Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to improve your webpages Web Services 2015
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the act of improving your website in order to attract more visitors and boost your search engine results. How search engines work: Search engines, like Google and Yahoo!, try to find the results that are the most relevant to whatever you re searching for. Search engines can even recognize other terms that might be relevant to your search (for example, if you re searching for dog crates, you might also see results for pet carriers ).
Organic search results Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs): These consist of both paid listings and organic results. Organic results are search results based on the keywords you use, which is what we ll be focusing on.
Keywords Keywords: The terms that people type into search engines. You ll want to use important keywords on your webpages. Obviously this will vary by department, departmental goals, and objectives. Long-tail keywords: Just as it sounds, these are longer keywords or phrases more specific terms that can help narrow search results. Keyword research: Finding popular terms people enter into search engines. Start by thinking about what a website user would type into a search bar. Keyword distribution: Aligning page content with target keywords, and making sure keywords are evenly distributed on a page. Different pages will be optimized for various keywords, since different pages serve different purposes. This is why it s more effective to link to other pages, rather than have repeated information on each page. Both users and search engines will be confused if multiple pages contain the same information.
For example Say you Google the word turtle. Any number of things could pop up. Most people want something more specific.
Turtle eating strawberries, chocolate turtles, sea turtle, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes are all examples of long-tail keywords.
Content Optimization and what it means to be SEO-friendly Search engines expect clarity and quality. Make sure your page has a theme and a focus. Don t be vague or generic, but don t be too wordy either. Remember, a website is a different medium than a printed document. Being succinct is key! Make sure the organization of your pages makes sense. If you re creating or managing an entire section with multiple pages, they should be structured in a logical hierarchy. Search engines will also be discerning whether or not your website is a trusted one. (You don t have to worry about this with pages you re creating/managing on emerson.edu, as it s an established website.)
Write to your audience.
Put yourself in your audience s shoes. You may know your content backwards and forwards, but an outside audience does not. If you were a new visitor to your webpage on emerson.edu, how would you look for information? Can you easily find what you re looking for? Think of your goals. What message are you trying to convey to your target audience? What are you trying to get them to do? Just be natural. When writing content for your pages, whatever sounds natural is usually best. Don t overthink it and don t try to force anything! Avoid keyword stuffing. This is when you repeat the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural. Example of how not to write from Google: We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you re thinking of buying a custom cigar humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists.
Search engines know Now that you have an idea of how search engines work, the best thing to do is to not write for search engines. Write for humans; remember to keep your audience in mind! Search engines will know if you re trying to manipulate your webpages to what you think they ll want, so don t just list random keywords because you think it will improve results. Avoid keyword stuffing (see previous slide). In short, whatever sounds the most natural will work the best. If a person can understand your page, then so can a search engine.
Usually this means Shorter is better. The reality is: people don t spend a lot of time reading long webpages, unless they re doing research on a subject. Pare down your content. How long would you spend on a page with a lot of long, scrolling text?
Breaking up content Sometimes it can be difficult to shorten your pages and you may be having a hard time deciding what to cut out. If so, there are ways to manipulate it so that it s easier to read. Break up content using headers. This makes pages scannable and easy to read. You can also use our show/hide tabs to condense content. Use other types of content. Visuals such as photos and videos are effective and engaging ways of communicating your information.
Example of page with clear headers
Example of page with show/hide tabs
Using other types of content Content is, essentially, everything that you see on a page: not just text, but audio and visual material as well, such as photos and videos. It s good to use a mix of content types; supplementing your pages with images and videos makes them more engaging and visually appealing to your audience.
Why alt text is important Search engines cannot see images; they look at pages in terms of code. Your alternative text, or alt tag, should be descriptive of your image and may contain important keywords. This is not only important for SEO, but for web users who may not be able to view the image.
Links Make sure links are descriptive of the content they re linking to: When you link to other pages, the text that you click is called the anchor text. You will want this to be descriptive of your destination page. Terms like click here or simply link are not effective because it doesn t tell the search engine anything about what is on that page. Actionable items such as Learn more or Find tickets are more effective.
Best SEO & web writing practices in review
Most importantly: Write to your audience. Make sure your page has a clear focus. Keep content up to date. Use effective, descriptive keywords, and avoid stuffing. Don t be repetitive. Use internal linking to point to related pages. When in doubt, cut; be as succinct as possible. Write shorter page titles for better URLS.
Make sure links are descriptive of the pages they re going to. Break up long pages using headers. Supplement pages with videos and photos. Use alt tags and captions. Ask Web Services for Google Analytics on your pages to see if they re getting traffic. If you have social media, use it to promote your pages. Always check for proper spelling, grammar, and style! We re a college and need to be represented as such. Also, in terms of SEO, if something is misspelled, the search engine won t recognize the word.
Keep in mind There are no guaranteed ways to increase traffic to your site, but abiding by these best practices for SEO will increase your chances of getting more viewers. SEO is always evolving. Terms can become outdated. This is why it s important to keep checking your pages to make sure content is current. Be patient. SEO takes time. If you make edits to a webpage, it can take search engines time to recognize these changes. (Say you delete someone s name from a page because they no longer work at Emerson. If you type that person s name into the Emerson search bar, the pages they were on will still be listed for a while until the search engine adjusts.)
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Sources and additional resources MOZ.com: The Beginner s Guide to SEO: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo Google s SEO Starter Guide: http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/ webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf Web Services Guides & Templates: http://www.emerson.edu/about-emerson/offices-departments/ communications-marketing/web-services/guides-templates Editorial Style Guide: http://www.emerson.edu/about-emerson/offices-departments/ communications-marketing/creative-services/editorial-style-guide For an in-depth tutorial, watch Lynda.com s SEO Fundamentals with David Booth.