John-Paul Culver / Shannon Culp

Due 11/19/2015
Jacque Lamer
Web Publishing
SEO Analysis & Recommendations for SportsAuthority.com
I. Keyword Research
a. The 3 keywords/phrases I think will drive the most traffic:
1. Tennis Racquets
2. Tennis Equipment
3. Tennis Brands
b. Current rankings of my 3 keywords:
Ranking of Recommended Keywords on SportsAuthority.com (Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com)

Keyword
Tennis Racquets
Tennis Equipment
Tennis Brands

Google
56
11
15

Bing
No
No
No

Yahoo!
26
No
No

Ranking of Recommended Keywords on DicksSportingGoods.com (Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com)

Keyword
Tennis Racquets
Tennis Equipment
Tennis Brands

Google
5
3
3

Bing
No
No
No

Yahoo!
No
No
No

c. Explanation of my choices:
1. Tennis Racquets: We used the Keyword Planner tool from Google Adwords to get more
information on searches using Tennis Racquets. The average monthly searches being 6,600,
where most of the searches come from February to April there was also an increase during the
June and July months; the increase in searches during these months is probably when tennis is
played the most. We then used the Google Trends search tool to see how the interest over time
for Tennis Racquets and since about 2004 its popularity has been steadily dropping. Since its

popularity has been dropping optimizing for that search term might not be one of the best, but
based on the average monthly searches it would still be worth optimizing to get on the first page
of the SERP the website traffic would be good for sales. Dicks is already on the first page of
the SERP, while Sports Authority doesnt show up until the 56th listing (Mikes-Marketing-Tools);
optimizing Sports Authority to include Tennis Racquets would greatly improve website ClickThrough Rate, up to 18%.

(Image above from adwords.google.com)

(Image above from google.com/trends/)

2. Tennis Equipment: To pick our second word we asked a few people what they would search
when looking for tennis racquets. We picked Tennis Equipment for multiple reasons after
testing the key phrases they suggested. The first reason coming from the Google Keyword

Planner, there arent as many monthly searches but the competition isnt as high either. Another
reason is the fact that Sports Authority is already listed on the second page so improving it only
slightly would greatly improve the traffic to the website. Although Tennis Equipment is
experiencing the same issue that Tennis Racquets has steadily been dropping in search
popularity (google.com/trends/).

(adwords.google.com)

(google.com/trends/)

3. Tennis Brands: We picked Tennis Brands by, again, asking people what they would search
when looking to buy tennis rackets. Though the average monthly searches are low but still high
enough to make a good impact on the website traffic. The term Tennis Brands does have a low
competition according to the Google Keyword Planner, which lets there be plenty of space for

Sports Authority to improve. Tennis Brands appears on the second of the SERP, so optimizing
for it to appear on the first page could be pretty simple. The popularity, though low, has been
pretty steady since about 2007 (google.com/trends/).

(adwords.go
ogle.com)

(google.com/trends/)

II. Current Traffic

SportsAuthority.com Monthly Unique Visitors: ~ 2717651

(Image from Compete.com showing the total unique visitors over the last 12 months)

DicksSportingGoods.com Monthly Unique Visitors: ~ 6412677

(Image from Compete.com showing the total unique visitors over the last 12 months)

Analysis: Looking at the charts above for both SportsAuthority.com and

DicksSportingGoods.com, you can see that the pattern of unique monthly visitors is very similar.
Both web sites have a spike in December 2014 and a steep drop to January 2015, as well as a
gradual increase from the end of April 2015 to June 2015. I would guess that the spike in
December for both web sites is because of Christmas shopping; companies are usually promoting
deals or sales around that time of year. Special deals and sales could also attribute to the slight
increase in unique monthly users for both companies in November, as that is the month when
Black Friday and Cyber Monday take place. The gradual increase in unique monthly users for
both web sites from the end of April 2015 to June 2015 might coincide with better weather, as

well as summer sports. People are more likely to be active in warmer months, and once things
start to warm up it might make people want to invest in sports or exercise equipment and gear.
While the charts for SportsAuthority.com and DicksSportingGoods.com look similar, the
number of unique monthly visitors are quite different. For SportsAuthority.com, the number of
unique monthly visitors peaks at a 4,295,037, whereas DicksSportingGoods.coms lowest
number of unique monthly visitors is 4,427,214the web sites unique monthly visitors peaks at
9,653,722. Obviously, DicksSportingGoods.com is doing something better than
SportsAuthority.com in regards to getting unique monthly visitors.

