Knowledge Bites Brandi Brown Tahoe Production House 11.16.2017

Tahoe Production House

The “About” Section Brandi Brown, Entrepreneur - Born and Raised in Lake Tahoe - Went to College in LA at Loyola Marymount University - Worked at Outside Television, Production Manager - Opened TPH in 2011 - Shameless TPH Promotion

Tahoe Production House What Elements make a good Marketing Plan for Small Businesses to help with SEO

Element #1 Photography

Photography SEO •

Pick the right file name for your image

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Make sure image dimension match the image size as displayed

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Reduce file size for faster loading

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Add a caption for easier scanning of the page

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Use an image alt text, title text is optional

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Add OpenGraph and Twitter Card tags for the image

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Use images in your XML sitemaps

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It really helps to add text with the photo.

Photography SEO Social platforms that help a lot with ‘spreading’ your image on the web are obviously Pinterest and Instagram. It also pays to add OpenGraph data to your image.

OpenGraph image tags look something like this: <meta property="og:image" content="http://example.com/photo.jpg" /> Be sure to add at least that one. On a side note: for the recipe, you should use Schema.org markup to improve your photography SEO as well.

Photography SEO EXIF and ImageObject Google is very capable of reading EXIF data.

Google â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;reserves the right to use it as a ranking factorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. So make sure that your EXIF data is optimized for your keyword, or the subject of your photo, as well.

Besides exifData, you can also include things like copyrightHolder and copyrightYear. It will make it easier for search engines to grab that data.

Photography SEO Since images are a big indicator of a webpage’s topic, they carry extra weight with Google.

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Each image on a page has attributes that Google reads:

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Alternate text

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Text nearby the image on the page

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Filename

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Location (top of the page carries more importance)

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Dimensions (larger image is more important)

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File size (compressed images load quickly, so reduce the quality in Photoshop as shown on the right)

Photography SEO EXAMPLE: Google needs to be able to visualize the image and overall context of the page, using the above factors.

Compare the following:

Photo #1 – Not Optimized Filename: DS123.jpg Alt text: Sacramento nature photographer Caption: No caption or text on the page File size: 300KB (slow)

You want to be example #2. In this one, Google will understand the photo without looking at it. You effectively water down this ingredient if your website doesn’t give you access to these factors. For example, Flash sites may not have alternate text or text on the page.

Photo #2 – Optimized Filename: Green-reeds-rivers-edge.jpg Alt text: Green reeds grow near water’s edge along the choppy river Caption: I stopped along the bike trail for this photo File size: 30KB (fast)

Photography SEO Once you know how to optimize images for search, it’s easy to build it into your workflow so all future images will help your pages rank. It’s not worth optimizing old images, since the time to update them outweighs the reward.

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Before uploading an image to your site, rename the file on your computer using 5-7 descriptive keywords, separated by hyphens. You might need a number (like the date) at the end of each one to avoid having duplicate filenames. For example three-tier-white-weddingcake-010113.jpg.

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Compress the image to the smallest possible file size. 30KB-50KB is recommended (that’s 10x smaller than standard). Save images for web and reduce the quality to 60 or 70%. If you use jumbo-size photos on your site, consider shrinking them slightly (600 pixels wide instead of 900). Lots of big images will slow a page and hurt its rank.

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Add alternate text that visually describes the image with detail.

Photography SEO Once you know how to optimize images for search, it’s easy to build it into your workflow so all future images will help your pages rank. It’s not worth optimizing old images, since the time to update them outweighs the reward.

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Add text nearby the image on the webpage (like a caption). Photos are tied to keywords that appear nearby.

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Avoid using multiple photos in the same image file (like a collage).

Element #2 Google Business Virtual 360 Tours

Google Trusted Photographer Google has created a new way for businesses to be seen, based on their â&#x20AC;&#x153;street viewâ&#x20AC;? mapping technology, known as Google Business View. To assist in this effort TPH has certified and trained photographers to capture multiple 360-degree panoramic photo shots of a business or storefront to create an easy-to-use interactive tour that can be seen 24-7, from anywhere in the world.

