Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Considerations
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical component of building a successful online presence. Whether you're managing a course portfolio, a student project, or a departmental site, optimizing your content for search engines can significantly improve visibility, engagement, and credibility. Below are three practices to help you develop an SEO-friendly website.
High-Quality Content
At the heart of effective SEO is high-quality content. Search engines prioritize content that is original, relevant, and useful to readers. This means your website should offer more than just surface-level information. It should provide meaningful insights that address the needs or interests of your target audience.
Know your audience and consider their perspective first. What questions are they asking? How detailed do we need to be? How can your content provide answers in a clear and engaging way? Be able to answer these questions.
Focus on writing with authenticity, accuracy, and purpose. High-quality content not only improves your search rankings but also builds trust with your audience.
Strategic Keyword Strategy
Keywords are the terms and phrases users type into search engines to find information. To optimize your site, research which keywords are relevant to your topic and incorporate them thoughtfully throughout your content. This includes:
- Page titles and meta descriptions
- Image alt tags (for accessibility and SEO)
- URL slugs (the user-friendly, descriptive part of a web address that follows the domain name representing the specific page or content) and internal navigation
The goal is to use keywords naturally. Avoid overusing them or forcing them into sentences where they don’t belong. A well-planned keyword strategy helps search engines understand your content and improves the likelihood that your pages will appear on the first page of search results.
Internal and External Links
Linking is another element of SEO. Internal links connect different pages within your own site, guiding users to related content and helping search engines crawl and index your pages. For example, if you're creating a new page for a course, you might link to another page on your site about related faculty and staff.
External links, on the other hand, point to credible sources outside your website. When used appropriately, they demonstrate that your content is well-researched and connected to reputable information. Always link to trustworthy, high-quality websites that enhance your content. Review these links periodically to ensure they are still relevant.