Should ebook content be a download or hosted on site for SEO?
-
We have written ebook(s) on subjects of interest to our prospects (B-C market). We have taken many recurring questions asked over the years plus helpful graphics and put into short 12+ page ebooks.
After filling out form to receive ebook- (first name & email on form) for any option below-
Should we:
a) send them to Landing page to download ebook to their desktop?
b) send them e-mail with link to download ebook?
c) send them directly to page on our site with the ebook content?
d) something else?
My thoughts are to do c) which will put content on site, though 'protected' via gate. This way the search engines can crawl the content. However, if that content is not directly reachable through menu will that degrade the importance of that content?
Obviously we want to provide good, helpful information to prospects. We would also love to benefit from that content from a Search point of view if possible.
Anyone have experience with this through A/B test or otherwise?
Thanks,
Steve
-
1) why would so many companies like Hubspot, others require email for content exchange if putting on site would do as well?
Here are two answers:
A) they want to spam you with email and sell your email to everyone on the planet;
B) the value of a sale is enormous, so they would rather have a sale than the ad clicks
Does the type of industry: B-B, vs B-C make a difference in how you would approach or is your answer blanket for all types B-B,B-C?
Publishing for everyone makes more sense for the B-C business because the number of potential visitors is enormous compared to the B-B.
If we go the route of publishing to site (not pdf) does it make a difference whether a 12 page ebook is one long scrolling page or should the content be 'click to read more' which advances to another possibly optimized page? If multiple pages then each page would likely be optimizing for pretty much the same content?
I put a few thousand words on a page but if you have more then I would break it into separate pages. I would break the ebook into chapters or lessons each targeting a different keyword.
Has there been any correlation between top step (main menu) and 2, 3, 4 steps below the main navigation on relevance (with same content) in rankings?
Yes. The deeper you bury the content in your navigation the deeper it will rank in the SERPs. If you want to promote this for traffic, income, links, tweets, signups, I would think that you would be showing it to every person who visits your website. That's what I do when I have something hot, valuable and important. If you fail to do that you lose the opportunity.
-
a different paradigm then i've been hearing.. now i'm thinking more about this.
two things come to mind 1) why would so many companies like Hubspot, others require email for content exchange if putting on site would do as well?
Does the type of industry: B-B, vs B-C make a difference in how you would approach or is your answer blanket for all types B-B,B-C?
If we go the route of publishing to site (not pdf) does it make a difference whether a 12 page ebook is one long scrolling page or should the content be 'click to read more' which advances to another possibly optimized page? If multiple pages then each page would likely be optimizing for pretty much the same content?
Has there been any correlation between top step (main menu) and 2, 3, 4 steps below the main navigation on relevance (with same content) in rankings?
-
a) we potentially loose the opportunity to periodically drip other helpful info over time as we are not requiring name/email for this content. correct?
I think that you are giving up a FLOOD to collect a drip.
My experience has been that I get a LOT more traffic from the SERPs than I can get by collecting emails.
If you publish awesome stuff you can still collect emails... "Sign up for free updates by email".
If we do publish without "gate" then does it make a difference if this page with pdf is part of main/sub navigation or if we exclude it from that and make if available from pages within site?
I would not publish on pdf because they do not perform as well as html pages in the SERPs and they are harder to monetize.
Instead of excluding this from your navigation.. I would be shouting about it on my homepage and every relevant page of my site. Drive as many people into it as you can.
**Does how far a page is from main navigation make a difference in relevance/importance from SEO Point of view? **
Yes. Pages in your main navigation get more linkjuice and often rank better than if they had just one or two links into them.
I would be monetizing this content with ads. They can be adsense, another network, or they can be house ads promoting your own products.
-
So, if we publish the ebook to the site, without a gate (email/name) then:
a) we potentially loose the opportunity to periodically drip other helpful info over time as we are not requiring name/email for this content. correct?
If we do publish without "gate" then does it make a difference if this page with pdf is part of main/sub navigation or if we exclude it from that and make if available from pages within site? does how far a page is from main navigation make a difference in relevance/importance from SEO Point of view?
-
thanks, Patrick. This isn't the formula to Coca Cola or some other highly held secret. If a skilled searcher get's the info without giving name, that's fine. I'm looking to give good content, get ranked for relevant information and with permission drip e-market to gain position of trusted expert in my area by disseminating, hopefully, helpful content.
