Search Engine Optimization with Jahia

Search Engine Optimization with Jahia Thomas Messerli 12 Octobre 2009 Copyright 2009 by Graduate Institute

Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary...3 2. About Search Engine Optimization...4 3. Optimizing the Title Tag...5 3.1 What is the Title Tag?...5 3.2 Why is the Title Tag Important?...5 3.3 How to Write a Title Tag?...6 3.4 How to Add or Edit a Title Tag in Jahia?...7 4. Optimizing the Meta Description Tag...8 4.1 What is the Meta Description Tag?...8 4.2 Why is the Meta Description Tag Important?...8 4.3 How to Write a Meta Description Tag?...9 4.4 How to Add or Edit a Meta Description Tag in Jahia?...10 5. Optimizing the Meta Keyword Tag...13 5.1 What is the Meta Keyword Tag?...13 5.2 Is the Meta Keyword Tag Important?...13 5.3 How to Write a Meta Keyword Tag?...14 5.4 How to Add or Edit a Meta Description Tag in Jahia?...15 6. Optimizing URLs...17 6.1 What is the URL?...17 6.2 Why is it Important to Optimize URLs?...17 6.3 How to Write a URL?...17 6.4 How to Edit the URL in Jahia?...18 Copyright 2009 by Graduate Institute

1. Executive Summary Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quantity or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines. Typically, the higher a site appears in the search results list, the more visits it will receive from the search engine. A great number of factors of differential weight are considered by search engines to rank web pages. This manual, search engine optimization with Jahia, focuses only on the following factors: title tags, meta description tags, meta keyword tags and URLs. Optimizing Title Tags The title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. It is the single most important factor influencing the ranking on search engine result pages. The title tag should be unique to each page, accurately describe the content of each page and it should be relatively short (i.e. around 10-12 words). For pages of the institute, the title tag should follow this format: The Graduate Institute, Geneva - plus a brief description of the page s content» See heading 3 for more information on the title tag and how it can be managed in Jahia Optimize Meta Description Tags The meta description tag of a page gives search engines a summary of what the page is about. These descriptions may be used on search engine result pages and may thus have a considerable effect on whether and how often users click-though to your web pages. The meta description tag should be unique for each page and accurately summarize the content of a page in 2-3 sentences.» See heading 4 for more information on the meta description tag and how it can be managed in Jahia Optimize Meta Keyword Tags The meta keywords tag allows the webmaster to provide additional text for crawler-based search engines to index along with normal text on the web page. The meta keyword tag is generally not considered very important anymore by search engines but may nonetheless be used to achieve best results. The meta keyword tag should be a list of at the maximum 20-25 keywords relating to the content of each specific page. Repetitions of keywords should be avoided.» See heading 5 for more information on the meta keyword tag and how it can be managed in Jahia Optimize URLs The URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and corresponds to the unique, global file name of documents on the Internet. Creating short and descriptive file names helps to increase usability and the ranking in search engines. The file name, i.e. the page URL key in Jahia, should ideally consist of no more than 1-3 hyphenated keywords.» See heading 6 for more information on the URL and how it can be managed in Jahia How to Proceed with Search Engine Optimization Ideally, the aspects explained in this manual should be taken into consideration when new pages are created in Jahia. This is not always possible or feasible though. In case many pages have to be optimized, it is appropriate to focus on the most important pages first. Hence, proceed from the homepage, to overview pages and than deeper into the information hierarchy of the website. Please note that the course pages may represent particularly valuable opportunities to increase traffic through search engine optimization. In going about search engine optimization, proceed iteratively and be practical, i.e. do not aim for the optimum but for the feasible. If you have to prioritize, proceed with optimizations following this order: title tag, URL, meta description tag and finally the meta keyword tag. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 3

2. About Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quantity or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Typically, the earlier or higher a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. Traffic by search engines is usually an important and often the dominant source of traffic to a website (referring websites and direct traffic are other important sources of traffic). Depending on the type of website and organization, traffic driven by search engines may exceed 50% and in some cases much higher levels. The optimization of traffic through search engines is therefore an important activity for most if not all webmasters. The factors influencing the position in search engine result pages can broadly be classified into onpage and off-page factors. On-page factors refer primarily to location and frequency of content on the website. Off-page factors refer primarily to the quantity and quality of links pointing to a website. This manual will only focus attention on the following important on-page factors: - title tag - meta description tag - meta keyword tag - URL Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of a website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on a website's user experience and performance in organic search results. This manual will give guidelines and recommendations on how to achieve results efficiently. Webmasters have an inherent interest in maximizing traffic to a website and may thus employ techniques to manipulate search engines in order to achieve higher rankings. Such techniques, also known as black hat SEO or Spamdexing, use methods such as link farms, keyword stuffing and article spinning that degrade both the relevance of search results and the user-experience of search engines. Search engines scan for websites that employ these techniques in order to remove them from their indices. Such techniques should therefore be avoided at all costs. This manual will also indicate which aspects or methods should be avoided in the process of search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 4