Google Trusted Photographer Why is Google Maps Business View Important?

Google Maps Business View is the latest organic search product designed to enhance your business in local Google search results. When a potential customer searches for your business by name on Google, they will see the images displayed directly on the search results page in the upper right-hand corner. These panoramic images will also be published on Google+ Local pages, Google Maps and other Google properties and give customers a better sense of the layout, decor and overall experience of your businesses interior using Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Revolutionary Streetview Technology.

Google Trusted Photographer Where will people find my Google Maps Business View tour?

The 360° virtual tour will be added to: •

Google+ Local Business Page

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Viewable in Google Search results

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Appear on Google Maps

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Can be used on your business website, blog and link on Social Networking sites

Element #3 Video SEO

Video SEO One effective, but often overlooked and misunderstood, component for any SEO campaign is video. Video is engaging, informative, and most importantly, rewarded by Google when properly optimized.

If your brand has yet to incorporate video as part of your digital strategy, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proof that video is a powerful marketing tool and can work wonders in the world of SEO.

Video SEO Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Proof that Video is Good for SEO

Video SEO Video Allows You to Tap into the Second Largest Search Engine!

Over 100 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, so there is great potential for your brand to tap into this resource and reach your target audience.

Keep your YouTube videos optimized with catchy titles, descriptions and keywords so the search engine can understand what your video is about and why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relevant.

Video SEO Video Makes Your Brand Stand Out in Google Search â&#x20AC;˘ Google owns YouTube, and the search engine gives well-optimized video content the same authority as written text. The higher the authority of your video, the better it will rank in Google search results for specific keywords. â&#x20AC;˘ Video tags can also be indexed in Google search and are just another piece of meta-data, or searchable data, that Google uses to assign relevance to search results and determine the influence and overall ranking of your video.

Video SEO Video Transcripts Can Be Indexed by Google • Video transcripts are another powerful way to increase your search rankings. Simply transcribe your video script and then place the text directly into the HTML of the page where your video is hosted. It’s highly unlikely your competitors are taking this extra step with their video content, so putting in this extra effort can easily put your brand ahead of the game.

• Creating a video transcript can also generate additional, shareable content for a page. You can highlight quotes or sentences from your video, or turn them into tweets or hooks for additional blog posts. You can also allow visitors to grab snippets of your content to share easily.

Video SEO Videos are Incredibly Easy to Share • Videos are frequently shared on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and Google is paying attention.

• Video content generates social signals (“likes” and “reshares”), and all this sharing can build valuable links back to your page.

• Consider sharing your video content in your blog posts, social media posts, email newsletters, communities like Reddit and Tumblr, and anywhere else your relevant audience may be spending their time. The more exposure you can generate for your videos, the better.

Video SEO As with any content marketing strategy, be sure to measure your video SEO efforts in order to capture your successes and make changes when something’s not working. You should also set a goal for your video campaign. Whether it’s to boost your website’s ranking in search results or lower your bounce rate, having a clear goal in mind will keep your video efforts on the right track.

Element #4 Blogging + Social Media

Blogging Why Blog?

The Benefits of Blogging for Business and Marketing 1) It helps drive traffic to your website.

2) It helps convert that traffic into leads.

3) It helps establish authority.

4) It drives long-term results.

Blogging Best Practices • Search engines love fresh, unique content. How often do the pages on your website change? Probably not very often at all. That’s why you must keep a steady blog filled with new information. A search engine will pull the freshest and most relevant content whenever a search is performed. If your site hasn’t been updated with new information over the course of time, you can bet someone else’s website with a steady blog will rank higher than yours in the results.

• Create a Blogging Schedule / Calendar

Blogging Common Types Of Blog Topic Structure •

Up-to-date overviews about the category, product or service your business (website) is about.

