tag were the highest correlated factors, in fact with correlations of .12 they could be considered somewhat if not hugely significant.
While these factors probably are not implemented within the algorithm, they are good signs of what Google is looking for; quality content, which in many cases means long or at least sufficiently lengthy pages.”
- Mark Collier The Open Algorithm
This could be attributed longer, quality content earning more links. John Doherty examined the relationship between the length of blog posts on SEOmoz and the number of links each post earned, and found a strong relationship.
10. Content Qualities You Can Bank On
If you don’t focus on word count, how do you add quality “depth” to your content?
SEOs have written volumes about how Google might define quality including metrics such as reading level, grammar, spelling, and even Author Rank. Most is speculation, but it’s clear Google does use guidelines to separate good content from bad.
My favorite source for clues comes from the set of questions Google published shortly after the first Panda update. Here are a few of my favorites.
11. LDA, nTopic, and Words on the Page
Google is a machine. It can’t yet understand your page like a human can, but it’s getting close.
Search engines use sophisticated algorithms to model your sentences, paragraphs, blocks, and content sections. Not only do they want to understand your keywords, but also your topic, intent, and expertise as well.
How do you know if your content fits Google’s model of expectations?
For example, if your topic is “Super Bowl Recipes,” Google might expect to see content about grilling, appetizers, and guacamole. Content that addresses these topics will likely rank higher than pages that talk about what color socks you’re wearing today.
Words matter.
SEOs have discovered that using certain words around a topic associated with concepts like LDA and nTopic are correlated with higher rankings.
Virante offers an interesting stand alone keyword suggestion tool called nTopic. The tools analyzes your keywords and suggests related keywords to improve your relevancy scores.
12. Better than LDA - Poor Man's Topic Modeling
Since we don’t have access to Google’s computers for topic modeling, there’s a far simpler way to structure your content that I find far superior to worrying about individual words:
Use the keyword themes you created at the beginning of this blueprint.
You’ve already done the research using Google’s keyword tool to find closely related keyword groups. Incorporating these topics into your content may help increase your relevancy to your given topic.
Example: Using the Google Algorithm project cited above, we found during keyword research that certain keywords related to our theme show up repeatedly, time and time again. If we conducted this research today, we would find phrases like “Penguin SEO” and “Panda Updates” frequently in our results.
Google suggests these terms via the keyword tool because they consider them closely related. So any content that explored “Google Algorithm Change” might likely include a discussion of these ideas.
Note: This isn't real LDA, simply a way of adding relevant topics to your content that Google might associate with your subject matter.
13. Design Is 50% of the Battle
If you have any money in your budget, spend it on design. A small investment with a designer typically pays outsized dividends down the road. Good design can:
Lower bounce rate
Increase page views
Increase time on site
Earn more links
Establish trust
… All of which can help earn higher rankings.
“Design doesn’t just matter, it’s 50% of the battle.”
-Rand Fishkin
Dribbble.com is one of our favorite source of design inspiration.
Architecture
Here’s the special secret of the SEO Blueprint: you’re not making a single page to rank; you’re making several.
14. Content Hubs
Very few successful websites consist of a single page. Google determines context and relevancy not only by what’s on your page, but also by the pages around it and linking to it.
The truth is, it’s far easier to rank when you create Content Hubs exploring several topics in depth focused around a central theme.
Using our “Super Bowl Recipes” example, we might create a complete section of pages, each exploring a different recipe in depth.
15. Linking the Hub Together
Because your pages now explore different aspects of the same broad topic, it makes sense to link them together.
Your page about guacamole relates to your page about nachos.
Your page about link building relates to your page about infographics.
Your page about Winston Churchill relates to major figures of World War II.
It also helps them to rank by distributing PageRank, anchor text, and other relevancy signals.
16. Find Your Center
Content Hubs work best with a “hub” or center. Think of the center as the master document that acts as an overview or gateway to all of your individual content pages.
The hub is the authority page. Often, the hub is a link bait page or a category level page. It’s typically the page with the most inbound links and often as a landing page for other sections of your site.
For great example of Hub Pages, check out:
CopyBloggers Magnetic Headlines
SEOmoz's Learn SEO
Amazon’s author pages (this one about Stephen King)
On-Page Optimization
17. Master the Basics
You could write an entire book about on-page optimization. If you’re new to SEO, one of the best ways to learn is by using SEOmoz’s On-page Report Card (free, registration required) The tool grades 36 separate on-page SEO elements, gives you a report and suggestions on how to fix each element. Working your way through these issues is an excellent way to learn (and often used by agencies and companies as a way to teach SEO principals)
Beyond the basics, let’s address a few slightly more advanced tactics to take advantage of your unique keyword themes and hub pages, in addition to areas where beginners often make mistakes.
18. Linking Internally for the Reasonable Surfer
Not all links are created equal (One of the greatest SEO blog posts ever written!) So, when you interlink your internal pages within your content hub together, keep in mind a few important points.
Links from inside unique content pass more value than navigation links.
Links higher up the page pass more value than links further down.
Links in HTML text pass more weight than image links.