3. Optimizing the Title Tag 3.1 WHAT IS THE TITLE TAG? A title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. Ideally, a unique title for each page of the website should be created. The title tag is usually found somewhere at the top in the source code of each html document: The content of the title tag is used on multiple occasions. The content of the title tag defines the standard bookmark text and the page's title will appear at the top of the browser window: Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the title tag is generally used as the first and clickable line on search engine result pages (notice that the keywords in the title matching the user s search terms appear in bold): 3.2 WHY IS THE TITLE TAG IMPORTANT? The title tag is probably the single most important factor influencing the ranking of a web page on search engine result pages. Indeed, only focusing attention on the title tags of web pages can often generate quick and noticeable results in terms of search engine rankings. In addition, the content of the title tag appears in the clickable link on the search engine results page (see above). Optimizing the title tag may thus not only increase the ranking but also the clickthrough rate. In sum, optimizing the title tag is one of the most important steps in order to achieve a higher ranking in search engines. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 5

3.3 HOW TO WRITE A TITLE TAG? When you create a web page in Jahia, it will automatically set the name of the page as the title tag. The page name is the short text appearing also in the navigation column to the left. The page name usually has to be very short, e.g. 1-3 words, in order to fit into the navigation column. As such, the page name in Jahia does not represent a very good title tag and there is considerable potential for optimizations. What should an optimized title tag look like? The following suggestions are of help in creating effective title tags: Use The Graduate Institute, Geneva - at the beginning of the title tag, then add specific keyword phrases for each page. It makes sense to use the abbreviated name of the institute (not the full name though, as this would be too long) at the beginning of the title tag to help build a brand and further coherence between the different pages of the institute s website. It is also useful to add Geneva after the institute s name, since the city is closely related to the importance and reputation of the institute. Accurately describe the page's content: Choose a title that effectively communicates the topic of the page's content. A good starting point is always to consider the visible text on the respective web page. Avoid choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page or using default or vague titles like "Course" or "Programme". Create unique title tags for each page: Each of your pages should ideally have a unique title tag, which helps search engines know how the page is distinct from the others on your site. Avoid using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages. Use relatively brief, but descriptive titles: Titles can be both short and informative. As a rule of thumb, you may attempt to use 10-12 words in total. If the title is very long, search engines may show only a portion of it in the search result. Even though there are no specific rules enforced by search engines, avoid using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users. Also avoid stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags. Find below a few examples of title tags with the corresponding URLs: - The Graduate Institute, Geneva - Master in International Affairs ( http://graduateinstitute.ch/mia ) - The Graduate Institute, Geneva - Executive Courses, Training and Degree Programmes in International Relations ( http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/executive.html ) - The Graduate Institute, Geneva - International Executive Master in Development Studies (IMAS) ( http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/executive/masters_executive/development-studies_en.html ) - The Graduate Institute, Geneva - Political Science Academic Unit ( http://graduateinstitute.ch/political-science/ ) - The Graduate Institute, Geneva - The Study of International Politics II: International Political Economy ( http://graduateinstitute.ch/political-science/international-political-economy-2009.html ) Please note that the more specific search engine optimization is in terms of combinations of keywords, the more effective it tends to be, i.e. the more traffic can be driven to a website through search engines. Hence, overview pages of academic programmes and especially course pages tend to be interesting opportunities for search engine optimizations. The optimization of those course pages can also be implemented relatively efficiently, since the respective title tag consists frequently only of the institutional prefix to which the complete or modified course name is added. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 6

3.4 HOW TO ADD OR EDIT A TITLE TAG IN JAHIA? Several simple steps are required to add or edit a title tag in Jahia: 1. Navigate to the page for which you would like to add or edit the title tag (remember that the title tag for any given page is always visible as the name at the top of the browser window, see above) 2. Once you are on the page to be optimized, log in to Jahia and go to the edit mode 3. Click on the Page icon and then Update: 4. A popup window will load, in which you can then add or edit the title tag in the field Page Title : 5. After adding or editing the title tag, click either Ok or Apply 6. Click on Workflow and publish the changes Please note that it may take search engines several days or sometimes weeks to crawl and index the content of pages. Hence, it may take some time before you see your changes in search engine result pages. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 7

