Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to a variety of strategic content choices that can help search engines better able to index your site. In addition to influencing search result rankings, many SEO techniques can also greatly aid in meeting accessibility standards as well as enhancing overall site usability and user experience. While SEO is a very complex topic with hundreds of factors that can influence search rankings, there are several simple, yet impactful techniques to keep in mind while creating new posts and pages.
Clear Site Hierarchy
Every page should be reachable from at least one link, and every page should be linked at some hierarchical level from the homepage. Search engine crawlers start at the homepage of your site and use links to traverse through its structure - orphaned pages and orphaned groups of pages (linked only to each other but not to the larger site hierarchy) are unlikely to be crawled.
Descriptive Link Text
When writing links, use keyword text that describes the content of that link, rather than generic terms like "Click Here". Search engines following keyword base links to pages containing content matching or relevant to that keyword are more likely to be ranked for that particular phrase. In addition to providing context for screen readers and other assistive devices, applying content strategy to link labels also contributes to overall user experience.
On-Page Keyword Usage
Historically keywords have been abused as a tactic to manipulate search engines into increasing relevancy scores for a given topic. Today's search engines are aware of these tactics and abuse of them normally does more harm than good. However, strategic, natural usage of common keywords relevant to the site's content can aid in how regular users interpret your site, as well as help crawlers understand the purpose of the content. For example, on a page describing a specific item or something using a proprietary name (Nike), use additional, generic terms to describe what that item is or does (athletic shoes). Avoid unnatural overuse or irrelevant keywords, as this can flag your content for keyword stuffing. While irrelevant to SEO value, selective bolding of keywords can also help users understand the purpose of the page, especially while skimming for interesting data.
Short, Human-friendly URLs
By default, WordPress generates the URL for pages and posts based on page/post title. In general, this is a good start, but some titles can become very long or include extraneous words. Most articles ('the', 'a', 'an', etc...) can be safely removed. Longer URLS should use hyphens (-) to separate words, though minimizing overall URL length is always better - short URLs are fully visible in search results and are much easier to copy and paste into emails, social media, etc...
For example, https://news.ncsu.edu/2016/09/next-generation-greenhouses-2016/ points to a story titled 'The Next Generation of Greenhouses May Be Power Plants". The default URL was changed from .../the-next-generation-of-greenhouses-may-be-power-plants/ to .../next-generation-greenhouses-2016 to make the URL shorter and more readable.
Don't Put Text in Images
Crawlers can't easily decipher text in images, so avoid placing non-decorative text or any text meant to be searchable into images. If absolutely necessary...
Provide Text Versions of Non-Text Content
For content that is non-text by nature, provide a text-based version that a web crawler could index. All images, regardless of whether they contain text or not, should have alt text filled out to give a text description of visual content. Text based transcripts should also be provided for video or audio content. In addition to being important for SEO value, this is also critical for meeting accessibility best practices.
Keep Content Unique
Repeated content across several pages can negatively impact rankings, as search engines are looking for unique content. If your site contains several pages with similar information, consider combining them, using headers or modules to separate content as appropriate. As an added bonus, users are more likely to find the information they're looking for if it's all contained in one space.
Page and Post Meta Information
UCOMM themes include additional fields on every post and page for handcrafting meta information. While much of this content does not directly influence rankings, it can greatly aid the exposure of that content once found via search or shared via social media. See the Post Metadata topic for specific information on each field.
Search Engine Optimization is an ever-changing field that can be difficult to predict given the proprietary nature of search engine crawler algorithms. Changes in SEO tactics are also not instantaneous - it can take several weeks for search engines to re-crawl a site, and longer still for search engine rankings to change. This is why creating good, accessible content on a consistent basis is important for influencing a site's search engine popularity.