Optimizer Games: Tywin Lannister's SEO Strategy

Any experienced optimizer will say that the search engine is similar to the battlefield. Sites are fighting with algorithms, filters and competitors for the cherished place in the Top. Not everyone can survive in this fight, and only the best can win and hold the lead. In a brutal game, where rivals compete in deceit and ingenuity, and one mistake may cost the search engines, successful website promotion requires a strategy worthy of Tywin Lannister himself.

Search the Marketing Specialist Take the Sake Katerina Ivanova will tell about all the stages of preparation and conduct of battle, so that your SEO battle does not end in disgraceful capitulation. The strategy will determine the answers to three main questions: what, with whom and where will we fight?

What are we going to fight?

"Some battles are won with spears and swords, others with feathers and ravens."

To begin with, we will define the initial state of the armed forces - the category of the ward site.
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1) The site is under development - an ideal weapon in the hands of an experienced commander. The victorious army of the Lannisters, ready to conquer the Iron Throne.

How do we win?

• We collect the most complete semantic core, divide into groups.
• We think over the structure of the site, specify what pages are needed for all groups of requests.
• We create meta tags and write them on all pages of the site.
• We upload indexing files (robots.txt and sitemap.xml) to the site.
• Having placed the beta version of the site (beta.site.ru), we check the validity of the html layout (using the validator.w3.org service).
• We make the correct URL.
• We develop several scenarios of user behavior based on the portrait of Central Asia, we conduct testing.
• Add to the site elements of communication with visitors (the ability to comment, share and evaluate materials).
• We make the TOR for writing content using key queries.
• We make TK on a micromarking of data.
• We think over the elements of the natural internal linking and draw up the TK for its implementation.
• We make the TK for the placement and configuration of web analytics systems.

After careful preparation:

• We register the site in Yandex and Google Webmasters;
• Analyzing competitors;
• We increase the reference mass;
• We follow the reaction of the search engine to the new site.

Initially optimized resource has all the chances to take the necessary positions with a well-implemented strategy. The age of the site is no longer a hindrance: now we see both old and new resources in the Top.

Underwater rocks
The problem may be the reference mass (especially in highly competitive topics). Despite Yandex’s anti-reference algorithm Minusinsk, in many topics the leading positions belong to sites with large reference masses. And since it is impossible to buy links sharply and much (there is a possibility of falling under the filter), have patience and buy only high-quality links. We recommend promoting young sites by low-frequency queries, for which internal optimization and several links are enough.

2) During protracted wars, neutral parties often enter the arena who decide to join the struggle for power. In the world of SEO wars, the new site becomes such a force (never optimized by anyone) . The strategy of conquest is similar to the first - the exception is that the content and structure already exist. As long as the site receives crumbs of organic traffic, you can make adjustments without large military losses.

3) An adult site that someone has once worked with is like a defeated army: it may surrender, but it will not play for a long time according to your rules.

Identify weaknesses:

• Problem 1 : the site in the Top across the semantics, but not as much traffic as we would like.
  Solution : we study the demand in the category in order to understand how much traffic direct competitors receive. Then we study the semantic core: if it is incomplete, we work out the semantics and move on.
• Problem 2 : with demand and semantics everything is fine, with positions - not very.
  Solution : we conduct a comprehensive audit. We study the current positions of the site in order to understand which moments in the old strategy worked well and which ones stoked the site. The result is a list of improvements for collaborators.

To alter someone else's work and to understand the strategy of another optimizer is a thankless task, so do not expect instant results. Often, in the first months of improvements, the existing traffic sags - this is the price that has to be paid for the mistakes of the past. Warn the customer.

How do we win?

• We study the demand.
• We analyze the semantic core.
• We conduct an audit of the site and identify shortcomings.
• We make a list of improvements based on the audit.
• Gradually implement edits.
• We carry out the analysis of competitors.
• We track changes in positions with the introduction of adjustments.

4) The site under the search engine filter is a difficult case even for an experienced general. This is an embittered rogue army, ready at any moment to turn into an army of the living dead.

First, let's figure it out: is the site really under the filter? It happens that an unscrupulous optimizer writes off the flaws of their work on the filter. If the site is really imposed sanctions, the dispatch will receive a dispatch from the search engine with instructions for correcting the situation. Then we clean everything that was reprimanded. Keep in touch with the representatives of search engines, feel free to ask clarifying questions and follow the recommendations.
Important : proceed to a new optimization only after removing the filter!



Each army has features that define its essence. Search engine promotion is a type of site .
1) An information resource (electronic media, a blog, a forum) can be compared with a resident of the north: to survive in the harsh conditions of a long winter, he has to prove his uniqueness and utility.

How do we win?

