Enterprise SEO & Content Strategy: STOP THE PAIN

AT REI WE INSPIRE, EDUCATE, AND OUTFIT FOR A LIFETIME OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE AND STEWARDSHIP. Logo © REI© - http://www.REI.com/ Logocopyright copyright REI - http://www.REI.com/

AT REI WE INSPIRE, EDUCATE, AND OUTFIT FOR A LIFETIME OF HEY, THAT’S CONTENT STRATEGY… RIGHT IN OUR MISSION! Logo © REI© - http://www.REI.com/ Logocopyright copyright REI - http://www.REI.com/ OUTDOOR ADVENTURE AND STEWARDSHIP.

AT REI WE VALUE AUTHENTICITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND FRIENDLY EXPERTISE. Logo © REI© - http://www.REI.com/ Logocopyright copyright REI - http://www.REI.com/

WHY? SEOs NEED YOUR HELP. SO DO THEIR CUSTOMERS. SO DO THE SEARCH ENGINES.

WHY? YOU NEED HELP FROM SEOs, TOO. *

YOU JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET!

REALITY: SUSTAINABLE SEO REQUIRES LONGTERM INVESTMENT.

REALITY: SUSTAINABLE SEO REQUIRES LONGTERM INVESTMENT. WE BEGAN INVESTING IN SEO WAY BACK IN 2007.

RANK MUST BE EARNED.

RANK MUST BE EARNED. SPAM CAN’T GET THESE RANKINGS FOR A BRAND NAME SEARCH

AS WELL AS CLICK-THROUGH.

“RICH SNIPPETS” IN SEARCH CAN INCREASE CLICK-THROUGH BY 30% AS WELL AS CLICK-THROUGH.

NOT TO MENTION CONVERSION.

THE STRUCTURED CONTENT DRIVING OUR “RICH SNIPPETS” ORIGNAL, BRAND-DRIVEN PRODUCT INFORMATION WRITTEN BY OUR TEAM OF IN-HOUSE EXPERTS NOT TO MENTION CONVERSION.

WE USED SEO METRICS TO SUPPORT WEB PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

ROBOTS ACT AS OUR PERSONAL WAYFINDING AGENTS.

REALITY: THE GOOGLE KEYWORD TOOL IS NOT AN EDITORIAL DICTATOR.

KEYWORD VOLUME IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EDITORIAL GOVERNANCE.

REALITY: GOOD LINKS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT GOOD EXPERIENCES ARE ESSENTIAL.

NEED TO BUILD LINKS? START BY BUILDING OUT GREAT CONTENT.

REALITY: THIS IS FINALLY NO LONGER TRUE.

…BUT IT DOESN’T HELP THAT LINK SELLERS ARE STILL IN THE INDEX.

REALITY: BELIEVE WHAT YOU LIKE…

REALITY: BELIEVE WHAT YOU LIKE… BUT I’LL BELIEVE THE DATA.

REALITY: BELIEVE WHAT YOU LIKE… BUT I’LL BELIEVE THE DATA. OUR EARLY INVESTMENT IN SEO REALLY PAID OFF!

CONTENT AUDITING Image copyright © GenBug - http://www.flickr.com/photos/genbug/4309890987

PAGE TABLES Image copyright © Brett Jordan - http://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/4514146127

METADATA STRATEGY Image copyright © sarah0s - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahseverson/6245395188

GOVERNANCE Image copyright © Jonathon Colman - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcolman/542403967

GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOLS google.com/webmasters/tools

SIGN UP HERE!

GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOLS google.com/webmasters/tools

GOOGLE RICH SNIPPETS TESTING TOOL google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

GET STARTED HERE! 2. GOOGLE RICH SNIPPETS TESTING TOOL google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

SEOMOZ OPEN SITE EXPLORER opensiteexplorer.org

GET A GREAT TUTORIAL HERE! 3. SEOMOZ OPEN SITE EXPLORER opensiteexplorer.org

SEOGADGET LINKS API EXT. FOR EXCEL seogadget.com/tools/links-api-extension-for-excel

GET GREAT TECH NOTES HERE! 4. SEOGADGET LINKS API EXT. FOR EXCEL seogadget.com/tools/links-api-extension-for-excel

EXCELLENT ANALYTICS excellentanalytics.com

GET A GREAT TUTORIAL HERE! 5. EXCELLENT ANALYTICS excellentanalytics.com

SPLUNK splunk.com

GET A GREAT TUTORIAL HERE! 6. SPLUNK splunk.com

“ WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?”

