Content and SEO

Why Do We Need Good Content and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

High-quality content that meets user intent enhances engagement and positively influences SEO rankings. Search engines prioritize content that provides value and satisfies user needs.Good content ensures discoverability and relevance to search queries, increasing visibility and driving organic traffic to websites. It also helps build a cohesive and strong brand identity.

Slides on Content and SEO in Images


Identifying Your Audience

Internal Audience

Recognizing the unique information requirements of students and staff is essential for tailoring content that effectively addresses their specific concerns, such as academic policies and HR resources. Creating content that resonates with internal audiences fosters a sense of community and belonging, encouraging active participation and feedback from both students and staff members.

Establishing clear and accessible communication pathways ensures that internal audiences can easily find and engage with the information they need, enhancing overall satisfaction and productivity.

External Audience

Developing targeted content strategies that resonate with prospective students and community members is essential for fostering interest and building relationships, as it addresses their specific needs and aspirations while enhancing the institution's visibility and reputation.

How to Make Good Content

At its core, SEO is about good content. No matter how optimized your page is, if the content isn’t useful or accessible, it won’t perform well.

Content-First Design

Prioritize content over visuals to ensure the message is clear and connects with the audience’s needs.

Content Strategy

Organize content and overall site structure using templates for reusable structures. Emphasize a mobile-first approach.

Strategic Alignment

Content should align with institutional goals and target specific audiences. More on institutional policies will be discussed later.

User Experience

Intuitive navigation and scannable content are essential for improving user experience. Check navigation on mobile devices to ensure titles and menu lengths are appropriate. Information should be easily accessible with familiar navigation tools and language. Clear calls to action are vital, and soliciting feedback can provide valuable insights.

Storytelling and Community Building

Relatable narratives foster trust and engagement among stakeholders, including alumni, students, and the community. Consider using image choices and testimonial tools to enhance storytelling. Pitch stories to UMSL Daily to build overall content.

Once we understand our brand, audience, correct information, and what’s on our
sites, we can focus on optimization.

SEO Best Practices

Why is SEO important?
SEO is essential for improving online visibility, driving organic traffic, and enhancing user experience, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates and business growth.

What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing websites to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords and phrases.

Where is SEO applied?
SEO is applied across various online platforms, primarily on websites, blogs, and e-commerce sites, to enhance their discoverability on search engines like Google and Bing

When should SEO practices be implimented?
SEO is an ongoing process that should be implemented from the initial stages of website development and continuously refined as search algorithms and user behaviors evolve.

Who does SEO matter to?
SEO involves various stakeholders, including website owners, digital marketers, content creators, and SEO specialists who collaborate to improve search rankings.

How are SEO practices implimented?
The SEO process includes keyword research, on-page optimization, content creation, link building, and performance analysis to ensure effective search engine visibility.

The Importance of SEO

Increased visibility: SEO enhances a website's visibility in search engine results, making it easier for potential customers to find relevant products or services, thus driving organic traffic.

Cost-effective Marketing: Compared to traditional advertising, SEO offers a cost-effective strategy for attracting visitors, as it targets users actively searching for specific information, products, or services.

Improved User Experience: Effective SEO practices lead to better website structure and content quality, resulting in a more user-friendly experience that can increase engagement and conversion rates.

Search Engines

The Crawling Process
Search engines utilize automated bots, known as crawlers or spiders, to systematically browse the web, discovering and indexing new content from various websites for future retrieval.

Indexing Machanism
Once content is crawled, it is organized and stored in a massive database called an index, which allows search engines to quickly retrieve relevant information when users perform searches.

Ranking Algorithms
Search engines employ complex algorithms that evaluate numerous factors, such as relevance and authority, to determine the order in which indexed pages appear in search results for specific queries.

Off-Page / On-Page SEO
>The primary distinction between on-page and off-page SEO lies in their focus; on-page SEO targets elements within the website, while off-page SEO emphasizes external signals that contribute to a site's overall search engine performance.
Keywords

Understanding Keyword Relevance

>Identifying target keywords involves selecting terms that are highly relevant to your content and audience, ensuring that they align with user intent and search behavior for effective SEO.

Utilizing Keyword Research Tools

>Leverage tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush to discover popular keywords, analyze search volume, and assess competition, which aids in making informed keyword choices.

Long-Tail Keywords Stategy

Focus on long-tail keywords, which are more specific phrases that typically have lower competition, allowing for better targeting of niche audiences and higher conversion rates.

Short-tail Keyword:

Example: "digital camera"

Explanation: Short-tail keywords are typically one or two words, very broad, and have high search volume. They are highly competitive due to their general nature.  

Long-tail Keyword:

Example: "best waterproof digital camera for underwater photography"

Explanation: Long-tail keywords are longer phrases, more specific, and have lower search volume. They are less competitive but can be more targeted to specific user needs, often leading to higher conversion rates

Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs provide valuable insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords, enabling marketers to identify the most effective terms for their SEO strategy.

Content Quality and Readability

Importance of Clarity

High-quality content that is clear and readable not only engages users but also improves SEO rankings, as search engines prioritize content that provides value and is easily understood by readers.

Hierarchy and Structure

Proper use of header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) establishes a clear content hierarchy, improving readability for users and helping search engines understand the organization of your content, which can enhance SEO performance.

Avoiding Thin-Content

Examples of Thin Content:

1. A product page with only a product title, a low-quality image, and a "Buy Now" button.

  • This type of content is considered thin because it decreases the website authority leading to lower search engine rankings.