My main concern is whether not having a direct (stair step) link structure from main menu to protected content will diminsh the relevancy of what i'm trying to rank for...any thoughts on this?
-
I go for D.
Publish the whole thing on your website and link to it from every page of your website... so that anybody anywhere can view it for free at anytime with no limitations.
If this ebook is fantastic then you want everybody everywhere to see it, be amazed, tweet, like, link, emal, share and bookmark. All of that traffic will come to your site and the cycle will start again.
It's like throwing gasoline on a fire.
-
Good questions. First, anything which you want to rank in Google can be found in Google. Take for instance, I sometimes do searches for ebooks of certain topics I want to learn about for example, "how to write an ebook". I'd search "how to write an ebook filetype:pdf" and then I could potentially find direct PDF downloads from URLs and bypass any one looking to collect my email, name, etc. I don't check them all, but some may not have the PDF protected or blocked with a robot.txt file discouraging Google from indexing the page, but some do, yet their PDF can be found through a link, especially in WP sites. So, you raise a question about having your content indexed to aid your SEO efforts, right? If you're going to protect the PDF and want the content indexed then sneaky searchers like myself could find your content, otherwise, put the content on the page and the PDF and let Google index. I'd say majority of the people coming to your page would enter in their info to get the ebook(s).
I would, for the sake of saving your users more clicks and thinking, place the downloadable PDF on the Thank You page. Collect their info and eliminate any further confusion or clicks. "Thank you for taking interest in our ABC ebook. Please click below to download your copy now."
Hope this was a good answer! Cheers - Patrick
-
If we utilize option (c) how valuable do we think the SEO for that content is- IF that content can not be reached thorough the onsite navigation? In other words does brining the content 'further away' from the root domain (and without direct menu access) decrease it's importance/relevancy in search results?
Also: would the 'thank you page' - after form fill- be the page with the pdf document, or would the 'thank you page' have a link button to forward to (access) the content page?
-
Steve,
I second what Dubs states. Option C is your best option as you accomplish a lot with this strategy assuming you are protecting the page with a form submission to gain access. You capture their information, you are protecting your content on the site, provide them the downloadable PDF and could track both submissions and clicks to download in Google Analytics as "Goals".
Patrick
-
Using option B allows you to gather info on them before the receive access to ebook. However, if you were to block access to the page, option c would work to still gather user info. You can also track the pdf's off the landing page but this allows the user to have a local copy and 'share' your content without registering their information.
I would personally recommend option C as long as it's a hidden or protected page.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Comprehensive content and ranking
Hello, I was watching a whiteboard friday saying the more comprehensive your content is the better you will rank,.. but I don't entirely agree with that because to me it means that in order to beat your competitor you need to write more than they do (or answer questions that people are asking typing this query), that doesn't sound right, does it ? For example it means that for a query like "Italy bike tours" if you have on your page just the name of the different destinations your offer and your competitor has more destinations + the price of the trip listed and the level or each trip, he will rank in front of you ? I have a major doubt on that but maybe I am wrong... My guess is that in an imaginary world where your page has the the same exact PR as your competitor if you are more comprehensive you will rank higher but only is that case, isn't it ? Thank you,
Whiteboard Friday | | seoanalytics0 -
How to Build SEO Focused Pages?
Your help please as with so much kicking around about what is best practice us poor novices havent got a chance to keep up! My site www.over50choices.co.uk focuses on personal finance for the over 50s and one of the product sets is Funerals: I have c40 pages on the subject and 25 pages with the word "funeral" (eg funeral plans, how to arrange a funeral, funeral directors, funeral planning etc) in the URL, Title & H1 Tag - individually each page explains specific elements of the "process" and solutions to them eg purchasing a "prepaid funeral plan" all of which were optimised for specific Keywords (because thats what i was advised was best practice 6 months ago). Am I correct in thinking that in the new world ie post Hummingbird et al, that a better strategy is to use the "product home page" as the core landing page, with sufficient content to summarise what's on offer, covering all of the individual subjects from each pages in an umbrella/topic kind of way? And to still retain the linked pages from the core landing page, as they will contain the detailed information? Many thanks Ash
Whiteboard Friday | | AshShep10 -
Threatening SEO practice
Hi all, We have just taken on a site that has had SEO done for 3 years by a different company, but now that company is threatening the client to ruin their site with bad links, and get their site banned. I understand through Webmaster tools that you can monitor backlinks, and file a reconsideration request, but is there any other non-time consuming way of stopping this to start with? Hope someone can shine some light on the very unprofessional practice Thanks Neil
Whiteboard Friday | | londonesm0 -
Search engines preferred content posting schedule?