III. Content Analysis

a. Overall Quality (Cq, Vt, Va):
SportsAuthority.com Score: 9 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 9 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1=bad and 10=great]
Analysis: SportsAuthority.com does offer product details for the tennis racquets on their
web site, as shown below:

I am not sure what the standard information about tennis racquets would be, but the
above example seems to have some good details, like the length and weight. But as I was
looking through other tennis racquets, I noticed that the product details were different, as shown
below:

The above example actually shows two things; the features section is noticeably shorter
and so is the product description. This might be because the company that makes the racquet
only gave Sports Authority so much to work with in terms of what to write. The example above
also does not include the phrase tennis racquet in the product description at all, whereas the first
example does. In my opinion, it is important to include that key phrase in all the product
descriptions so that they show up when someone searches for tennis racquet.
When I looked at DicksSportingGoods.com, I noticed that their product description
features the phrase tennis racquet multiple times, as shown below:

Also note that DicksSportingGoods.com has a longer product description and has
Features and Key Specs categories within the product description. This looks more
professional and well put together than SportsAuthority.com.
I used PlagSpotter.com to test each web sites url for the product-category page as well as
various product-level pages for duplicate content. Neither SportsAuthority.com
nor DicksSportingGoods.com had any detected plagiarism, which makes the content for both
sites higher quality.
After looking over several product-level pages, I conclude
that SportsAuthority.coms content is, for the most part, well written. I think that some of the
product descriptions could be better, but I am not sure if they are only working with what a
company is giving them.

The only ads I see on the product-category page and the product-level pages for
SportsAuthority.com are ones from Sports Authority itself; sales on Nike and Under Armour.
The only ad I noticed on DicksSportingGoods.com was a banner ad for a special offer on the site
that appeared on both the product-category page and the product-level pages I visited.
On the product-category page for SportsAuthority.com the availability online and in store
for each tennis racquet is listed, that way a customer or visitor does not have to click on the
product to see if it is available or not. DicksSportingGoods.com does not offer this feature, you
have to click on the product and go to the product-level page to find out the availability.
Recommendation for improvements: SportsAuthority.com does pretty well in this
category, but the biggest difference between them and DicksSportingGoods.com is the way the
product description is written and laid out. I would recommend to elaborate more on the
descriptions and to use the phrase tennis racquet more in those descriptions.

b. Engaging Content (Cc):

SportsAuthority.com Score: 9 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 7 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1=bad and 10=great]

Site

SportsAuthority.com

Daily
Bounce

Page

Rate

Views/Visitor

26.40%

5.97

Product-

Time level Share

Product-

Product-

level

level

on Site

Tools

Ratings

Reviews

4:30

Yes

Yes

Yes

DicksSportingGoods.com

28%

5.92

4:26

No

Yes

Yes

Analysis: SportsAuthority.com does have engaging content in the form of share tools on
each product-level page I viewed. There are share tools for Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+, and
beside those is what looks like a Facebook share tool, but it is actually just a way to like their
Facebook page (it is labeled like).
There is also a place to see reviews and/or write a review for a specific product on each
product-level page I viewed. Customers can rate an item by using stars, and this appears just
below the price on the product-level page, as well as underneath the photo of each product on the
product-category page. Having the rating of each product on the product-category page makes it
easier for a potential customer to see what tennis racquets are worth looking into without having
to click on the item.
In addition to providing a way for customers to rate products, SportsAuthority.com also
has a place where customers and visitors can ask questions or see answers to previously asked
questions about a product. You do not have to log in or create an account to post a question, and
the web site prompts you to look over your question before posting it to make sure it is what you
actually want to post. Once a question is posted, other customers and visitors can reply. I am not
sure if the company itself replies to the questions asked, but I did not see that it did on any of the
products I viewed. A customer or visitor is also able to see if their question has already been
answered as they type. This feature is especially useful if a lot of questions have been asked
about a product; a customer or visitor does not have to scroll or click through all the questions
and answers to find what they are looking for.

