Presented at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Social Media Summit, 7/21/15, updated 10/1/15. A presentation exploring the current state of affairs vis a vis Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Areas of exploration include on-page and off-page SEO, the role social media plays, and tips for search-optimizing the leading social media sites. Overview of the current state of App Indexing. Links to many resources are sprinkled throughout.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
the current state of…
Presented to the
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Social Media Summit
7/21/2015; Updated: 10/01/2015
@balpert

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Today’s Stuff
 What does SEO Mean Today?
 Search at SI
 Importance of Personalization
 Old-School Website SEO Still Matters
 New Stuff that Matters
 What Influences Google’s Algorithm? (Moz, 2015)
 Importance of Local
 Discredited Practices
 Structured Data
 Social Media’s Role
 Open Graph Meta Tags are Essential
 Individual Social Networks
 The Next Chapter of Crazy: App Indexing
 SEO Resources

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What does “SEO” mean today?
 Search Engines (SE’s) are smarter than ever.
 Google has worked to defeat tactical SEO, but…
 “Old school” stuff, (titles, text content, links,
URLs, site architecture) still matters.
 Google is about 64% of all engine traffic*
 …Bing, Baidu, Yandex “and the rest” still
account for billions of searches every month.
 There’s lots of new wrinkles to SEO.
* Worldwide desktop share. Google mobile share is > 90%! (source)

4. 4
Search at SI
 In our favor:
 We have great content!
 We have ultra-high domain authority!
 94 out of 100! (moz.com)
 We have one of the strongest brands in the world!
 Brands matter on search engines
 Many sites receive 40-60% of traffic from organic search.
 Social media helps (but maybe not as much as we think).
 Challenges:
 Despite great content, many sites aren’t optimized.
 Some have technical issues such as “duplicate content.”
 Some are too small / unlinked, to break through.

5. Importance of Personalization
 Virtually all search results are personalized now.
 This is true whether or not you are logged into Google, but
especially true if you are.
 SO… there is no standard rank for a given keyword.
 Analyzing rankings for specific keywords is a flawed strategy
anyway!
 Tip: try Chrome’s ‘Incognito’ mode – Shift-Ctrl-N
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6. Old-School Website SEO Still Matters
 Page Title Tags are important:
 They tell an SE what the page is about
 They are the headline for the search listing
 They need to be customized, and short: ~50 characters!
 Meta Description tag helps improve click-through
 Needs to be customized and short (~120 characters)
 Body content – keywords, semantically-related words.
 Links using keywords, from high-authority domains.
 Optimize images with ALT and TITLE tags.
 URLs, site architecture, page structure… all still important.
 Google indicates traditional SEO signals are an important part of the
future of app indexing. (source)
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7. New Stuff That Matters
 Engines are better at understanding content, related words.
 Individual keywords are less important
 New ways to improve the way your search results appear.
 Structured data - “Rich snippets”
 Page speed matters, but what matters more is having relevance reduced for
having a slow site. People expect a page to load in about two secs. (source)
 Mobile-friendly / responsive design is boosted in Google.
 User reviews matter!
 Improved CTR if your Google listing shows high-star reviews
 Social matters, and is more integrated into search results.
 Security - https is better than http
 Technical hurdles (certificates, etc.)
 https://moz.com/blog/seo-tips-https-ssl
 Localized results – Geo-targeting is pretty accurate.
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What Influences Google’s Algorithm?
 Moz 2015 Ranking
Survey
 150 expert opinions
 One-to-ten scale
 “Old school” factors
still rank highest, but
exact keyword
matches are less
influential
 Social ranks lowest,
but shares are impt.
“…The data continues to
show some of the highest
correlations between
Google rankings and the
number of links to a
given page.”

