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Michael de Beer
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SEO & site migrations

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Technical SEO, keyword research and site evaluations from someone who has done SEO for Disney, Universal Orlando, Visa and Nissan.

SEO is a marketing discipline, not a technical one

Most product research happens online, anonymously, and most buyers start it with a search engine. Buyers have little interest in sales calls until they choose to start the conversation. If they can’t find you while they research, you aren’t in the running.

Where I’ve done SEO

  • Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online
  • Universal Orlando Resort
  • ZulualphaKilo (agency)
  • TBWA Toronto (agency)
  • The Dan Network, worldwide (agency)
  • TheDigiblender

What I bring

  • SEO plans for many successful campaigns, for desktop and mobile, including landing page optimization for Facebook and Google advertising, and local search optimization
  • A web development and site architecture background, which gives me a deeper understanding of SEO and SEM: sitemaps, tracking, title and keyword optimization, referrals, link popularity, rankings and saturation
  • Advising stakeholders, developers, designers and copywriters so every campaign is built to rank
  • Responsibility for all of SEM, both SEO and PPC, against clients’ visibility and ROI goals
  • Ongoing research into search algorithm changes, rank monitoring and keyword research with tools such as Moz, Ahrefs, Raven, SpyFu and WordTracker
  • Presenting to clients, acting as the day-to-day contact and teaching stakeholders about search strategy

At Disney

  • Advised every group within Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online, including Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Weddings, Disney Meetings, Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Institute, on improving brand objectives and ROI through higher conversion rates, amplification and growth across channels
  • Used Disney’s website management platform to analyze data from Adobe Analytics (Omniture), Google Analytics, Search Console, YouTube and Facebook Insights, to improve performance and spot trends and issues
  • Ran a test of Google authorship for the bloggers on the platform. Based on historical data, ongoing optimization and weekly monitoring, it significantly improved click-through rates for every blogger who took part, and the results were shared across Disney.
  • Helped Disney Gift Card grow its digital presence, from website optimization and blogging to social engagement and mobile
  • Ran weekly meetings with the Disney Institute, Disney Meetings and Disney Weddings to plan, execute and analyze optimization work, and built SEO best practice into the process for developers and project managers

Technical SEO

Technical SEO makes sure a site works well for crawlers and visitors alike. I work on site architecture, URL and folder naming, navigation, CMS setup, page templates and code, indexing and geo-targeting.

Search engines reward sites that people respect, and the way to earn respect is through useful information, clear communication and high-quality backlinks. If you write something fantastic and nobody hears about it, Google doesn’t care either. SEO gives your content volume. Today that means a fast, mobile-friendly, keyword-optimized page (headings, titles and so on), connected to social channels, with content other people find compelling.

Competitive keyword analysis and page optimization

I use BrightEdge, Raven, Ahrefs and Moz to do the heavy lifting, and look for:

  • Page errors
  • Duplicate titles and tags
  • Keywords that aren’t being used
  • Meta descriptions that don’t match the brand or the page
  • Keywords competitors beat us on, and why
  • Geographic metrics, cross-referenced with analytics, to make sure we target the right keywords in the right areas

Then I turn the findings into a plan:

  • Focus on outcomes, vision, goals and measurable metrics
  • Build in knowledge of the brand, its personality and voice
  • Identify micro-segments of the audience, the communities they belong to, how they behave there and who influences them
  • Assess the existing site and its rankings, and define an action plan
  • Execute, measure and refine social and content programs to build awareness and traffic
  • Monitor and report on paid search metrics, trends, sales and conversions
  • Teach senior management and stakeholders why even basic SEO matters
  • Review creative and copy for keyword opportunities, internal links and meta tags
  • Track rankings, page views, returning visitors and bounce rates, and keep up with ranking factors and algorithm updates

Site evaluation

I evaluate sites on three things: (1) site infrastructure, including code, keywords and tracking; (2) backlink strategy; and (3) influencers, such as social and mobile commitment. I’ve done these evaluations for every site in my portfolio, including Visa.ca, VisaInfinite.ca and the Nissan virtual showroom.

Code

  • Load times and overall infrastructure, checked first in browser developer tools
  • Page titles, menus, image alt text and semantic HTML, including nav, article and footer elements and structured data
  • Headings (H1 to H3), meta descriptions, and internal and external links
  • Every error reported in Search Console, and whether pages load as quickly as possible
  • Code requesting assets that no longer exist, such as legacy images

Keywords

  • Daily keyword research on target markets, watching rising searches by location
  • How the keywords people use to find the site are used across it, from Search Console
  • Content updates to match marketing and keyword goals

Tracking

  • A combined data set from analytics and Search Console, with statistical analysis to project future behaviour and goals
  • Analytics configured with one aim: a positive ROI through conversions, leads and sales

SEO implementation

  • Rebuilt existing sites to current coding standards (layout with divs, not tables) using honest SEO practices
  • Flat directory structures and XML sitemaps
  • A promotion plan built on high-quality new content that earns links from social media, industry insiders and articles
  • Target keywords in file names, directory names and page titles
  • Keyword-rich, accurate body copy with proper heading structure
  • Descriptive alt text on every image
  • Custom error pages, no pop-ups, and the same content for users and search engines
  • Keyword mapping with tools such as Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker, with navigation and pages planned around the results
  • Breadcrumb navigation
  • Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools setup, including sitemap submission
  • Outbound link optimization
  • Google Analytics setup, including goals and funnels

Sites I’ve worked on

Walt Disney World Resort, the Nissan virtual showroom, Visa merchant resources, KPMG Law, Venter Plumbers, Universal Spinners and Dr Mousa.

Moving platforms? A migration is where rankings are most often lost. I plan redirect maps and audit both sites before and after launch. Get in touch.