Another engaging feature is the ability to look at certain tennis racquets more closely. A
customer or visitor is able to zoom in on the picture of the tennis racquet as a whole, or choose
parts of the racquet to focus on more intently on the product-level page for most of the racquets I
looked at. There is also a video a customer or visitor can play to take a help them figure out
what racquet is right for them, featuring Wilson brand tennis racquets.
On the product-category page there is a place to sort the items by certain categories listed
in a drop down menu. This would be helpful to people looking to narrow down their search.
According to what we talked about in class, SportsAuthority.com has a low bounce
rate of 26.40%; the average is 50%.

SportsAuthority.com has a slight edge on

DicksSportingGoods.com on page views per visitor and time on site, as well as having productlevel share tools.
Recommendations for improvements: Overall, SportsAuthority.com is doing well in
this category and is doing better than DicksSportingGoods.com. One of the things that could be
changed is to have the Facebook like button become a share button. I am actually surprised
that there is no Facebook share tool, as people frequently share things they find on Facebook.
Another recommendation is to have a video on finding the right racquet for you available on all
product-level pages for tennis racquets. That would be helpful to every customer, not just those
interested in Wilson Racquets. A video on each product-level page could also lead to people
spending more time on the site.

IV. Social Analysis

a. Social Signals: Reputation (Sr):
SportsAuthority.com Score: 6 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 7 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]

Analysis: Sports Authority utilizes social media pretty well and posts often, especially on
Facebook and Twitter. They do, unlike Dicks Sporting Goods, reply to a lot of the angry
customers and try to fix any issues that they might have. Although the company pages dont have
much engagement from the public, they also dont keep up with their YouTube account very well
last updated about a month ago. They are mentioned a lot on Reddit.com by people looking
for outdoor style items, like bikes or snowboarding gear. The table below illustrates the amount
of use Sports Authority gets out of social media:
Facebook
Followers
Comments
Shares

1.2M
Only a few
1400 each

Twitter
56.5K
Not many
1-400 each

Google+

YouTube

2,740
None
~10-15 each

1,998
None
~10-15 each

Pinterest
6.6K
None
3K

Dicks Sporting Goods does extremely well on social media sites. They post really often
and always have people liking and sharing (retweeting) those posts, except for recently because a
lot of the replies are from people that arent too happy with them for making their employees
work on Thanksgiving. On Facebook it takes them to deal with the disgruntled customers
comments, sometimes just ignoring them (which is really bad for business). Their YouTube
account is doing far better than Sports Authority in the way of keeping up with it, the last video
being from a week ago and having usually one per week and way more shares on each one. The
table below illustrates how much Dicks Sporting Goods gets out of social media sites:

Followers
Comments
Shares

Facebook
Twitter
4.1M
381K
Only a few
Only a few
1~15 Usually 1~100 Usually

Google+
6,813
1~4 Max
1~4 Max

YouTube
13.4K
1~10 Usually
1~150 Usually

Pinterest
12.1K
None
925

Recommendation for improvements: Sports Authority could expand their YouTube

base and spread the videos through the other social mediums and try to make connections with