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The search engines want to know that the content in your blog provides informative, up-to-date, relevant content and not “spammy” content

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News stories or timely information about your category, product or service

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Lists (Top Ten Best or Worst)

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Tutorials / How To’s

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Share about your recent experiences and how they relate to your category,

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product or service (include photos/videos)

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Write posts about and link to other interesting articles or blogs

Blogging Tips on writing blogs that are best optimized to help build your organic Search Engine Rankings: •

Unique, Useful, Well-Written Content. Be Engaging. Be informative. Be relevant. Spelling and Grammar Count to Search Engines.

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Incorporate Social Media sharing tools for each blog.

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Generally posts with 600 words are sufficient (though Google recommends up to 1,000 words)

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Don’t forget to add links within your posts to the article, event or story that you are referencing. Link to other areas of your website if it relates to the content within your blog.

Social Media What is Social Media? so·cial me·di·a noun: social media; plural noun: social medias • websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Social Media Examples Apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others.

Social Media

Social Media How do I use Social Media to further my SEO?

â&#x20AC;˘ Tip #1: Look into each social media channel and determine which will work best for your business.

Consider the following important factors with each: The product or service you are offering and the available human and financial resources at your disposal. Social media may be free, but think about the value of your time!

Social Media How do I use Social Media to further my SEO?

â&#x20AC;˘ Tip #2: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sign up for EVERY social media channel because they are new or popular kid on the block.

Determine which is MOST relevant to your business.

Rather be excellent with one or two channels than mediocre at five or six.

Social Media How do I use Social Media to further my SEO?

â&#x20AC;˘ Tip #3: Before deciding which social media channel to be active on, work out a clear and implementable plan.

Many people lose their business focus while becoming social. It has a negative effective on the business due to the time lost trying to come to terms with social media.

A plan really helps you to stay focused.

Social Media How do I use Social Media to further my SEO?

â&#x20AC;˘ Tip #4: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get frustrated. Stick with it. Social media takes time and an investment of your time over a sustained period in order to achieve results.

Social Media Facebook â&#x20AC;˘ This is by far the biggest social media channel, with an estimate of 1.11 billion people using the site each month, 665 million active users each day, and generates up to 645 million local business page views per week, Facebook has proved that its popularity amongst users is here to stay.

Social Media Twitter â&#x20AC;˘ Twitter is full of people with things to say, and you can listen! This social media channel has an estimated 215 million active users. Twitter is meant not so much for friends and family but for people you actually want to communicate with. You may think the 140 character count (or the amount of words you can tweet) is limited, but when used correctly, you can reap the rewards.

Social Media Google Plus â&#x20AC;˘ Google+ has 359 million active users a month â&#x20AC;&#x201C; far from the ghost town it is popularly believed to be. Many see Google+ as a combination of Twitter and Facebook, but its new features makes it a marketing paradise. The Hangouts, +1s and hashtags , if used properly, can result in a fantastic page popularity.

Social Media Pinterist â&#x20AC;˘ This is a tricky social media channel and you should only take it on if you have great images to share concerning your business. Your business can reap the benefits of introducing your products to an estimated 70 million (10 million in the US alone) users on Pinterest, with fabulous backlinks to your website.

Social Media Instagram • If you’re not already aware, Instagram is a photosharing program. What makes Instagram different from other photo-sharing programs is that it’s a free app which can be downloaded onto iPhones and some Samsung and Android devices. It enables users to apply a variety of filters to pictures with a simple press of a button.

Social Media LinkedIn â&#x20AC;˘ Linkedin is the largest social media network for business people and professionals but most small business owners still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have it on their marketing radar.

Business owners are now realizing the value of this site and the opportunities to build relationships and sales leads.

Social Media YouTube â&#x20AC;˘ This social media channel is the most popular video oriented site and has an estimate of over 1 billion unique visitors every month, with over 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.

Social Media

Questions?