A Quick Guide to Writing Web Content That s Easy to Find Search Engine Optimization

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1 A Quick Guide t Writing Web Cntent That s Easy t Find Search Engine Optimizatin In general, there are tw main frms f SEO: n-page and ff-page. 1. Off-Page SEO Ggle (and ther search engines) wants prf yur cntent is valuable and wrthwhile. Thugh its system fr determining precisely hw sme cntent rises t the tp f search results is prprietary, studies and surveys shw that mre than any ther factr, the authrity and trustwrthiness f yur website determines hw easy it will be t find yur pages in a given search. The mre frequently yur website is mentined n r linked t frm reputable, highly ranking websites, the higher yur search ranking will becme, and the better yur cntent will perfrm in search. In-linking Tls Open Site Explrer Type yur dmain int the search bx n this site t learn which sites are linking t yur wn. Assess these pages; disreputable websites that link t yurs can hurt yur site s reputatin. Type in the dmains f cmpetitrs websites r sites yu respect t see wh is linking t them. Create a campaign t identify and cntact sites yu d like t link t yur wn, if apprpriate. With few exceptins, this is an exercise universities shuldn t undertake. Examples f departments that might want t prduce this type f Web campaign a. Thse in dnr relatins wanting t get the wrd ut b. Offices f news and public affairs / cmmunicatins rganizing campaigns t get university news and events in nline media publicatins *Please nte: Search engines autmatically highly rank sites with the.edu dmain. If yu d run an inliking campaign, be very selective abut which sites yu d like t apprach. (This article n Overstck.cm s manipulatin f university webmasters ffers a gd lessn.) 2. On-Page SEO The first element t cnsider fr n-page SEO is what keywrds and / r keywrd phrases yu shuld use thrughut yur page. Brainstrming, researching and selecting keywrds 1. Identify yur audience. 2. Determine what keywrds yur audience is using t find the things yu ffer. Brainstrm with c-wrkers, students and peple utside yur ffice t gauge pinins. 3. Use Ggle Adwrds keywrd tl t determine which f the keywrds yu want t use are mst cmpetitive, and f thse, which are wrth using in an effrt t rise t the tp f search engines. 4. Decide which f thse chsen keywrds are mst valuable. The mst valuable, high-impact keywrds shuld be used predminantly n yur index (r hme) pages.

2 Keywrd Tips 1. Use a maximum f 5 keywrds and / r keywrd phrases per page. Anything mre than this will likely be irrelevant in helping yur perfrmance n search engines. 2. Be selective with yur keywrds: a. Specific keywrds generate mre pprtunities than generic nes. Fr example, graduate degree in internatinal studies will better help searchers find precisely what yu ffer ver the lng run than graduate degree. b. Ideally, yu ll want t select niche terms that generate a lt f search traffic but have relatively limited cmpetitin. c. Cnsider cmpetitin ver time. While the cmpetitin fr a keywrd r keywrd phrase might be lw tday, cnsider that it might rise in the next year. Select keywrds that are unique t yur prgram yet things visitrs wuld likely type int a search engine t find yur stuff. d. Use yur keywrds thrughut yur pages bdy cpy particularly tward the tp f the page. This is a tugh juggling act; yu want t use them in as natural a way as pssible t ensure yur page is easy t read. e. D nt use the same keywrds fr every page n yur site. Yu want t lead users t the infrmatin specific t each page. If mre than ne page has the same keywrds, nly chse ne f thse pages t ptimize. f. Enter the keywrds in the glbal_metadata_keywrds field in Serena Cllage. Keywrd Testing Tls Ggle PageRank Tl Dwnlad this tl t save it t yur brwser s tlbar. Each time yu pen a Web page, muse ver the Page Rank bar in the tlbar t see where the page ranks n Ggle s 1-10 scale (10 being best). Once yu select a keywrd, yu can test it by 1. Placing the keywrd r keywrd phrase int the Ggle Search bar 2. Opening the Web pages f the tp results and checking the Ggle Page Rank f each If the page ranks f the site s with the tp results are equal r less than the Ggle PageRank f the page yur creating, the keywrd / keywrd phrase likely has a sht at helping yur page reach the tp f a search engine. Ggle s Similar Pages and Backward Links tls When yu dwnlad the Ggle PageRank tl t yur tlbar, yu ll als get these ther cl research tls. The Similar Pages tl autmatically generates a list f pages that ffer relatively similar cntent t users. This is a great way t take a lk at hw cmpetitrs are using keywrds and hw their techniques are wrking fr them. The Backward Links tl generates a list f pages that link t yurs, similar t Open Site Explrer. This tl, hwever, is far less cmprehensive than Open Site Explrer. Ggle Adwrds Keywrd Tl Use this tl t enter as many keywrds / keywrd phrases as yu like and view Ggle s estimates f hw ppular they are, hw many ther websites are cmpeting fr each and

