december 3, 2008 search engine optimization megan mcdermott communications & public affairs...
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December 3, 2008
Search Engine Optimization
Megan McDermottCommunications & Public Affairs
Lauren HarrisonHousing & Residences
Hello!Hello!
Outline
Part I: SEO Basics1. How search engines work2. UW search tools3. Defining and implementing keywords4. The importance of links
Part II: Technical Details1. Changing URLs2. Blocking search engines3. Using SEO tools
Examples
How search engines work
• “Bots” follow links around the web• Index URLs• Revisit URLs periodically • Google uses over 100 factors
to rank pages• Most important:
– Titles– Headers– Links
Search at UW
• Two engines:– “Old” search: Google– “New” search: Google results
with Yahoo backup + people search, manual keyword index
– Various other tools (IST, library, math)
Why are the results like this?
• Results are straight from Google/Yahoo• UW websites are often poorly optimized
– Poor use of keywords– Poor linking practices– Old pages left on servers– Old URL’s not redirected or redirected
incorrectly
This is not good! I’ll do the best I can …
This is not good! I’ll do the best I can …
Defining Keywords
• If someone was searching for your page, which words would they use?
• Which words do you want to rank highly for?
• Which words should you rank highest for?
• Create a list of keywords that best represent your website – think about different variables of your keywords
What is this page about?
What is this page about?
Writing good headlines• Always use your <h> tags• Ensure your keywords are included in the headline• Be clear and specific• Different from journalistic style – short and sweet, not
wordy and creative• Headings should compliment your <title> tags
Writing good title tags
• HTML <title> goes in the <head> section• Displayed in search results• Be specific without being wordy (max. 65 characters)• Avoid giving more than one page the same title • Use the keyword first, followed by the department,
then University of WaterlooExample:
Grad Housing – Housing and Residences | University of Waterloo
• In Contribute: Format > Page Properties
Keywords in page text
• Keywords should appear in the page text– If your page is about Grad Housing then the term grad
housing needs to be used in you text some where.
• Less important keywords and variations of your keywords should be used in the text
• Always write for people first, it needs to sound natural. If you think you have over-used your keywords in your text, then you probably have!
• Don’t try to hide keywords
Meta tags
• Have become less important in search rankings• Meta descriptions are shown in search results • It is better to have no meta description than a
description that doesn't describe that pageExample: Keyword | Department – A brief description of
what your page is about. (max. 150 characters)
Images
• Use the ALT attribute (useful in identifying what the image is about, but also helpful to the visually impaired)
• Be descriptive. Use your keywords. Do not leave it blank!
• Example: alt= “6 students sitting in front of REV”• Keep your keywords in mind while naming your
images. – Good image name: rev-double-room.jpg– Bad image name: DSC00_003.jpg
• This is not only good SEO practice, but good web building practice in general
Friendly URLs
• When naming your folders and pages try to use your keywords
• Never leave spaces or special characters in your file names
• To separate our words use a hyphen – • Do not use an underscore _
GOOD: housing.uwaterloo.ca/grad-housing/grad-application.html
BAD: housing.uwaterloo.ca/grad_housing/grad_application.html
BAD: housing.uwaterloo.ca/gradhousing/grad application.html
Internal links
• Links inside the site (e.g. navigation menus, in-text links)
• All pages should be linked from somewhere • Doesn't have to be on the navigation menu• More important pages should be linked to more often
or from more important pages• If a page is easy for a search engine to find it's easy
for people to find too• Anchor text (words displayed for the link) is important
for ranking
Inbound links
• These are links pointing to your site from other sites • Important for discovery and ranking• Each link is a “vote”• Where to get inbound links?
Part IITechnical details
What to do when URLs change
• Remember: search engines index URLs• Don't change urls; try to plan ahead• Redevelop new content at the same URLs• Check for file not found errors and redirect
using .htaccess– 301 Redirect means the file has been moved
permanently– Be careful: bad code can bring down your
site
• Contact other sites linking to you
Where did that page go?
Where did that page go?
Using .htaccess
• Linux/Apache servers only • A simple text file• Turn on hidden files in your file manager• Redirect folder:
• Redirect single file:
• More information:– http://www.webweaver.nu/html-tips/web-redirection.shtml
Redirect 301 /folder http://yoursite.uwaterloo.ca/newfolder
Redirect 301 /folder/file.html http://yoursite.uwaterloo.ca/newfolder/file.html
Blocking search engines
• Search engines will index any URLs they know about• Including old URLs
– Old pages should be removed from the website or marked as historical
– Redirect URLs to the appropriate page
• Search engines shouldn't find anything that isn't linked, BUT:
• Once they know about a URL they will index it until you tell them not to
Blocking search engines with meta tags
• The meta noindex tag tells search engines not to include that page in results
• Goes in <head>• Useful if you want page to be available but not
included in search results<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
Blocking search engines with robots.txt
• Disallow in robots.txt• Block all robots from the entire site:
• Block all robots from a particular folder:
• More information: http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
User-agent: *
Disallow: /folder/
Blocking search engines
If there's something you really don't want search engines to index it shouldn't be on the website at all.
Removing pages from the search results
• Google takes time to discover that pages have been deleted
• If page has moved, use .htaccess to redirect to the new URL
• If page is removed completely, either: – Wait– Block with meta noindex and/or robots.txt– Submit a removal request using Google Webmaster
Tools
Using Search Tools
• Which pages are indexed?
• Which sites link to me?
Google site:http://yoursite.uwaterloo.ca
Yahoo linkdomain:http://yoursite.uwaterloo.ca
Using Search Tools
• Google Webmaster Tools www.google.com/webmasters/tools/– Sign up with Google account – Follow instructions to verify your site
• Tools available:– File not found (404) errors– Search terms used– Crawl stats– Duplicate title tags & meta descriptions– Remove URLs– + more
This is some of what I know about your site
This is some of what I know about your site
Template adjustments
• Optional: make page title <h1> and site title <h2> or lower on all but the home page; ensure CSS is updated to match
Examples
• Bad:– Graduate Scholarships
& Financial Aid– Admissions– Undergraduate
Calendar– Course descriptions– Application process– ELPE– Promissory note
• Good:– Exam schedule– Distance education
+ Many more!
Popular search terms at UW
1. schedule of classes 2. bookstore3. watcard4. exam schedule 5. quest6. important dates7. map8. library9. housing10. campus maphttp://web.uwaterloo.ca/search/results.php
Additional Resources
• Google Webmaster Guidelines: www.google.com/support/webmasters/
• Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide:www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
• SEOmoz Beginner's Guide to SEO:www.seomoz.org/article/beginners-guide-to-search-engine-optimization
• SEOmoz Google Ranking Factors:www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors
Advanced Resources
• Google Webmaster bloggooglewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/
• SEOmoz blog www.seomoz.org/blog
• SEO Bookwww.seobook.com/
• Webmaster World forumwww.webmasterworld.com/
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