9. Moz Definitions
 Domain-Level, Link Authority Features: Based on link/citation metrics such as quantity of links,
trust, domain-level PageRank, etc. (8.22)
 Page-Level Link Metrics: PageRank, Trust metrics, quantity of linking root domains, links, anchor text
distribution, quality/spamminess of linking sources, etc. (8.19)
 Page-Level Keyword & Content-Based Metrics: Content relevance scoring, on-page optimization of
keyword usage, topic-modeling algorithm scores on content, content quantity/quality/relevance, etc.
(7.87)
 Page-Level, Keyword-Agnostic Features: Content length, readability, Open Graph markup,
uniqueness, load speed, structured data markup, HTTPS, etc. (6.57)
 User Usage & Traffic/Query: Data SERP engagement metrics, clickstream data, Visitor traffic/usage
signals, quantity/diversity/CTR of queries, both on the domain and page level (6.55)
 Domain-Level Brand Metrics: Offline usage of brand/domain name, mentions of brand/domain in
news/media/press, toolbar/browser data of usage about the site, entity association, etc. (5.88)
 Domain-Level Keyword Usage: Exact-match keyword domains, partial-keyword matches, etc. (4.97)
 Domain-Level, Keyword-Agnostic Features: Domain name length, TLD extension, SSL certificate,
etc. (4.09)
 Page-Level Social Metrics: Quantity/quality of tweeted links, Facebook shares, Google +1s, etc. to
the page (3.98)
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10. Importance of Local
 40-50% of Google searches are location-related.
(2011-12 data)
 Google’s ~3.5B searches / day means ~40-50B
local searches / month!
 Correct/consistent “NAP” (name, address, phone) is
critical.
 “Authoritative OneBox” (right) is the grand prize.
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 Appearing in the new
three-listing snack-pack
is critical for businesses,
but not always do-able.
 Organic optimization
plays a large role.

11. On-page signals
Link signals
Business signals
Location signals
Review signals
Social
Mobile
Personali
-zation
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Moz 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors
According to Moz, “Link Signals” and “On-Page Signals
each account for about 20% of local influence.
https://moz.com/blog/local-search-ranking-factors-2015

12. Discredited Practices
 On-page
 Keyword stuffing
 Meta keyword tag
 Spammy comments
 Off-page
 Paid links
 Poor-quality links
 Content farms
 Guest blogging
 Exact match domains
 “cheapairlinetickets.com”
 SEO “gateway” pages
 Flash (doesn’t get indexed)
 Google Penalties are usually applied by algorithm
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Behaving badly means real penalties!

13. Structured Data
 Schema.org metadata provides info SE’s need to understand content,
provide better results.
 Tells the engines what your data means, not just what it says.
 Moz rates schema.org tags as a low-influence ranking factor, but…
 Meta tags improve CTR in search results by displaying enhanced
content.
 Authorship
 "In-depth articles" feature (Article markup)
 Other “Rich Snippets”
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14. Structured Data (cont’d)
 Structured data can be used to mark up:
 Creative work
 Event
 Organization
 Person
 Place
 Product
 Recipes
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 Structured data may help:
 Enhance CTR from search engine results
 Search engines understand your content
 Your content to appear in specialized search results like "in-depth Articles“
 Google Structured Data Testing Tool
SI content is especially relevant to
“in-depth articles”

15. Social Media’s Role
 Google’s Matt Cutts stated there is no
causation of high social metrics and
Google rank (2013).
 I.e., authoritative “social signals" (Facebook likes,
Twitter followers) do not affect rank.
 Do you believe that? Not sure I do.
 Social media matters:
 It encourages links to your content.
 These links may influence rank by helping engines
understand a site’s credibility.
 Bing: “We take into consideration how often a link
has been tweeted or retweeted, as well as the
authority of the Twitter users that shared the link.”
 Social media profiles rank in search engines.
 Google+ does influence search results, but
its influence is believed to be shrinking.
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5 Things You Need to Know About
Social Media & SEO (kissmetrics)

16. Social Media’s Role (cont’d)
 Social networks are search engines too!
 Twitter handles over 2B searches a day. (2015; statisticbrain.com)
 In 2012 Facebook said it got around one billion searches per day.
 In March 2010, YouTube got roughly 3.7 billion searches a month.
 Enhance findability in social networks by:
 Using hashtags effectively
 Properly categorizing images
 Deleting old profiles (they compete with current ones)
 Hashtags can alert you to topics/trends, popular ways people are
following them, that you may be overlooking
 How Hashtags Work on Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, and
Flickr (Ann Smarty on moz.com; 2015)
 How to Rock Hashtags (And Why You Should) (searchenginejournal)
 5 Free and Awesome Tools To Use #Hashtags Wisely (searchenginejournal)
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17. Open Graph meta tags are essential
 Open Graph (OG) tags
(2010) promote integration
between social sites and
your website.
 Allows you to control how
site content appears in
social media posts.
 OG tags can significantly
affect click-through rates
and conversions from
social sites.
 The Open Graph Protocol
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What You Need to Know About Open Graph
Meta Tags for Total Facebook and Twitter
Mastery (kissmetrics)