their customers. Theres a video on Dicks Sporting Goods YouTube page that has a lot more
views than the others where they showed a woman telling her father he was going to be a
grandfather, videos like those will probably increase followers on all the social media websites.
They could also reply to the comments on their page more often to show that they care what
customers think. Another recommendation that I would make is to increase the variety of the
posts that they share; right now they mostly share only things that would help their business like
price drops, upcoming deals, or new merchandise (those are nice but increasing the amount to
also include things like recent sporting news could also increase the number of followers they
have).
b. Social Signals: Sharing (Ss):
SportsAuthority.com Score: 6 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 3 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
Analysis: Sports Authority does provide multiple tools in order to share the product-level
page. Unfortunately the one provided for Facebook is simply a like button, the G+1 is also
really a like button but it does also make a link shared to your +1s tab on the Google+ website.
There was an issue that I encountered when testing the buttons and I showed that below, where
the like button on the page made me like the 404 page for Sports Authority this is an issue that
should be fixed as soon as possible. Dicks Sporting Goods doesnt provide any way to share on
the product-level page, there are images at the bottom that link to the respective Dicks Sporting
Goods social media sites, but thats about it.
Screenshot of the options
SportsAuthority.com offers on
the product-level page.

Screenshot of the issue with

liking the page on Facebook
for SportsAuthority.com

Recommendation for improvements: The first recommendation for improvement I

would say is to replace the broken page-like tool for Facebook on the product-level page to an
actual share tool so that people can do it more efficiently. They could also improve upon the
placement of the tools, probably move them closer to the top maybe right next to reviews
section on the page, its not on the left side but it is still near the actual product and will appear
above the fold.

V. HTML: Current Keyword Location Analysis (Ht, Hd, Hh)

a. Title Tags
SportsAuthority.com Product Category Page: <title>Tennis Racquets |
Sports Authority</title>
[*Extra] SportsAuthority.com Product-Level Page: <title>BABOLAT C-Drive
102 Tennis Racquet - SportsAuthority.com </title>
DicksSportingGoods.com Product Category Page: <title>Tennis Racquets
| DICK&#39;S Sporting Goods</title>

[*Extra] DicksSportingGoods.com Product-Level Page: <title>Babolat Drive

Max 110 Tennis Racquet | DICK&#39;S Sporting Goods</title>
Analysis: I chose the Product Category pages because they were the pages we are trying
to optimize for, to increase the sales of tennis racquets. (Side Note the &#39; makes an
apostrophe in HTML) The <Title> tag is important because its the name of each page, going
along with the each part you should make sure that every page on your website has a different
<Title> because thats one of the things that the GoogleBot is looking for when placing page
links on their SERP. The <Title> tag appears in the tab for the browser, in the browser on the
Taskbar of your computer (bottom of computer screen, usually to the right of the Start
button), and on the SERP. The reason I included the [*Extra] is because of the fact that both
websites do those <Title> tags really well, they describe what is on the page and still include the
name of the Company. I have placed a couple pictures showing how the pages appear on a SERP
below and labeled them accordingly.
Recommendation for improvements: I feel like they, both websites, could expand on
the <Title> tag for the product category pages. They could possibly include some of the best
brands of tennis racquets that are for sale and will appear on that page.
b. Description meta tag
SportsAuthority.com Product Category Page: <meta name="description"
content="Buy Racquets at Sports Authority - the nation&#39;s
preeminent full-line sporting goods chain. Shop online or instore for your favorite brands - Nike, Under Armour, The North
Face, Bowflex, Schwinn, Lifetime and more." />

DicksSportingGoods.com Product Category Page: <meta

name="description" content="Get in the game with a new tennis
racquet from DICK&#39;S Sporting Goods. Shop a variety of tennis
racquets for juniors &#38; adults from top-rated brands. " />
Explanation: The <Meta /> tag on the webpage describes what is on the page and it
appears on the SERP as the page description under the <Title> tag. I have attached a picture on
how these appear on the SERP and labeled them accordingly.
Recommendation for improvements: To improve the <Meta /> tag I would make it
more about tennis racquets and less about the other items Sports Authority offers as well as them:
<meta name="description" content="Buy Racquets at Sports
Authority - We have many of the best brands out there, strung and
unstrung : Babolat, Wilson, Head" />.