• When collecting the semantic core, we focus on information requests.
• We are developing a unique TK that journalists and copywriters must perform.
• We are preparing a template by which meta tags will be built for each page.
• Writing a content plan with a minimum number of articles that allows you to attract a quick-turn robot.
• We focus on the quality and uniqueness of the content.
• We encourage users to share content, comment or rate it.
• Regularly we analyze indicators of refusals, depth and time spent by the user on a site, modifying landing pages.
• We track the number of pages in the index.

2) The standard commercial site or online store is a typical southerner who grew up among luxury and wealth under the hot sun of high demand.

How do we win?

• We compose a semantic core of commercial queries containing the words “buy”, “price”, “order”.
• Create a blog or news section for informational requests. When grouping semantics, separate commercial and informational requests: in no case should they lead to identical pages.
• We are improving user interaction points and conversion paths (for example, filling out forms).

The semantic core - military power, which optimizers conquer the vastness of search engines:

• high-frequency queries - SEO artillery: able to unleash a large-scale battle, but not very targeted;
• mid-range requests - infantry: reliable force, which will ensure the preservation of positions;
• low-frequency inquiries - cavalry: operates in the most difficult conditions - with high competition and small budgets.

Regardless of the type or type of resource, you will definitely have to work out semantics. Choosing tactics:

1. Work with the pool of mid-queries. The right strategy for sites that have once been promoted and have a certain level of trust in search engines. We focus on the main page and the main services page.
2. To advance on low-frequency queries, internal optimization and work with behavioral factors are usually enough. But be prepared to create a large number of landing pages for individual requests. Keep in mind: this strategy does not bring a lot of traffic, but this traffic is definitely targeted.
3. Mixed strategy. Do not forget about the combination: we collect the most complete semantic core, we start with optimization for LF and MF queries, group them correctly and in detail, create pages for them. For RF requests, it is better to create separate pages: 1 request = 1 page. Correct linking is important, in which links from a page with LF and MF queries lead to pages with HF queries. LF and MF requests can get to the Top due to good internal optimization and behavioral factors, HF requests require high-quality external optimization.

Important : when grouping search queries for relevant pages, in no case do not mix query types and do not add keywords not related to your activity or region of work! The promotion strategy directly depends on the class of requests (informational, transactional, geo-dependent, geo-dependent, etc.), region and subject matter with which you work.

"Gold benefits, but wars are won with iron."

With this phrase Tywin Lannister clearly indicates the difference between the main and secondary forces in an SEO battle. Of course, the budget affects the strategy, but even if you are not as rich as Lannister, the chances of winning remain. Remember the firepower of the semantic core and start with the promotion of low-frequency queries: they do not need a large number of links, although they will require the cost of copywriters. With small budgets it is difficult to promote a large semantic core - concentrate only on the most conversion and profitable services or products.

Who will we fight with?

"When your enemies challenge you, you must meet them with steel and fire."

Enemies should know better than friends. The Council, which never failed Tyvin Lannister, is useful to optimizers.
Opponents in SEO are not marketing competitors, but sites that are in the Top 10 Yandex and Google according to your key requests. It is the strategies of top competitors that determine the next steps.

What intelligence do we use?

• List of key requests. A number of services ( megaindex.ru , pr-cy.ru , similarweb.com , spywords.ru ) allow parsing the semantics of competitors. Additionally, you can go through the pages of the site, see which entries are used in the texts and headings, which queries are indicated in the keywords tags. Based on this data, we get an additional core for our site.
• Site structure: main sections, information on the main page, content on key pages.
• Content: we analyze the number of occurrences of key queries in texts, their volume, used synonyms and word forms.
• Meta tag structure.
• Linking methods.
• Ways of communication with site visitors.
• Making snippetov.
• Reference weight: quantity, anchor, rate of purchase links.
• Traffic competitors: predict how much traffic you can get. We read into competitive texts, constantly analyze and build theories: why these sites are on the top places?

Where are we going to fight?

"Why kill ten thousand people on the battlefield is noble, and a dozen at the dinner table is not?"

In SEO terms, the promotion algorithms in Winterfell, St. Petersburg and Perm are different. A good example is last year's talk about the cancellation of the reference mass in the ranking. While Moscow sites were falling, the link factor continued to work in the regions.
An important role is played by the regional binding of the site. When you work with one city, it is enough to indicate the address, phone number in the contact information, and make a regional binding in Yandex.Webmaster. For promotion throughout the country or in several cities, in addition to specifying contact information about the offices in these cities, you must have the number 8,800 and registration in Yandex.Catalog is desirable.

The golden rule of the optimizer commander: combine strategies, select tactics, but do not forget that each site is unique in its subject matter and requires an individual approach. Every time before starting work, it would not be superfluous to ask yourself: what would Tywin Lannister do?