4. Optimizing the Meta Description Tag 4.1 WHAT IS THE META DESCRIPTION TAG? A page's meta description tag gives search engines a summary of what the page is about. Whereas a page's title may be a few words or a phrase, a page's meta description tag might be a sentence or two or a short paragraph. Like the <title> tag, the description meta tag is placed within the <head> tag of on a HTML document. 4.2 WHY IS THE META DESCRIPTION TAG IMPORTANT? Meta description tags are important because search engines might use this information as descriptive snippets on search engine result pages (notice that the keywords in the meta description tag matching the user s search terms appear in bold). Note that search engines may use the information in the meta description tag but may also use a relevant section of your page's visible text if it is matching up well with a user's query. Adding description meta tags to each page is always a good practice since it allows a webmaster to control to a certain extent how web pages appear on search engine result pages. These descriptions have therefore often a considerable effect on whether and how often users click-though to your web page Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 8

4.3 HOW TO WRITE A META DESCRIPTION TAG? Accurately summarize the page's content: Write a description that would both inform and interest users if they saw your description meta tag as a snippet in a search result. Avoid: - writing a description meta tag that has no relation to the content on the page, - using very short or generic descriptions like "Course page" or "PhD programme of the institute", - filling the description with only keywords. Use unique descriptions for each page: Having a different description meta tag for each page helps both users and search engines, especially in searches where users may bring up multiple pages on your domain (e.g. searches using the site: operator). If your site has dozens or hundreds of pages, hand-crafting every description meta tag may probably not be feasible. In this case, you could work with templates for the meta description tag. For instance, you could use one specific sentence about the web page, followed by a generic sentence for the website section the particular page is located in. Avoid using a single meta description tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages Style and length of the information in the meta description tag: In contrast to the title tag, the information on the meta description tag should be complete sentences. In terms of the length, there are no specific or enforced lengths for the meta description tag. As a rule of thumb you may aim to have 2-3 average sized sentences in your meta description tag. Avoid copy and pasting the entire content of the document into the description meta tag. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 9

4.4 HOW TO ADD OR EDIT A META DESCRIPTION TAG IN JAHIA? Several simple steps are required to add or edit a meta description tag in Jahia: 1. Navigate to the page for which you would like to add or edit the meta description tag 2. Once you are on the page to be optimized, log in to Jahia and go to the edit mode 3. Click on Page settings : 4. A popup window will load, then click on Metadata in the popup window: 5. The popup will reload, then click Description in the navigation to the left: Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 10

6. The popup window will reload, then click on Source in the editor window: Please note that copying directly in the editor field is not recommended since you may be copying formatting instructions (such as font family and size) into the editor as well. Formatting instructions are highly dysfunctional in meta description tags and should therefore be avoided. Unfortunately, this is a configuration problem of Jahia which makes it necessary to go to the Source mode in order to add or edit information. 7. In the Source mode, you can now add and edit the information for the meta description tag: You can determine whether you are in the Source mode by checking the editing icons in the MS Word-like navigation bar (if the icons are shaded and inactive, your are in the Source mode). If you see html commands in the form of <p>, </p> or similar so-called tags, these should be deleted. It may therefore be preferable to write the meta description tag in an external application such as MS Word or Text Editor and then paste the information into the editor. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 11

7. After adding or editing the meta description tag, click Ok or Apply Before clicking Ok or Apply, be sure to check that no html tags such as <p> or </p> are visible in the Source mode of the editor window. 8. Click on Workflow and publish the changes As with the title tag, please note that it may take search engines several days or sometimes weeks to crawl and index the content of pages. Hence, it may take some time before you see your changes in search engine result pages. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 12

5. Optimizing the Meta Keyword Tag 5.1 WHAT IS THE META KEYWORD TAG? The meta keywords tag allows the webmaster to provide additional text for crawler-based search engines to index along with normal text on the web page. The information in the meta keyword tag is a list of keywords or keyword phrases relating to the content of the respective web page. Like the <title> tag and the meta description tag, the meta keyword tag is placed within the <head> tag of on a HTML document. Unlike the title tag or the meta description tag, the meta keyword tag is only of relevance to search engine robots crawling the web page. The respective content is nowhere visible to human users. 5.2 IS THE META KEYWORD TAG IMPORTANT? At the very beginning of the Internet age, meta keyword tags were a useful tool for search engines to help them determine how to rank sites in their search results. However, webmasters began to abuse the meta description tag to manipulate search engines in order to generate more traffic to their websites. Over time, search engines have reacted and afforded less and less weight to the meta keyword tag, and more and more weight was given to other factors such as the title tag and the actual content of the pages. Today the meta keyword tag is generally not considered important anymore by search engines and some search engines are even ignoring the tag altogether. Hence, why bother with meta keyword tags? As search engines employ a wide variety of factors to calculate site rankings, optimizing a page to rank high is a cumulative effort. Webmasters should therefore use every tool at their disposal, including the meta keyword tag. At best, using the meta keyword tag will help your ranking in those search engines that still read them. At worst, the meta keyword tag will not hurt your ranking (unless you actually stuff the tag with keywords, i.e. repeat the same keywords over and over). However, since it is the least useful of the meta tags described in this manual, you may omit the keyword tag if you have to optimize a great number of pages. An alternative is to post the same selection of keywords in the meta keyword tag of a range of pages (please note that this stands in contrast to the aforementioned title tags and meta description tags, information in those pages should always be page-specific). Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 13