18. Open Graph meta tags example
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kissmetrics.com

19. Individual Social Networks
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20. Google+
 Not the dominant social network, but cannot be ignored.
 Google+ influences Google's search results:
 For logged-in searchers, pages that have been shared or +1'd by
people you follow may rank higher in your search results (moz.com)
 Those with Google+ accounts can connect them to their published
works to nudge Google search to show authorship next to their pages in
the results (moz.com)
 Tip: Headlines!
 Google+ posts act more like mini blog posts, and every post
needs a headline
 https://moz.com/blog/google-plus-tips-seo
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21. Facebook
 Facebook Page optimization looks like commonsense SEO:
 Titles / headlines
 Descriptions
 URLs
 Filenames
 Tips:
 Choose your Page name carefully
 Create a custom (“vanity”) URL
 Treat the first 18 characters of a post like a meta description
 https://moz.com/blog/7-key-ways-to-optimize-facebook-fan-page-seo
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22. Twitter
 Google has access to twitter’s "firehose“ of tweets (over 6K/minute)!
 Possible influencing factors:
 Follower count
 Hashtags
 Images
 Twitter Cards – custom meta tags
 If Twitter bots can’t find them, they use OG tags
 Tips:
 Choose an optimized handle
 Select an account name carefully
 Optimize the account’s bio
 Initial characters of a tweet may influence indexing
 How the New Twitter Deal Will Impact SEO (2015)
 Top 10 Twitter SEO Tips (2009)
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23. Pinterest
 SEO on Pinterest means moving to the top of their
predictive search platform, Guided Search.
 Tips:
 Optimize your profile, pins, boards for Pinterest and Google search
(incl. name plus your most important keyword).
 Use simple, descriptive names.
 Keyword-optimize your description, while maintaining readability.
 Install “Pin It!” buttons on your site.
 Hashtag support is limited. “They serve no purpose on Pinterest.”
 Use “Rich Pins” – structured data, similar to twitter cards.
 Pinterest SEO: 7 Tips From A Pinterest Engineer (searchengineland)
 Why You Should Care About Optimizing Your Pins (HootSuite blog)
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24. Flickr
 Flickr is already optimized for SEO!
 It doesn’t require you to do a lot to make a photo’s page work
well for SEO.
 Tips:
 Titles, descriptions, other factoids, etc.
 It's unclear if hashtags improve visibility, or how different they
are from traditional tags.
 Link back to your website, and include keywords in the link label.
 These are all Google “nofollow” links, but they are still thought to
be valuable for SEO.
 10 Image Optimization Tips For Local SEO (Bruce Clay)
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25. Instagram
 Instagram allows profiles to be indexed, but not photos.
 Instagram images may appear on Google via 3rd party
Instagram sites/apps, such as http://ink361.com/
 Tips:
 Optimize account names, profiles and descriptions
 Hashtags can increase your following, but use common sense
 Add links, but don’t expect high CTR
 This doesn’t mean Instagram isn’t a valuable way to
promote your content, website and unit!
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26. The Next Chapter of Crazy: App Indexing
 Google and Apple are now “deep-indexing” content within apps:
 Perform a search on a mobile device.
 Results will include web pages and relevant content from within an app.
 Google: indexed app links influence rank for associated Web pages.
 Android: get your app indexed; iOS: enable deep link indexing
 Apple’s new Search API for iOS leverages engagement w/the app.
– “Applebot” can index twitter card, open graph and schema.org tags.
 “Private screens in any app, such as direct messages and user
dashboards, are now theoretically indexable.” (searchengineland)
 SEO is suddenly an important part of the app development process.
 App Indexing: Why It Matters For The Future Of Search
 Searchengineland: App Indexing (topic page)
 App Indexing – the New Frontier - Part I - Apple
 App Indexing – the New Frontier - Part II – Google
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27. SEO Resources
 Search Engine Land - http://searchengineland.com/
 Search Engine Watch - http://searchenginewatch.com/
 Moz – www.moz.com
 Lunametrics 2015 list of 15 Free SEO Tools
 SEOBook - http://tools.seobook.com/
 SEMRush - http://www.semrush.com/
 Bruce Clay - http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/
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28. Thanks!
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Brian Alpert
Web Analytics & SEM Analyst
Office of the CIO
Smithsonian Institution
@balpert