A Quick Guide to Writing Web Content That’s Easy
to Find
Search Engine Optimization
In general, there are two main forms of SEO: on-page and off-page.1.
Off-Page SEO
Google (and other search engines) wants proof your content is valuable and worthwhile. Though its system for determining precisely how some content rises to the top of search results is proprietary, studies and surveys show that more than any other factor, the authority and trustworthiness of your website determines how easy it will be to find your pages in a given search.
The more frequently your website is mentioned on or linked to from reputable, highly ranking websites, the higher your search ranking will become, and the better your content will perform in search.
In-linking Tools
Open Site Explorer
Type your domain into the search box on this site to learn which sites are linking to your own.
Assess these pages; disreputable websites that link to yours can hurt your site’s reputation.
Type in the domains of competitors’ websites or sites you respect to see who is linking to them.
Create a campaign to identify and contact sites you’d like to link to your own, if appropriate. With few exceptions, this is an exercise universities shouldn’t undertake. Examples of departments that might want to produce this type of Web campaign
a. Those in donor relations wanting to get the word out
b. Offices of news and public affairs / communications organizing campaigns to get university news and events in online media publications
*Please note: Search engines automatically highly rank sites with the .edu domain. If you do run an in-liking campaign, be very selective about which sites you’d like to approach. (This article on
Overstock.com’s manipulation of university webmasters offers a good lesson.)
2.
On-Page SEO
The first element to consider for on-page SEO is what keywords and / or keyword phrases you should use throughout your page.
Brainstorming, researching and selecting keywords 1. Identify your audience.
2. Determine what keywords your audience is using to find the things you offer. Brainstorm with co-workers, students and people outside your office to gauge opinions.
3. Use Google Adwords’ keyword tool to determine which of the keywords you want to use are most competitive, and of those, which are worth using in an effort to rise to the top of search engines.
4. Decide which of those chosen keywords are most valuable. The most valuable, high-impact keywords should be used predominantly on your index (or home) pages.
Keyword Tips
1. Use a maximum of 5 keywords and / or keyword phrases per page. Anything more than this will likely be irrelevant in helping your performance on search engines.
2. Be selective with your keywords:
a. Specific keywords generate more opportunities than generic ones. For example, “graduate degree in international studies” will better help searchers find precisely what you offer over the long run than “graduate degree.”
b. Ideally, you’ll want to select niche terms that generate a lot of search traffic but have relatively limited competition.
c. Consider competition over time. While the competition for a keyword or keyword phrase might be low today, consider that it might rise in the next year. Select
keywords that are unique to your program yet things visitors would likely type into a search engine to find your stuff.
d. Use your keywords throughout your pages’ body copy—particularly toward the top of the page. This is a tough juggling act; you want to use them in as natural a way as possible to ensure your page is easy to read.
e. Do not use the same keywords for every page on your site. You want to lead users to the information specific to each page. If more than one page has the same keywords, only choose one of those pages to optimize.
f. Enter the keywords in the “global_metadata_keywords” field in Serena Collage.
Keyword Testing Tools
Google PageRank Tool
Download this tool to save it to your browser’s toolbar. Each time you open a Web page, mouse over the Page Rank bar in the toolbar to see where the page ranks on Google’s 1-10 scale (1-10 being best).
Once you select a keyword, you can test it by
1. Placing the keyword or keyword phrase into the Google Search bar
2. Opening the Web pages of the top results and checking the Google Page Rank of each
If the page ranks of the site’s with the top results are equal or less than the Google PageRank of the page your creating, the keyword / keyword phrase likely has a shot at helping your page reach the top of a search engine.
Google’s Similar Pages and Backward Links tools
When you download the Google PageRank tool to your toolbar, you’ll also get these other cool research tools. The Similar Pages tool automatically generates a list of pages that offer relatively similar content to users. This is a great way to take a look at how competitors are using keywords and how their techniques are working for them. The Backward Links tool generates a list of pages that link to yours, similar to Open Site Explorer. This tool, however, is far less comprehensive than Open Site Explorer.
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
Use this tool to enter as many keywords / keyword phrases as you like and view Google’s estimates of how popular they are, how many other websites are competing for each and
how frequently Web visitors search for them. (The tool is free, but registration is required.)
How and Where to Implement Keywords on Your Site Metadata
The information about your page that doesn’t actually appear on the page, but is read by search engines (You enter this information through the Metadata tab in the CMS.)
Meta keywords
A selection of the words and phrases your users are most likely to enter into search engines to find your content
Title tag (Page title)
Every page must have a title tag. Browsers display this title at the top of the browser and the top of the tab the page appears in. It also usually appears in search engine results. Search engines place a lot of weight on the words in a title tag, so make sure your keywords are in the title whenever possible.
The most critical factor in determining how well a Web page will rank
Should be no longer than 65 characters (Google may not read anything longer) Should contain keywords as closely to the beginning of the title as possible
Should vary among pages—even if you’re writing a series of articles—to ensure each is uniquely discoverable via search
o Depending on the page, the title in your metadata should match the either the <h2> (smaller) headline at the top of the page, or the <h3> (larger) sub-headline.
o DU style for title tags is “Name of the page | Name of the site | University of Denver.” (For example, Maps and Directions | Commencement | University of Denver.) The CMS automatically enters “| University of Denver” at the end of the title, so you’ll only need to enter the parts of the title that apply to your site. If your site has many levels of pages and you feel that you need to be more specific for clarity’s sake, you can include a sublevel in your title: “Degree Requirements | MD in Podiatry | School of Medicine | University of Denver.” But that usually isn’t necessary.
o Enter the title tag in the “Description” field in the Metadata tab in Serena Collage.
Headline
The most prominently displayed piece of content on the page Should be concise and contain a few of your targeted keywords
See” h2 tag” in the DU Web Content Style Guide for style information. URLs
Generally populated by your page title
If not populated by your page title, should contain searchable keywords rather than a meaningless string of numbers and letters
Should be concise and descriptive
Should separate keywords with hyphens (not underscores) Should contain no special characters (e.g., “?” “!”) Should generally be lowercased (for readability) Meta description
The page description shown within a search engine’s results—generally an abstract (Note: search engines may show other portions of content within the body of your Web page should they be particularly relevant to a searcher’s query.)
Must quickly and accurately explain what the page offers and why users should care (While Google doesn’t necessarily scan this description for keywords, it’s still a good idea to use keywords throughout this to ensure important terms show up.)
It should be a straightforward explanation of the content on the page, including
information that meets your users’ needs. (For example: “A complete list of DU’s more than 100 student clubs and social organizations. You can join a club to go ice climbing or kayaking, debate politics, or kick your career into gear.)
Put the most important information in the first few words, because search engines limit how many characters of the description display.
Enter the description in the “global_metadata_description” field in Serena Collage.
Body copy
Place your most valuable keywords and / or keyword phrases toward the top of your page.
Repeat each chosen keyword / keyword phrase at least two to three times throughout your page (keyword density).
Alt tag
Provides short, descriptive captioning information for photos
Should contain one or two keywords / keyword phrases (This makes it easier for these photos to show up in an image search.)
Because this text shows up in place of photos when certain browsers are unable to load them—or for the visually impaired—be sure your text accurately and appropriately describes that missing image.
