News SEO: How to Take Down a Server of a Big Media Website

Elections or sports championships are among the most searched topics on Google in Slovakia. Learn about the award-winning SEO strategy that helped the news website www.sme.sk win these kinds of events in organic search for the last couple of years. This presentation was part of my appearance at SEO Zraz 2020.

Transcript

1. How to Take Down a Server of a Big Media Website
3. Too Much SEO
4. Mikulas Prokop Freelance SEO Consultant Blog: www.mikulasprokop.com/blog/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikulasprokop/ Twitter: twitter.com/mikulasprokop Email: sayseo@mikulasprokop.com
5. Big News Events
7. Why bother with SEO?
8. The Ice Hockey World Championships 2015-2017 2015 2016 2017
9. The Ice Hockey World Championships 2015-2018 + 1 700 % 2015 2016 2017 2018
10. The Ice Hockey World Championships 2015-2019 + 134 % 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
11. Doing SEO = doing better content
12. 5 things you should know 1. know your time 2. know your topic 3. know your SERP 4. know your assets 5. know your weak spots
13. Know your time
14. Traditional SEO
15. News Events SEO
16. 3 stages
17. Before
18. During
19. After
20. “ User intent & SERP is changing at every stage of the event.
21. Keyword: “presidential election 2019” Date Candidates Preferences News After During Before How Where Exit Polls Live results Results Maps Numbers
22. Start early • Create the event section and supporting pages at least half a year before the event • Create as much content as possible in advance • Test your content before the main event
23. Know your topic
24. Read & learn
26. Source: Sitebulb
27. Imagine all the content formats! • news article • video article • interview • podcast • static event page • homepage • live results • live commentary • entities • infographics • graphs • images • debates • guides • results • glossary
28. Target every topic that relates to the event. Use all the forms and formats that fit the SERP. “
29. Know your SERP
30. Two years ago, I barely looked at SERP. Now, I am looking there most of the time. “
34. Different users want different types of content. Repurpose your content as much as possible. Target every user/content preference. “
37. When your domain authority is high enough, keyword cannibalization is not an issue. It’s an opportunity. “
38. Mobile SERP looks different
39. Know your assets
40. Take the full advantage of your domains, sub- domains, and content that already exists. “
41. Internal links are huge!
42. Cross-domain navigation
43. Site-wide navigation
44. Site-wide widgets
45. Section-wide widgets
46. Entities
47. Articles
48. Know your weak spots
49. One week after the event, you don’t remember a lot of what you did/saw. “
50. Thorough reporting • Take notes before, during and after the event • There is always room for improvement • Don’t just report the data, learn from the data • What was working the last year, doesn’t have to work the next
51. 5 things you should know 1. know your time 2. know your topic 3. know your SERP 4. know your assets 5. know your weak spots
52. Award Winning Strategy Digital PIE • Digital PIE 2019 (winner) • Digital PIE 2020 (winner) European Content Awards • Media / Publishing Content Campaign of the Year (winner) • Pan European Content Campaign of the Year (finalist) • Content Strategy of the Year (finalist) • Low Budget Content Campaign of the Year (finalist) European Search Awards • Best Low Budget Campaign (finalist) • Most Innovative Campaign (finalist) Global Digital Excellence Awards • Global Organic Content Campaign of the Year (finalist) Global Search Awards • Best Low Budget Campaign (finalist) • Most Innovative Campaign (finalist)
53. sayseo@mikulasprokop.com