking bell - J UST DO IT!

34. Tools to diagnose • Manually check non www • 301 redirect checker • Use Open Site Explorer to check link values www.opensiteexplorer.com or • MajesticSEO www.majesticseo.com

35. pagination - when 1 becomes 100s

36. Pagination Issues The system of which pages are numbered: An article divided into several pages Forum thread C ategory/group of products

38. Solutions for Pagination Issues Rel=“next” or Rel=“prev” (Google’s official guide to these) Or “View all” page option

39. International Domain Strategy J ackie Hole @J ackieHole

40. International Domain Strategy C onsiderations to International SEO Strategy. • Domain Structure • Server Location • C ountries or Languages? • Local / Global C ontent • Translation / Native Input • Link Building • Regional Design / Usability

41. Domain Names Top Level Domains (TLDs) • www.mywebsite.com gTLD • www.mywebsite.is ccTLD

42. Domain Structure Domain Directories • www.mywebsite.com/en • www.mywebsite.com/jp • www.mywebsite.com/es Pros: One Domain, Link Authority, C ost Cons: Load Speeds, Geolocalisation signals, C omplex

43. Domain Structure Separate TLD’s • www.brandsite.co.uk • www.brandsite.fr • www.brandsite.ca Pros: Local IP, SERP Recognition, Relevancy, Localised branding Cons: Diluted Authority, Increased SEO C osts, Brand C onsistency

44. Domain Structure Subdomains • en.brandsite.com • de.brandsite.com • es.brandsite.com Pros: … Cons: Authority does not flow between subdomains, more work

45. Domain Variations Prevent Future Headaches • Purchase ALL of them • www.brandsite.in taken? • Other variations can hurt your brand and confuse customers www.brand-site.in

46. Markup for Multilingual C ontent hreflang element • Multilingual / Multi-regional • Different C ountry – Same Language • Duplicate C ontent Issues • Serve Appropriate Landing Pages

47. Markup for Multilingual C ontent rel="alternate" hreflang="x“ <link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/en-gb" hreflang="en-gb" /> <link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/en-us" hreflang="en-us" /> <link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com/" hreflang="x-default" /> • http://example.com/en-gb: For English-speaking users in the UK • http://example.com/en-us: For English-speaking users in the USA • http://example.com/: The homepage shows users a country selector and is the default page for users worldwide

48. Hreflang Tools www.themediaflow.com/resources/tools/href-lang-tool/ www.internationalseomap.com/hreflang-tags-generator/

49. International Domain Tips • Make things obvious – one language nav/content • Use robots.txt to block crawling/auto translate • Different Language C ontent on Separate URL • Avoid auto re-direct for language versions • Use Geo-Location Settings in Webmaster Tools • Buy ALL Domains • Tie up Local Info • Server Location

50. Mobile Strategy – Bridget Randolph @BridgetRandolph