Type – Tech / Global Brand
In February 2011 I was lucky enough to be commissioned by Xbox UK to put together a technical site audit of the UK version of their website.
I’ve tried to include as much as I can from the project below but things such as traffic (before and after are not available due to NDA)
Here’s part of the brief below so you can a clearer vision of what it was they wanted.
Brief:
Xbox want you to help improve their natural search visibility for relevant keywords, drive more organic traffic and increase conversions in the form of various site engagements, sign-ups and referrals to buy.
You will need to deliver an SEO audit, covering all aspects of SEO. The presentation should highlight SEO issues, missed opportunities and any quick wins throughout. It does not have to be fully comprehensive but should demonstrate real SEO insight. In addition to keyword and competitor analysis, the client would like to see at least 5 key on-site issues/opportunities with associated recommendations backed up by data/tangible evidence where possible. They are also particularly interested in seeing a top-line link development strategy and how this would tie into their existing Social Media activities, tailored specifically for their needs. Finally, we also need to demonstrate how we would integrate our SEO efforts with their other marketing activities (on and offline), especially PPC – this is something they have expressed a particular interest in.
Even though there are not many words here, there’s an incredible amount of detail in there are took over two weeks to complete.
YouTube
Slideshare
Dan whitehouse seo presentation – xbox
PDF Download
Dan White House -SEO Presentation – Xbox
Report Highlights..
404s
253 total
| URL | Page Authority | Linking Root Domains |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/a/alpinelegend/ | 71 | 134 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/social/ | 67 | 48 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/x/xbox360elitesystem/default.htm | 65 | 33 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/news-features/news/sky-290509.htm | 65 | 26 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/compare101.htm | 64 | 33 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/kinect/default.htm | 64 | 26 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/bestoflive/connectnow.htm | 64 | 24 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/e3 | 63 | 22 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/RDRgiveaway | 63 | 17 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/worldofreals/default.htm | 63 | 18 |
| 301 to.. |
| http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Games?xr=shellnav&Genre=3013 |
| http://forums.xbox.com/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=17&xr=shellnav |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox360/consoles?xr=shellnav |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/Live/SkyPlayer/Home |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox360/consoles?xr=shellnav |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/kinect |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live?xr=shellnav |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ |
Competitor Analysis
The table below shows the URLs for XBOX competitors as well as the US and generic versions of the Xbox homepage.
| Site | URL | Page Authority | Domain Authority | Total Links |
| Xbox UK | http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ |
76 |
93 |
3,187 |
| Xbox US | http://www.xbox.com/en-US/ |
93 |
93 |
150,813 |
| Xbox | http://www.xbox.com/ |
92 |
93 |
134,693 |
| Nintendo UK | http://www.nintendo.co.uk |
67 |
60 |
12,831 |
| Playstation UK | http://uk.playstation.com/ |
68 |
84 |
12,066 |
Even though the UK version of the Xbox site has far fewer links then Playstation or Nintendo it still has a higher page authority. This could be due to the benefit the site is getting from internal links coming from the host domain that has a domain authority of 93.
- Brand anchor text
- Quality of links
Playstation vs Xbox UK anchor text distribution review
The following links are the top followed external links to
| URL | Anchor Text |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/section/home | PlayStation® |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7814272.stm | Sony playStation |
| http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/mar/18/link.link6 | uk.playstation.com |
| http://www.t3.com/news/sony-playstation3-slim-and-lite?=35165 | PlayStation |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/rampage/2010/01/ | Playstation 3 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/rampage/2010/08/ | Sony’s Playstaion Move |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4428626.stm | Sony PlayStation |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/PageView.do?site=odw_en_GB | PlayStation® |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/view/View.action?site=odw_en_GB | PlayStation® |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2008/07/video_games_and_music_at_e3.shtml | Sony |
The table below shows linking root domains and inbound 301/followed links that contain that anchortext. These are the top 10 listed in terms of linking root domains.
| Anchor Text | Root Domains | Links |
| playstation | 41 | 340 |
| [No Anchor Text] | 31 | 204 |
| 6 official playstation website | 27 | 27 |
| sony | 25 | 3978 |
| uk.playstation.com | 18 | 38 |
| scee | 18 | 90 |
| playstation | 17 | 177 |
| official playstation website | 16 | 21 |
| playstation uk | 16 | 56 |
| sony computer entertainment europe | 16 | 43 |
Out of all linking anchor text surveyed (155 phrases) 398 (516) linking root domains contained either ‘playstation’ or ‘sony’, which is 70.36%. Similarly links from web pages showed a similar trend of 75.96% containing key core terms.