5.3 HOW TO WRITE A META KEYWORD TAG? The information in the meta description tag is generally a simple list of keywords or keyword phrases. Keywords may be separated by a comma or by a simple space. Avoid repeating the same keywords. Variations of a keyword (e.g. singular/plurals, upper/lower case, different tenses) may be used in different keyword phrases. However, even if you do so, avoid using the respective variations more than three or four times within the whole tag. Scan the previously created title and meta description tags for relevant keywords and keyword phrases. The first words in any tag are assumed to be given more weight, so these are most important. Scan the normal text of the website for relevant keyword phrases. You may go through each paragraph of text on the page and copy and paste any important phrases into the meta keyword tag. Only use the most important keywords of each page in the meta keyword tag. Since the importance of the meta keyword is lower than other factors, you should only use the most important keywords and keyword phrases in the meta keyword tag. Please note also that Jahia limits the length of the meta keyword field to 250 characters, which corresponds roughly to about 25 average keywords. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 14

5.4 HOW TO ADD OR EDIT A META DESCRIPTION TAG IN JAHIA? Several simple steps are required to add or edit a meta keyword tag in Jahia: 1. Navigate to the page for which you would like to add or edit the meta keyword tag 2. Once you are on the page to be optimized, log in to Jahia and go to the edit mode 3. Click on Page settings : 4. A popup window will load, then click on Metadata in the popup window: 5. The popup will reload, then click on Keywords in the navigation to the left: Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 15

6. The popup window will reload, you can then add or edit the meta keyword tag in the field Keywords : As indicated, please note that Jahia restricts the length of the information entered in this field to about 250 characters. This corresponds to approximately 25 average keywords. 7. After adding or editing the meta keyword tag, click Ok or Apply 8. Click on Workflow and publish the changes Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 16

6. Optimizing URLs 6.1 WHAT IS THE URL? The URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is thus the unique, global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. 6.2 WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO OPTIMIZE URLS? Creating descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on a website serves primarily three purposes: - it helps to organize the website better and increases usability, - it facilitates crawling of websites by search engines robots (technical access), - it also allows to include important keywords in the URL which search engines pick up and consider in their ranking algorithm. Compare for instance the following two URLs of web pages on the Graduate Institute s website: The first example contains an automatically assigned number by Jahia which is useful neither to human users nor to search engines. In contrast, the second example shows an optimized URL structure. The optimized URL is useful to human users in that it shows a logical structure and may ideally allow for URL-navigation of the website. In addition, the latter example also suits search engines since the respective URL contains several keywords that are used by search engines. 6.3 HOW TO WRITE A URL? - URLs, i.e. file names should be kept short and descriptive. - Use 1-3 keywords to describe the content of each specific page. - Use a hyphen - to separate keywords. - Keep in mind that file names may become folder names if you add subpages to a page. Hence, be more stringent on keeping file names short, the higher up a page is located in the information hierarchy of a website. If you have long file names high up in the information hierarchy of a website, this may produce very long URLs the deeper you go in a website structure. - Please note that Jahia requires a unique file name across the entire website. Hence, be sure to apply unique keywords or keyword combinations. In case you have similar pages, add a useful and unique separator add the end. This may for instance be relevant for course pages. In this case, you may for example add -2009 at the end of the filename to uniquely identify the file. Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 17

6.4 HOW TO EDIT THE URL IN JAHIA? Several simple steps are required to edit the URL in Jahia. Please note that the file name is labeled Page URL key in Jahia: 1. Navigate to the page for which you would like to add or edit the meta description tag 2. Once you are on the page to be optimized, log in to Jahia and go to the edit mode 3. Click on Page settings : 4. A popup window will load, you may then edit the file name in the field Page URL key : As indicated above, filenames should ideally consist of no more than 1-3 hyphenated keywords. 5. After editing the file name, click Ok or Apply 6. Click on Workflow and publish the changes Search Engine Optimization with Jahia 18