<Meta /> Tags

<Title>

c. IMG names and ALT text

<img src=http://www.sportsauthority.com
/graphics/product_images/pTSA-11565566t130.jpg
title="BABOLAT C-Drive 102 Tennis Racquet SportsAuthority.com "alt="BABOLAT C-Drive 102 Tennis
Racquet - SportsAuthority.com ">
Explanation: I chose one of the pictures of a BABOLAT racquet from the product
category page, just to show what they were naming these when placing them. The name of the
picture itself is pTSA-115655t130.jpg and that is not a good name for a picture, how would
someone know what it is. Googles Best Practices says you need to have good/descriptive names
for each picture you place. The ALT text is for those that have accessibility needs/cant
physically see the picture. The ALT text is actually pretty good this time, it states the name of the
object.
Recommendation for improvements: Firstly I would change the names of the pictures
to be more descriptive because the randomly generated ones, or the ones you get from the
supplier, dont make all that much sense. Secondly I would practice better directory naming, just
for the sake of the web developers. Heres an example of what I mean: <img
src=http://www.sportsauthority.com/Tennis/RacquetImages/babolat_c-drive_102_racquet.jpg
title="BABOLAT C-Drive 102 Tennis Racquet - SportsAuthority.com "alt="BABOLAT C-Drive
102 Tennis Racquet - SportsAuthority.com ">

VI. Architecture (As, Au, Am)

a. Speed (As)
SportsAuthority.com Score: 5.942 seconds

DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 5.263 seconds

Explanation: The product-category page for SportsAuthority.com is being slowed down
by all of the images that have to be loaded, as well as by the java script, shown below:

This does not surprise me, as there are so many images of tennis racquets on this page
24 to be exact. The image below shows where the java script is slowing the load time:

As you can see above, a lot of java script files are being loaded at once. Pair this with a
boat load of images and your web site is sure to load slowly. This is a problem, as The New York
Times article titled For Impatient Web Users, an Eye Blink is Just Too Long to Wait, cites a
2009 study by Forrester Research that found that online shoppers expected pages to load in
two seconds or fewer and at three seconds, a large share abandon the site.

The product-category page for DicksSportingGoods.com fares the same way, with the
images and java script slowing down the load time, as shown below in the chart from
WebPageTest.org:

What is different about DicksSportingGoods.com is that the java script takes up almost as
much of the load time as the images on the page, whereas SportsAuthority.coms images were
the clear culprit.
Recommendation for improvements: The main thing I would recommend for
SportsAuthority.com in this area is to better optimize the images they are using on the productcategory page. Making the images smaller in some way would allow them to be loaded faster,
better ensuring that a user will not leave the site because it is too slow.
b. URLs (Au)
SportsAuthority.com Score: 6 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 7 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1=bad and 10=great]
URL: http://www.sportsauthority.com/TeamSports/Tennis/Racquets/family.jsp?
categoryId=22702526&cp=3052500.66276696&parentPage=family (Sports Authority ProductCategory Page)
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/category/index.jsp?
ab=TopNav_TeamSports_TennisRacquet_TennisRacquets&categoryId=4418840&cp=4413887.4
418829 (Dicks Sporting Goods Product-Category Page)
http://www.sportsauthority.com/BABOLAT-Womens-Drive-Lite-Pre-Strung-TennisRacquet/product.jsp?
productId=25047326&cp=3052500.66276696.22702526&parentPage=family&parentPage=fami
ly (Sports Authority Product-Level Page)