In view of the above it would be an idea to see where the majority of the brand anchor text is being distributed.
The table below shows the top five inbound links using ‘playstation’ anchor text As can be seen the page authority is quite low, but they all are organic links in the sense of no direct intervention to create these links, such as pushing links into directories, forums and so on.
| URL | Anchor Text | Page Authority |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/section/home | PlayStation® |
69 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7814272.stm | Sony playStation |
61 |
| http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/mar/18/link.link6 | uk.playstation.com |
58 |
| http://www.t3.com/news/sony-playstation3-slim-and-lite?=35165 | PlayStation |
58 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/rampage/2010/01/ | Playstation 3 |
56 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/rampage/2010/08/ | Sony’s Playstaion Move |
56 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4428626.stm | Sony PlayStation |
56 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/PageView.do?site=odw_en_GB | PlayStation® |
56 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/view/View.action?site=odw_en_GB | PlayStation® |
55 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2008/07/video_games_and_music_at_e3.shtml | Sony |
55 |
| http://www.monstersandcritics.com/gaming/ps3/news/article_1386581.php/PS3_Pick_N_Mix_deal_is_no_deal_at_all | Sony Computer Entertainment Europe |
44 |
| http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=18&month=20080901 | Sony PlayStation |
44 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/sony-united | Sony Computer Entertainment Europe |
44 |
| http://www.techradar.com/news/home-cinema/the-year-home-cinema-gets-connected-201553 | PlayStation 3 |
44 |
| http://www.trustedreviews.com/video-games/review/2010/03/17/God-of-War-III/p1 | SCEE |
44 |
| http://www.scei.co.jp/sitemap.html | Europe |
44 |
| http://www.t3.com/gaming/consoles/sony-playstation-3-slim-review-review | Sony PlayStation |
43 |
| http://www2.tba.t-com.ne.jp/monky/game/flash-shooting-3.html | PlayStation.com |
43 |
| http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/sony-dismisses-psp-3000-rumours-429842 | SCEE |
43 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/?cat=ps3g | (info) |
43 |
| http://www.medalofhonor.com/en_GB/game/medal-honor-1999 | [No Anchor Text] |
43 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/?cat=pspg | (info) |
43 |
| http://www.quirk.biz/team/tom-brady | Sony PlayStation Europe |
43 |
| http://www.johndalysprostrokegolf.com/ | PS3 – John Daly’s ProStroke Golf |
43 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/section/home?newShopId=4A0F2B0F143800E9E10080022BC29B73&firstSelected=false | PlayStation® |
43 |
| http://www.reghardware.com/2010/03/01/chubby_ps3_psn_lockout/print.html | PlayStation website |
43 |
| http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2007/july/builds-cutting-edge-workflow-management-system | Arran |
43 |
| http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/06/30/ps3-to-get-its-backwards-compatibility-back/ | PlayStation |
43 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/section/home?ukey=600001 | PlayStation® |
43 |
| http://www.t3.com/reviews/tv/blu-ray-players/group-test-blu-ray-players | Playstation |
43 |
| http://eu.gran-turismo.com/gb/news/d14918.html | PlayStation.com |
42 |
| http://www.marcvallee.co.uk/blog/ | Playstation (Sony) |
42 |
| http://www.sony.co.uk/section/home?cache=false | PlayStation® |
42 |
| http://www.t3.com/gaming/consoles/sony-ps3-slim-review-review | Link: Sony PlayStation |
42 |
| http://www.phone-shops.co.uk/blog/technology-behind-playing-games-on-your-mobile-phone.html | PlayStation |
42 |
| http://gamez.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0609/06/news089.html | ÔøΩ\ÔøΩjÔøΩ[ÔøΩEÔøΩRÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩsÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩ[ÔøΩ^ÔøΩGÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩ^ÔøΩeÔøΩCÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩgÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩ[ÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩbÔøΩp |
42 |
| http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/07/80gb_playstatio.html | PlayStation |
42 |
The below Venn diagram shows external links to the three sites listed above. The crossover areas show areas in which the sites share those particular links.
A place for opportunity would be to at the links that are shared by Xbox’s competitors.
