Top Best Practices at a Glance
Pages must have unique page titles with fewer than 70 characters, including keywords. Place keywords at the beginning of the title, reading left to right.
Pages must have unique meta descriptions with fewer than 150 characters, including keywords. Keywords should be located at the beginning of the meta description.
Pages must have keywords, ideally 4 to 7. All keywords should appear in the page content.
Spelling and grammar must be correct in all metadata.
Alt Text must include a keyword phrase. It must also be added to every image.
A dynamic XML sitemap has been created by CivicPlus. To view it, add /XML to the end of your live site domain.
The XML sitemap has been submitted to search engines. Simply download and submit.
Page URLs consistently reflect the site's information architecture, including the keyword phrase with hyphens, such as /example-seo-page-name. CivicPlus hard-codes this structure on your site.
Redirects are in place for all previous URLs. This redirects visitors from old pages to new pages.
Create Unique, Accurate Page Titles
Be unique, and accurately describe the content of the page. Be brief but descriptive.
Reasoning: This is the first object the search picks up.
Write an Accurate Summary for the Page Description
Accurately summarize the page’s content, and use unique descriptions for every page. A title is usually a few words or a phrase, but the description may be a sentence or two or even a full paragraph.
Reasoning: This is the next item search looks for. It is often left blank because it is not required. However, it should include a summary description of the page. The Page Description appears in search engine results and helps users find what they are looking for.
Identify Keywords
Include common keywords that people use when searching for information on the page. This can include misspellings, former names, and former titles. For example, if a program's name recently changed, include the old name in the page keywords. This helps the page appear in search results when users search for the old name, even if it no longer appears in the page content.
Reasoning: Specifying keywords helps to improve the internal site search results.
Use Alt Text
Optimize your use of images by providing a detailed description of the picture for the Alt Text.
Reasoning: Providing detailed photo descriptions helps search engines better understand your images. It also helps users understand an image if it is broken or does not display.
Make Content King
SEO-friendly content contains many keywords and phrases. It also offers an easy read for the average internet user. Make sure words appear frequently, but naturally, throughout the text.
Reasoning: No matter what the search engine is looking for, your content must be relevant. Otherwise, your site search results will not be relevant either. Search engines cannot index external content, Flash, Silverlight, or images. Make sure the text on your page helps search engines find your content. Pages that match keywords or content more often appear higher in search results.