When interlinking your content, it’s best to keep links prominent and “editorial” – naturally link to your most important content pages higher up in the HTML text.
19. Diversify Your Anchor Text - Naturally
If Google’s Penguin update taught us anything, it’s that over-thinking anchor text is bound to get us in trouble.
When you link naturally and editorially to other places on the web, you naturally diversify your anchor text. The same should hold true when you link internally.
Don’t choose your anchor text to fit your keywords; choose your anchor text to fit the content around it.
Practically speaking, this means linking internally with a mix of partial match keyword and related phrases. Don’t be scared to link occasionally without good keywords in the anchor – the link can still pass relevancy signals. When it comes to linking, it’s safer to under-do it than over-do it.
Spouce: Google's SEO Starter Guide
20. Title Tags - Two Quick Tips
We assume you know how to write a compelling title tag. Even today, keyword usage in the title tag is one of the most highly correlated on-page ranking factors that we know.
That said, Google is getting strict about over-optimizing title tags, and appears to be further cracking down on titles “written for SEO.” Keep this in mind when crafting your title tags
I. Avoid boilerplates
It used to be common to tack on your business phrase or main keywords to the end of every title tag, like so:
Plumbing Supplies – Chicago Plumbing and Fixtures
Pipes & Fittings – Chicago Plumbing and Fixtures
Toilet Seat Covers – Chicago Plumbing and Fixtures
While we don’t have much solid data, many SEOs are now asserting that “boilerplate” titles tacked on to the end of every tag are no longer a good idea. Brand names and unique descriptive information is okay, but making every title as unique as possible is the rule of the day.
II. Avoid unnecessary repetition – Google also appears (at least to many SEOs) on what’s considered the lower threshold of “keyword stuffing.”
In years past it was a common rule of thumb never to repeat your keyword more than twice in the title. Today, to be on the safe side, you might be best to consider not repeating your keywords more than once.
21. Over-Optimization: Titles, URLs, and Links
Writing for humans not only gets you more clicks (which can lead to higher rankings), but hardly ever gets you in trouble with search engines.
As SEOs we're often tempted to get a "perfect score" which means exactly matching our title tags, URLs, inbound anchor text, and more. unfortunately, this isn't natural in the real world, and Google recognizes this.
Diversify. Don’t over-optimize.
22. Structured Data
Short and simple: Make structured data part of every webpage. While structured data hasn’t yet proven to be a large ranking factor, it’s future-facing value can be seen today in rich snippet SERPs and social media sharing. In some verticals, it’s an absolute necessity.
There’s no rule of thumb about what structured data to include, but the essentials are:
Facebook Open Graph tags
Twitter Cards
Authorship
Publisher
Business information
Reviews
Events
To be honest, if you’re not creating pages with structured data, you’re probably behind the times.
For an excellent guide about Micro Data and Schema.org, check out this fantastic resource from SEOGadget.
Building Links
23. The 90/10 Rule of Link Building
This blueprint contains 25 steps to rank your content, but only the last three address link building. Why so few? Because 90% of your effort should go into creating great content, and 10% into link building.
If you have a hard time building links, it may be because you have these numbers reversed.
Creating great content first solves a ton of problems down the line:
Good content makes link building easier
Attracts higher quality links in less time
Builds links on its own even when sleeping or on vacation
If you’re new to marketing or relatively unknown, you may need to spend more than 10% of your time building relationships, but don’t let that distract you from crafting the type of content that folks find so valuable they link to you without you even asking.
24. All Link Building is Relationships - Good & Bad
This blueprint doesn't go into link building specifics, as there are 100's of ways to build quality links to every good project. That said, a few of my must link building resources:
Jon Cooper's Complete List of Link Building Strategies
StumbleUpon Paid Discovery
Citation Labs
Promoted Tweets
Ontolo
eReleases - Press releases not for links, but for exposer
BuzzStream
Paddy Moogan's excellent Link Building Book
These resources give you the basic tools and tactics for a successful link building campaign, but keep in mind that all good link building is relationship building.
Successful link builders understand this and foster each relationship and connection. Even a simple outreach letter can be elevated to an advanced form of relationship building with a little effort, as this Whiteboard Friday by Rand so graciously illustrates.
25. Tier Your Link Building... Forever
The truth is, for professionals, link building never ends. Each content and link building campaign layers on top of previous content, and the web as a whole like layers of fine Greek baklava.
For example, this post could be considered linkbait for SEOmoz, but it also links generously to several other content pieces within the Moz family, and externally as well; spreading both the link love and the relationship building as far as possible at the same time.
SEOmoz links generously to other sites: the link building experience is not just about search engines, but the people experience, as well. We link to great resources, and build links for the best user experience possible. When done right, the search engines reward exactly this type of experience with higher rankings.
For an excellent explanation as to why you should link out to external sites when warranted, read AJ Kohns excellent work, Time to Long Click.
One of my favorite posts on SEOmoz was 10 Ugly SEO Tools that Actually Rock. Not only was the first link on the page directed to our own SEO tools, but we linked and praised our competitors as well.
Linkbait at its finest.
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