The table below shows a summary of links that are shared by Nintendo and Playstation with links from identical domains omitted.
| Url | Google pagerank | Google index |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/mobile-news/the-playstation-phone |
n/a |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/mobile-info |
n/a |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/mobile-info/feed |
n/a |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/new-phones |
0 |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/new-phones/feed |
n/a |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/playstation |
n/a |
380 |
| http://blog.envirofone.com/tag/playstation/feed |
n/a |
380 |
| http://greenitdepartment.computing.co.uk/crn/news/2268935/lenovo-reloads-games-console |
n/a |
97 |
| http://greenitdepartment.itweek.co.uk/crn/news/2268935/lenovo-reloads-games-console |
n/a |
834 |
| http://identitymanagement.itweek.co.uk/crn/news/2268935/lenovo-reloads-games-console |
n/a |
325 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7814272.stm |
4 |
22600000 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8078629.stm |
3 |
22600000 |
| http://tropics.net.au/index.php |
n/a |
134 |
| http://www.3rddc.co.uk/ |
3 |
8 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2008/07/video_games_and_music_at_e3.shtml |
n/a |
9200000 |
| http://www.onlyport.com/ |
0 |
160 |
| http://www.onlyport.com/index.html |
0 |
160 |
| http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/NEWS/index.cfm?newsid=13336 |
3 |
304000 |
| http://www.phone-shops.co.uk/blog/page/4 |
n/a |
116 |
| http://www.phone-shops.co.uk/blog/technology-behind-playing-games-on-your-mobile-phone.html |
n/a |
116 |
| http://www.r3play.info/ |
2 |
32 |
| http://www.r3play.info/component/content/article/35-news/103-moreexhibitors |
0 |
32 |
| http://www.r3play.info/index.php |
2 |
32 |
| http://www.t3.com/feature/best-games-consoles |
0 |
31600 |
| http://www.tek-com.co.uk/11.html |
n/a |
15 |
| http://www.tropics.net.au/index.php |
n/a |
74 |
| http://www.upminster.com/entertainment/games_consule.htm |
n/a |
134 |
Even though the comparison shows that the sites listed above are not linking to xbox.com/en-GB/ they are in fact linking to xbox.com.
Having seen the data above it would be a good idea to compare the regional instances of Xbox sites for xbox.com xbox.com/en-US/ and xbox.com/en-GB/
The main thing to notice is that the majority of websites link directly to xbox.com rather than the regional sites. With Xbox.com having a total number of links 134,693 and xbox.com/en-GB/ having 3,187 it is apparent this is the case.
(A maximum of 10,000 links for URL were surveyed due to third party software restrictions)
Domain information
http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/
| Factor | Value |
| Domain Age | 12/18/1996 |
| Domain IP | 65.55.42.140 |
| Domain Google PageRank | 5 |
| Alexa Rank | 828 |
| Compete Rank in Compete.Com | 341 |
| Traffic according to Compete.Com | 4,600,061 |
| DMOZ Listing | Yes |
| Yahoo! Dir Listing | Yes |
| Pages indexed in Google.co.uk | 54 |
| Pages indexed in Yahoo!(UK) | 2,590 |
| Pages indexed in Bing | 261 |
| Domain Authority | 93 |
| Page Authority | 76 |
| Linking Root Domains | 282 |
| Total Links | 3,187 |
| Analytics | Omniture |
Keyword Analysis
The table below shows the top 5 keywords in terms of local search volume for keywords and their positions in Google.com.
| Keyword | Google.com position | Google.com URL |
| xbox console |
1 |
www.xbox.com/ |
| x box 360 4 gb |
3 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| xbox 360s 4gb |
3 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| xbox 360 4 gig |
3 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| x box 360 4g |
3 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
The table below shows the same set of keywords but for Google.co.uk positions in search results.
| Keyword | Google.co.uk position | Google.co.uk URL |
| xbox console |
11 |
www.xbox.com/ |
| x box 360 4 gb |
73 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| xbox 360s 4gb |
66 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| xbox 360 4 gig |
7 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
| x box 360 4g |
19 |
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb |
Global and local search volumes for keywords listed above are as follows.
| Global Monthly Searches | Local Monthly Searches |
|
301000 |
74000 |
|
110000 |
18100 |
|
110000 |
18100 |
|
110000 |
18100 |
|
110000 |
18100 |
Out of 100 keyword surveyed 64 of them appear on page one of search results for Google.co.uk. For Google.com the same set were surveyed for Google.com and which 95 appeared in positions on page one.
Recommendations
Build on the brand linking to home page and deep linking to product pages by targeting .co.uk domain names.