3 hw frequently Web visitrs search fr them. (The tl is free, but registratin is required.) Hw and Where t Implement Keywrds n Yur Site Metadata The infrmatin abut yur page that desn t actually appear n the page, but is read by search engines (Yu enter this infrmatin thrugh the Metadata tab in the CMS.) Meta keywrds A selectin f the wrds and phrases yur users are mst likely t enter int search engines t find yur cntent Title tag (Page title) Every page must have a title tag. Brwsers display this title at the tp f the brwser and the tp f the tab the page appears in. It als usually appears in search engine results. Search engines place a lt f weight n the wrds in a title tag, s make sure yur keywrds are in the title whenever pssible. The mst critical factr in determining hw well a Web page will rank Shuld be n lnger than 65 characters (Ggle may nt read anything lnger) Shuld cntain keywrds as clsely t the beginning f the title as pssible Shuld vary amng pages even if yu re writing a series f articles t ensure each is uniquely discverable via search Depending n the page, the title in yur metadata shuld match the either the <h2> (smaller) headline at the tp f the page, r the <h3> (larger) sub-headline. DU style fr title tags is Name f the page Name f the site University f Denver. (Fr example, Maps and Directins Cmmencement University f Denver.) The CMS autmatically enters University f Denver at the end f the title, s yu ll nly need t enter the parts f the title that apply t yur site. If yur site has many levels f pages and yu feel that yu need t be mre specific fr clarity s sake, yu can include a sublevel in yur title: Degree Requirements MD in Pdiatry Schl f Medicine University f Denver. But that usually isn t necessary. Enter the title tag in the Descriptin field in the Metadata tab in Serena Cllage. Headline The mst prminently displayed piece f cntent n the page Shuld be cncise and cntain a few f yur targeted keywrds See h2 tag in the DU Web Cntent Style Guide fr style infrmatin. URLs Generally ppulated by yur page title If nt ppulated by yur page title, shuld cntain searchable keywrds rather than a meaningless string f numbers and letters

4 Shuld be cncise and descriptive Shuld separate keywrds with hyphens (nt underscres) Shuld cntain n special characters (e.g.,?! ) Shuld generally be lwercased (fr readability) Meta descriptin The page descriptin shwn within a search engine s results generally an abstract (Nte: search engines may shw ther prtins f cntent within the bdy f yur Web page shuld they be particularly relevant t a searcher s query.) Must quickly and accurately explain what the page ffers and why users shuld care (While Ggle desn t necessarily scan this descriptin fr keywrds, it s still a gd idea t use keywrds thrughut this t ensure imprtant terms shw up.) It shuld be a straightfrward explanatin f the cntent n the page, including infrmatin that meets yur users needs. (Fr example: A cmplete list f DU s mre than 100 student clubs and scial rganizatins. Yu can jin a club t g ice climbing r kayaking, debate plitics, r kick yur career int gear.) Put the mst imprtant infrmatin in the first few wrds, because search engines limit hw many characters f the descriptin display. Enter the descriptin in the glbal_metadata_descriptin field in Serena Cllage. Bdy cpy Place yur mst valuable keywrds and / r keywrd phrases tward the tp f yur page. Repeat each chsen keywrd / keywrd phrase at least tw t three times thrughut yur page (keywrd density). Alt tag Prvides shrt, descriptive captining infrmatin fr phts Shuld cntain ne r tw keywrds / keywrd phrases (This makes it easier fr these phts t shw up in an image search.) Because this text shws up in place f phts when certain brwsers are unable t lad them r fr the visually impaired be sure yur text accurately and apprpriately describes that missing image. (See image belw)

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