2. A blog post that is only 200 words long and offers no original insights or valuable information.

  • This type of content is considered thin because it doesn't provide enough substance to be useful to the reader. It's likely to be quickly skimmed or abandoned, leading to a high bounce rate and a negative user experience.

3. "These shoes are black and made of leather."

  • This description lacks depth and doesn't provide any compelling reasons for a customer to purchase the shoes. It doesn't address the customer's needs or desires, and it doesn't offer any unique selling points.

Search engines like Google prioritize high-quality, informative content. Thin content can harm your website's search engine rankings and make it difficult to attract organic traffic

Why Thin Content is Bad for SEO:

  • Poor User Experience: Thin content doesn't provide value to the user, leading to a negative user experience.
  • Low Search Engine Rankings: Search engines prioritize high-quality, informative content. Thin content is often seen as low-quality and can negatively impact your website's search engine rankings.
  • Reduced Website Authority: Thin content can harm your website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines.
  • Increased Bounce Rate: Users who quickly leave your website after landing on a page with thin content can increase your website's bounce rate, which is a negative signal for search engines.

 

A short recipe for writing clear and SEO-friendly paragraphs: 

  • Decide what the message of the paragraph is.
  • Get that message into a sentence.
  • Write supporting sentences that elaborate on the main message.
  • Assess the length of the paragraph and split it up if necessary.
  • Decide if a subheading is needed and write one if necessary.
  • Make sure to avoid using too many long sentences, passive voice, and check for the use of transition words.
  • Write at 5th - 8th grade level - clear, concise, accurate.
  • Use tools like Gemini and Perplexity to help assess and optimize your content.
Content Optimization Tools

Importance of Content Optimization

>Content optimization tools enhance the quality and relevance of your content, ensuring it aligns with user intent and search engine algorithms, ultimately improving visibility and engagement. Perplexity

Popular Tools

>Tools like Yoast SEO, SEMrush, and Grammarly provide features for keyword integration, readability analysis, and SEO scoring, helping content creators refine their work for better performance in search results.

Continuous Improvement

>Utilizing content optimization tools allows for ongoing analysis and adjustments based on performance metrics, ensuring that content remains effective and competitive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Performance Tracking

>Performance tracking tools such as Google Analytics and SEMrush are essential for measuring key metrics like organic traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates, enabling marketers to assess the effectiveness of their SEO strategies and make data-driven adjustments for continuous improvement.
Crosslinking and Internal Links

Definition of Crosslinking

>Crosslinking refers to the practice of linking to other pages within the same website, which helps distribute page authority and enhances user navigation, ultimately improving SEO performance.

Benefits of Internal Links

>Internal links improve site structure by guiding users to related content, increasing the time spent on the site, and reducing bounce rates, which are positive signals for search engines.

Best Practices for Linking

>Use descriptive anchor text for internal links, ensure a logical linking structure, and regularly audit links to maintain relevance and functionality, thereby optimizing the overall user experience and SEO effectiveness.
    >Do not use "click-here" text when hyperlinking. 

Photos and SEO

Use Descriptive Alt Text

Alt text is crucial for both SEO and accessibility. It provides a text description of the image for screen readers and search engines

When writing alt text:

  • Be concise but descriptive, accurately conveying the image content.
  • Keep it under 125 characters for optimal user experience.
  • Include relevant keywords naturally to boost SEO.
  • Avoid phrases like "image of" or "picture of" - just describe the content.
  • For example, instead of "Dog playing," use "Golden retriever playing fetch with a red ball in a park"

Optimize Image File Names

Use descriptive, keyword-rich file names for your images. This helps with SEO and provides additional context

Compress Images for Speed

Optimize image file sizes to improve page load times, which is important for both SEO and user experience

  • Compress images without sacrificing quality
  • Use appropriate file formats (JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics with transparency)
  • Implement responsive image sizing for different devices

Provide Context with Captions

Add captions to images when appropriate. This enhances accessibility and provides additional context for all users

Ensure High Color Contrast

Use high color contrast for text overlays on images. This improves readability for users with visual impairments and complies with WCAG guidelines

Test Accessibility

Regularly test your website's accessibility using tools and manual testing methods to ensure compliance

Things like time on page influence SEO, and how often someone backs out. If someone gets a huge image, and immediately backs out, it will lower our overall score just a tiny amount. Cumulatively, it has an effect.

 

Institutional Guidelines and Policies

Web Style Guide

Provides guidelines and best practices for creating accessible, well-structured web content that adheres to the university's branding standards.
 
Guidelines and Policies

UMSL's set of web and digital communication policies designed to ensure consistency, compliance, and effective management of the university's online presence.

Social Media Guidelines

Outlines the social media guidelines for UMSL, detailing best practices for managing accounts, engaging with audiences, and maintaining the university's brand and reputation online.

Grammar Guide

Serves as a grammar and style guide for the UMSL, primarily based on "The Associated Press Stylebook," offering assistance with common questions in producing printed and digital materials.

Additional Tools

Perplexity

Perplexity.ai is an AI-powered conversational search engine that provides real-time, accurate answers to user queries by leveraging large language models and citing sources from the web. In can also do simple tasks such as reordering lists and writing content at various reading levels.

Gemini

Gemini by Google is a platform that integrates various AI tools and services, providing users with enhanced capabilities for content creation, search, and interaction through advanced machine learning technologies.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI that utilizes natural language processing to generate human-like conversational responses and perform a variety of tasks, including answering questions and composing written content.

Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 applications, designed to enhance productivity and streamline workflows.

 

Keyword Generators

Keyword generators are tools that help users identify relevant keywords for their content and marketing strategies by analyzing search queries and generating keyword suggestions, which can enhance SEO performance and improve online visibility.

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