Anchors:
- Xbox
- Xbox 360
- X box
- X box 360
With duplicate links from the same URL removed, the table below shows the top five links to the page on the US version of the Xbox site that potentially generates the most global search volume in terms of organic visits.
www.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604gb
| URL | Anchor Text | Page Authority |
| http://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/?cat=conxbox360 | (info) |
51 |
| http://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/a584987.html | [No Anchor Text] |
51 |
| http://geizhals.at/eu/?cat=conxbox360 | (info) |
43 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/?cat=conxbox360 | (info) |
43 |
| http://geizhals.at/?cat=conxbox360 | (info) |
42 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/a584987.html | [No Anchor Text] |
42 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/a552771.html | [No Anchor Text] |
41 |
| http://geizhals.at/deutschland/?cat=conxbox360 | (info) |
41 |
| http://geizhals.at/a584987.html | [No Anchor Text] |
41 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/?sr=552771,-1 | [No Anchor Text] |
40 |
| http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/?sr=584987,-1 | [No Anchor Text] |
40 |
Top Pages
www.xbox.com/en-GB/ – 14th most popular page on xbox.com according to OSE
Top 10 inbound 301/follow links to – http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/
- Cut down to one instance from each domain. Although there were multiple links from BBC and others the spreadsheet snippet below is just to show a broad scope of links sorted descending according to page authority.
| URL |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/03/bbc_iplayer_on_iphone_behind_t.html |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8354166.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7888369.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8356621.stm |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/11720937 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/10002915 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4442346.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6135452.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5280958.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5168820.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6142576.stm |
| http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dsyme/archive/2006/04/01/566301.aspx |
| http://www.microsoft.com/uk/licensing/homeuser/how-to-report-piracy.mspx |
| http://advertising.microsoft.com/europe/in-game-advertising |
| http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/gb/funstuff/xbox.aspx |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6142782.stm |
| http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/rumour-xbox-360-price-cut-march-14th-257400 |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7171355.stm |
| http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/ |
| http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2006_05_01_archive.html |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7507000/7507257.stm |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6136712.stm |
| http://www.reghardware.com/2010/02/19/sony_universal_controller_patent/ |
| http://www.pcworld.com/article/142531/wii_to_displace_xbox_360_by_end_of_2008.html |
| http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2006/05/blog-box.html |
| http://www.t3.com/reviews/gaming/consoles/xbox-kinect-vs-playstation-move-review |
Summary of metrics from above
| Anchor Text | Page Authority | Domain Authority | Linking Root Domains |
| Xbox | 69 | 99 | 83 |
| Xbox | 68 | 99 | 79 |
| Xbox | 67 | 99 | 55 |
| Xbox | 65 | 99 | 43 |
| Xbox.com UK – Xbox.com | 64 | 99 | 87 |
| Xbox | 63 | 99 | 46 |
| Xbox | 61 | 99 | 19 |
| Xbox | 60 | 99 | 25 |
| Xbox | 59 | 99 | 13 |
| Xbox | 58 | 99 | 9 |
| Xbox | 58 | 99 | 10 |
| XBox Live | 58 | 88 | 7 |
| Xbox 360® | 58 | 99 | 2 |
| Xbox.com | 56 | 99 | 8 |
| Xbox | 56 | 99 | 1 |
| Xbox | 56 | 99 | 5 |
| Xbox 360 | 56 | 77 | 21 |
| Xbox | 55 | 99 | 5 |
| Click to visit the Xbox 360 web site. | 53 | 44 | 116 |
| Xbox 360 | 52 | 92 | 1 |
| Xbox 360 | 52 | 99 | 1 |
| Xbox | 52 | 99 | 1 |
| X-box | 52 | 70 | 8 |
| Xbox 360′s | 52 | 90 | 2 |
| Xbox 360 | 50 | 92 | 1 |
| XBox | 49 | 71 | 8 |
Versions and canonicalization
301 versions of the pages to the version with the highest page authority and linking root domains.
The version listed below is known to be the authority version based on the number of links, linking root domains and highest page authority.
| URL | Page Authority | Domain Authority | Linking Root Domains | Total Links |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB | 68 | 93 | 92 | 1,894 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-gb | 56 | 93 | 4 | 34 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-Gb | 59 | 93 | 14 | 15 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ | 76 | 93 | 282 | 3,187 |
| http://www.xbox.com/en-gb/ | 65 | 93 | 29 | 91 |
