WordCamp SF 2011: 26 Hot Tips for SEO in the Panda Age

Now up at WordCamp SF 2011:SEO (search engine optimization). According to speaker Sujan Patel, “in 2011, SEO is more than just optimizing page titles and a few plugins; it’s about having the right site architecture, social signals, domain authority, site speed and much more.” His presentation will provide tips on how to drive traffic and get readers to your blog including the best plugins for SEO and Social Media. He also will talk about how to implement SEO, such as keyword research and “social signals that affect rankings & social media optimization for WordPress.” By following his tips,  he says you’ll turn your WordPress site into a traffic driving machine.

“Panda” is the latest way that Google is trying to keep the quality sites at the top of the page and the scraper, scammer sites on the bottom–or off the page! So how do you get to the top of the page? And how to you avoid getting eaten by a panda?

1. Keyword research: do it. ID keywords & use them. You can find them from Google adwords and there’s some tools you can pay for too.

2. Keep in mind the concept of “The Long Tail’ which means instead of using “shoes” as a tag get specific about what kind of shoes you offer that someone might be searching for.

3. You want to be in “The Golden Triangle” so that when someone looks at a Google search, you’re in the top triangle of the page.

4. Slingshot’s research says you need to be in the Top 10 to get any real Google traffic so that’s where you want to be.

5. Good Content is King

6. You need good content and site structure.

7. Don’t make any page more than three clicks away from the home page.

8. Make sure your site isn’t diluted so stop using tags. (Huh? No time for questions on this unfortunately!)

9. Make sure all your links work.

10. Offer fresh content; be careful not to duplicate your content in similar posts.

11. Be careful about having ads and affiliate links because this will reduce your traffic.

12. Irrelevant linking or link exchanges can lower your Google page placement.

13. Remove low quality pages–cut off the dead wood.

14. Write: 30+ list post; 30 and above is the magic number!

15. Use Infographics:

16.  Guest Blog: get exposure and drive traffic to your site plus links

17. Less Content–remove that which has low value

18. Build Relationships by commenting on other people’s blogs which can lead to a new reader, links, guest blogs etc

19. Write about the Top Blogs in An Area

20. SEO plugins he recommends that can help: Yoast, RSS Footer so if people scrape your content you get the link, SEO Smart Links, Google XML Site Maps, SEO Friendly Images, W3 Total Cache, and a few more…have helped him on the sites he’s worked on.

21. Write: 30+ list post; 30 and above is the magic number! (I tried to come up with 30 for this blog post; I probably could have come up with more but i didn’t want to renumber them all!)

22. Use Infographics:

23. Guest Blog: get exposure and drive traffic to your site plus links

24. Less Content–remove that which has low value

25. Build Relationships by commenting on other people’s blogs which can lead to a new reader, links, guest blogs etc

26. Write about the Top Blogs in An Area

About the Speaker:
Sujan Patel is an intrinsically motivated entrepreneur. Sujan, with more than 10 years of Internet marketing experience, is the founder and president of the SEO consulting agency Single Grain. Before starting Single Grain, Sujan developed and managed several successful in-house SEO departments and teams for multiple companies. Sujan knows the “ins and outs” of Internet marketing including SEO, social media marketing, and link building. With his knowledge and experience, Sujan increases organic rankings, traffic, brand awareness and ROI for his clients.