WHAT CAN SEO AND CONTENT STRATEGY ACCOMPLISH BY WORKING TOGETHER?

REI CASE STUDY: EXPERT ADVICE

GOAL: REPLICATE THE REI INSTORE “GREEN VEST” EXPERIENCE ONLINE STRATEGY: USE CORE VALUES AND EXPERTISE TO ANSWER CUSTOMER QUESTIONS Image copyright © milos milosevic – http://www.flickr.com/photos/21496790@N06

GOAL: REPLICATE THE REI INSTORE “GREEN VEST” EXPERIENCE ONLINE STRATEGY: USE CORE VALUES AND EXPERTISE TO ANSWER CUSTOMER QUESTIONS RESULT: HUNDREDS OF “HOW-TO” ARTICLES ABOUT GEAR, APPAREL & ACTIVITIES

ON-SITE: RE-WROTE <TITLE>s, <META> DESCRIPTIONS FOR REAL PEOPLE REDUCED DUPLICATION, ADDED CANONICAL <LINK> ELEMENTS IMPROVED CROSS-LINKS AND NAVIGATION CREATED AN XML SITE MAP OF ALL CONTENT Image copyright © Dmitry Baranovskiy – http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmitry-baranovskiy/2378867408

OFF-SITE: TRANSFORMED BEST CONTENT INTO USEFUL, ENGAGING INFOGRAPHICS REACHED OUT TO RELEVANT INFLUENCERS AND PUBLISHERS ALIGNED CONTENT WITH EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN OUR STORES EARNED ATTENTION FROM THE MEDIA Image copyright © REI – http://www.REI.com/

PEOPLE: SHARED ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SEO ACROSS MANY DIVISIONS TIED SEO OUTCOMES TO ANNUAL REVIEW TARGETS FOR ALL CREATIVE TEAMS DOCUMENTED SEO STANDARDS, GOVERNED WITH TRAINING Image copyright © nicola.albertini – http://www.flickr.com/photos/nalbertini/4077136093

POSITIVE BRAND MENTIONS FROM LIFEHACKER

POSITIVE BRAND MENTIONS FROM LIFEHACKER AND WIRED

POSITIVE BRAND MENTIONS FROM LIFEHACKER AND WIRED AND LOCAL BUSINESS PRESS

REI MADE IMPLICT EXPERTISE EXPLICIT AND FINDABLE HUNDREDS OF “EXPERT ADVICE” ARTICLES DRIVES HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF NEW PEOPLE TO DISCOVER REI

WE TRANSFORMED THAT CONTENT INTO VISUAL, SHAREABLE DATA AND OUR CREATIVE AND MERCHANDISING TEAMS WERE ENGAGED BY THIS INFORMATION DESIGN CHALLENGE

WE REACHED NEW AUDIENCES WITH EARNED MEDIA CONTENT MARKETING SHOULD BE PART OF EVERY CONTENT STRATEGY! AND YOU SHOULD BE FLUENT IN MARKETING ANALYTICS.

WE LEVERAGED NEW METADATA FORMATS FOR INTEROPERABILITY THESE ARE ACTIVE ACROSS OUR ENTIRE CATALOG, DRIVING TRAFFIC RIGHT WHERE WE WANT IT: OUR PRODUCTS!

WE PROVED OUT THE VALUE OF STRUCTURED INFORMATION WE EVALUATE OUR IN-HOUSE TEAM AGAINST SEO STANDARDS AND SEO HELPED MAKE THE CASE FOR OUR FACETED NAVIGATION SYSTEM

WE HELPED BUILD SKILLS AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS CHANNELS REI IS THE LARGEST OUTDOOR EDUCATOR IN THE UNITED STATES BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE TAUGHT

WE LINKED DATA WITH CONTENT TO AID IN WAYFINDING AND GREW OUR HYPERLOCAL AWARENESS AT THE SAME TIME BY PROVIDING A VALUABLE SERVICE

CONCLUSION AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I’M AN SEO WHO VALUES CONTENT STRATEGY

JONATHON COLMAN PRINCIPAL EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT FOR REI WWW.REI.COM TWITTER @ JCOLMAN LET’S TALK.