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?
productId=28556866&cp=4406646.4413887.4418829.4418840&categoryId=4418849 (Dicks
Sporting Goods Product-Level Page)
Explanation: SportsAuthority.coms product-category page URL is interesting in that it
includes the phrase Team Sports. We talked in class about how the navigation on a web site is
built the same way the folders are, but you do not have to click on anything named Team Sports
to get to the tennis racquet product-category page. There are also weird numbers that make no
sense to me within the URL. According to Googles SEO Starter Guide, a web site should avoid
things like numbers and letters that mean nothing users, or in other words create a simple
directory structure. The product-level URL for SportsAuthority.com is also loaded with
numbers and letters that are not relevant, but it does include the name of the tennis racquet,
which is on the right track.
The product-category URL for DicksSportingGoods.com makes sense, because it goes in
the same order as you would go if you were navigating the site. But like SportsAuthority.com, it
includes useless numbers and letters. The product-level page surprised me because the name of
the product is nowhere to be found. The name of the product is important, not only because it
would be easier for people to remember but also because the URL appears on the search engine
results page.
Recommendation for improvements: Sports Authority has a lot to do with their URLs.
First, they need to get rid of the useless letters and numbers that mean nothing to the user.
Secondly, they need to write the URL in a simple structure, like www.sportsauthority.com/GolfRacquet/Tennis/Racquets.....and so on. Like I stated above, because URLs appear on the search
engine results page, it is important that they are clear and include words that a user might search
and understand.
c. Mobile (Am)
SportsAuthority.com Score: 9 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1 = bad and 10 = great]
DicksSportingGoods.com Score: 10 [note: based on a 1-10 scale, 1=bad and 10=great]

Explanation: According to Googles Mobile Friendly Test Tool, the product-category

page for SportsAuthority.com is mobile friendly, as well as the four product-level pages I tested.
As I was navigating the site on my phone, I noticed that the menu had tennis listed under Team
Sports, not Golf/Racquets. Once you select tennis, you can then decide what you want to look
at through the categories listed, which is also different from the site on a desktop. The images of
the products look the same, and you are still able to see the rating, price and availability without
clicking on the image.
Googles Mobile Friendly Test Tool also found that the product-category page and the
product-level pages I tested for DicksSportingGoods.com are mobile friendly. The navigation
for finding tennis racquets also starts with Team Sports, and is then found under Tennis &
Racquet. You can then choose from categories ranging from Tennis Racquets to Footwear. I
noticed that tennis racquets are found the same way on a mobile device as they are on a desktop,
which is always good because consistency makes things easier to use and easier to remember.
Recommendation for improvements: I actually like the mobile version of the web site
better than the desktop. It makes more sense to navigate by using Team Sports, and you are
able to better filter your search to find exactly what you want in less time. My recommendation
would be to implement the mobile navigation on the desktop version, that way finding the items
would be consistent across the different devices. The only reason I did not give
SportsAuthority.com a score of 10 is because the navigation is not consistent with that of a
desktop.
VII. Links (Ln, Lq)
a. Link Number (Ln)
SportsAuthority.com No. of Referring Domains: 11,162 [Majestic.com]
DicksSportingGoods.com No. of Referring Domains: 20,633 [Majestic.com]
b. Link Quality (Lq)
SportsAuthority.com No. of Referring Domains: 41 [Majestic.com]
DicksSportingGoods.com No. of Referring Domains: 112 [Majestic.com]

Explanation: The quality of links to a website are important, any random website can
post a link to any website. Quality links are those from websites that are trustworthy, or have
something to lose for sending you to a bad website (usually respect and trust). These links are
those that are either .gov extension or .edu extensions, both are restricted so only those that are a
governmental institution or an education institution can gain these (they also need prove
themselves trustworthy sources).

VIII. Conclusions & Priority Recommendations

There are several areas that we thought SportsAuthority.com needs to improve upon in
order to move up the ranks on the SERP. Based on Search-Engine-Lands Periodic Table of
SEO Success Factors - firstly they need to do more research (Cr[+3]) on what keywords people
use to find their website on the SE (Search Engine). Researching those keywords will make it
easier to decide the things that they need to add to the <Title> tags, <Meta> tags, and the content
(Changing those would also improve the Ht[+3] and the Hd[+2]). Secondly they could really
improve on their URLs (Au[+1]), its not that important but it will still help them move up on the
SERP. Thirdly, that issue with the Facebook Like button is really an important thing that needs
to be fixed. Finally they really need to fix the load time of the page (As[+1]), it takes almost 6
seconds for the webpage to load and that is far too long, seeing how impatient people can be
when waiting for a page to load. All of these should help SportsAuthority.com move up on the
SERP.