Hello Moz members. I am working on a newly redesigned site, www.servicechampions.com and I would like to have your input on a preferred posting schedule of content. I am sitting on near hundred pages of content to add. What would be the best approach to upload content to our site that would maximize the amount of pages indexed by google/search engines? I have been under the practice that a consistent posting schedule would be favored by search engines. I too do not want to be a victim of my own success if search engines start expecting from me x amount of pages a week. What are your thoughts? ps. any feedback on the new site would be greatly appreciated (launched 11.1.13) Thank you,
Whiteboard Friday | | CamiloSC0 -
Site Architecture
I came across some good reading on Moz re: how deep your structure should go (ex: how many clicks does it take to get to the bottom.) It's from 2011, but I assume the info still applies today? Successful Site Architecture for SEO [SES London 2011]
Whiteboard Friday | | SSFCU
http://moz.com/blog/site-architecture-for-seo0 -
Local SEO Citation Questions
I have checked out some great resources from Rand and others here on SEOMoz, as well as some other great articles written on YouMoz by you guys! I have two questions when it comes to citations for Local SEO though. I have heard that Google does not really take the address into consideration when indexing local citations. Instead it is a combination of the business name + phone number + area code. On one hand this makes a lot of sense as far as Google crunching all the information. You can achieve a fairly accurate citation with just those three things and still weed out a lot of the "brand mentions" as citations. However this conflicts with a lot of what I have been reading and watching as far as whiteboard Fridays and blogs here on SEOMoz. Can someone provide some insight or sources concerning this? Secondly, in case of SEO and Web Design companies, such as ourselves, who do not receive the "One Box" for Google localized search, do citations play any lesser role in ranking for localized seo keywords? I am not sure if there is a definitive answer to these questions or if they are open ended. Regardless any insight would be invaluable!
Whiteboard Friday | | KesilConsultingLLC0 -
SEO Implications when domain ownership and branding changes
I have a couple questions for the SEOMOZ community - and/or it's leader, Rand, if at all possible 🙂 It is very important for us to have good information. Scenario: Company A: National established leader in a niche product currently receives 49% of their traffic from branded keywords. Company A wants to protect and further grow it's gains that have been made in SEO even after it is acquired by Company B. Company B: Is a much larger company that acquires Company A. 1. What could happen to Google rankings when company A is bought out and Company B changes the registered owner and whois record? Could Google see this as a signal that the ownership has changed and then re-evaluate the ranking of Company A's website? 2. What would most likely happen if company B were to change the branding of Company A's established website? Company A currently receives about half of it's traffic from branded keywords. The acquiring company may want to change some of the SEO titles, ALT-Text, H1 tags, etc to also promote itself on the acquired company's site. Thank you all in advance for your help!
Whiteboard Friday | | follr0 -
Connecting SEO with Your Clients Objectives
Hi Guys, This question is specifically towards trying to make the connection between achieving clients objectives based on your SEO initiatives. Google Universal SERP's tends to make me try to think towards devising more of an online strategy rather than a specific SEO strategy. Whilst obviously social, video, content marketing and all that is increasingly important channels. I think it makes our actions based on trends rather than what matters most for the site to be visible - gain traffic & links (but not limited to this). Questions: 1. What framework or thought process do you use when devising a tailored SEO strategy for your clients? 2. How do you translate all onsite SEO initiatives off-site? I know there is no one fits all answer, however I would truly like to seek the SEO experts out here. Please use your example (not mine) as I think it will best help you answer this question. Note: No reference to the digital marketing framework by Avinash, I am already familiar with this. I have also not made this as a discussion, as I would truly like to get feedback from successful SEO's. Thank you for your answers in advance, Vahe
Whiteboard Friday | | Vahe.Arabian1