SEO Guidelines for the Production of White Papers and Case Studies
If you are responsible for lead generation campaigns at a B2B company, white papers and case studies would always be your best SEO tools.
Assuming that you have already done your keyword analysis, here are some of the things you need to do in order to achieve good SEO results with your white papers and case studies:
1. Try to get your site to contain as many static pages as possible (indexable URLs)
2. Arrange all files in as many directories as you can, do not place them all in the root.
3. Name your directories and your files using your most desired keywords (separate words with underscores)
4. Include your keywords in all Page Titles
5. Include your company name in all Page Titles
6. Do not worry about META tags if you don't know how to add them, your Page Title is your most important tag
7. Include your keywords in H1s, H2, and H3s. Make sure you use these tags!
8. Create a style format where each title of a PDF document is accompanied by a short abstract, as opposed to being a simple link, and use keywords
9. Add both an 'abstract' and a 'summary' component to your white paper template, this will allow you to use your keywords multiple times without annoying your readers
10.Add a 'table of contents' component to your white paper template, this is a great way to repeat your keywords again
11. Add a 'company name' component in the footer of your white paper template and provide your website URL
12. Interlink your site's internal pages as often as you can (e.g. use margins and place "Related Info" boxes with links to other pages on your site)
13. Your links should have your keyword embedded within, do not use “click here”
14. Try to ensure that each page (i.e. each URL) has approximately 500 words on it with your most important keywords repeated 10-12 times per page
15. Make sure all your press releases contain your most important keywords and are published in full on your website
16. Give out your white papers to your partners and customers and try to get them to post it on their websites
17. Add an RSS component to your website and place each white paper there
18. Register your RSS feed in as many RSS directories as possible
19. Convince your management to allow you to distribute your RSS content via PRweb.com or PR.com. Do this in addition to using your company's official PR firm.
20. Use PayPerPost and similar services to earn back links on the cheap (bloggers will publish comments about your company and a link to your website on their blogs; make sure to request permanent links)
Anna Tulchinsky is an <a href="http://www.annatulchinsky.com/">Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization</a> (SEO) expert, specializing in web-based lead generation and sales strategies since 2001. She is the president of annatulchinsky.com, an <a href="http://www.annatulchinsky.com/SEO_Ottawa/Services_SEO_Ottawa.htm">SEO Ottawa</a> firm.
