SEO for Races

Head Start

If I told you “race marketing”, what kinds of things come to mind? Facebook ads maybe, maybe Google Ads. But what about your race website? Is that optimised for search engines? When people search Google for your race - or, even more importantly, for a race like your race to enter - is your race website the one they find at the top of Google search results?
Today we’re going to be talking about SEO - a huge missed opportunity to get more qualified people to discover your race on Google. Why is this so important? (A) Because it’s free, (B) because it can get you tons of traffic and potential participants, and (C) because very few people are doing it as well as it can be done. And that’s the opportunity for you.
My guest on today’s episode, Cory Jennermann, knows a bit about SEO, having spent countless hours ranking his awesome race listing site, RunGuides.com, to the top of Google search results pages.
And, as you’ll see, Cory loves geeking over keywords and structured data and the like - as do I, to be honest - so, stick with us for a fun-filled SEO chat.
In this episode:

• What is SEO all about?
• Getting found by people looking for your race vs getting found by people looking for races similar to your race
• How you can't - and shouldn't try to - game Google
• What user behavior tells Google's RankBrain algorithm about your website
• Technical SEO vs On-page SEO vsOff-page SEO
• Backlinks, site authority and link juice(!)
• Technical SEO: URL architecture, content discoverability, sitemaps, internal linking, data markup
• Structured data: marking up your website content for rich snippets and winning more Google real estate
• Event schema markup: marking up your race date and start line location
• Ranking for relevant "near me" search queries
• Marking up for your site's FAQs
• Understanding and targeting user search intent
• How keyword research can help improve your race website content
• Blogs: should your site have one?
• Creating content to win backlinks and draw in qualified traffic
• Building backlinks to your site: targeting local running clubs, race calendars, other local event sites.

Useful links:

• Google Search Console
• Google Structured Data Markup Helper
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends
• Moz - SEO tools
• Ahrefs - SEO tools
• Moz Beginner's Guide to SEO
• Backlinko blog - in-depth SEO and backlink-building articles

Thanks to GiveSignup|RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 22,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use GiveSignup|RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about GiveSignup|RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com.
You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com.
You can also share your questions about building your own website, SEO or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.