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BLOX Search Engine Optimization

Table of Contents

Overview

Extensive research on Search Engine Optimization was done prior to the design of BLOX CMS.  As a result we found the following to be important factors for SEO that we have incorporated into the BLOX software and our template design.

  • A unique and permanent URL to the content.
  • Content should never be duplicated
  • Title tags are critical to the relevance (that’s what the search engines use to determine what the page is about)
  • Use real headline tags (H1, H2) to display headlines instead of font tags. This helps the search engines know what the key content portions are.
  • Placement of BLOX keyword tags – which generate topic pages.

301 Redirects

Traditionally when a site that is redesigned launches, there is a temporary drop off in SEO because old links no longer work.  For example: the url of an article that Google indexes may be different on the new site from the old site.

To combat the SEO drop off, we have added logic to our 404 template that detects the article that is trying to be accessed and automatically directs the user (or bot) to the new url of that article.  Search engines will typically re-index the content at the new url(s) within a couple weeks of launch.  This is the best way to handle the new url issue in regards to search engines.

For more information TownNews.com Archive Policy - Click here.

On-Page SEO Factors

On-page SEO factors are those that can affect a sites SEO through the design/code markup of the site.  On page factors are all taken into account in the template design of BLOX sites:

  • Title Tag
    • Blue bar across the top of your browser
    • Title of the page on search results pages
    • TownNews.com utilizes the article headline & section into the title tag by default.

Your site motto (which can be set under Settings / Site / Motto) is also injected into the title. Add your most SEO-rich words here (like Example County News) to help search engines determine what the page is about.

  • Label
    • Replaces a lengthy title of an Asset or a Collection of Assets.
    • Adds another layer to the SEO process.
    • Increases the viability of SEO.
    • Helps keep the frontend presentation clean and legible.

The Label can be added under Settings / URLs. Edit the URL and click on Page Properties.

  • Description Tag
    • Does not hold much weight for site ranking purposes
    • Generally snippet of text that shows under the title of the page on search results pages
    • Google often ignores description and generates its own

The Description for individual sections can be modified under Settings / URLs. Edit each section and type in a relevant description for each section, along with relevant keywords.

  • Body Copy
    • Should have Keywords throughout
  • Heading Tags (h1 - h6)
    • should contain Keywords
    • TownNews.com places article headlines in h1 tags

Rewriting Headlines

Users posting content should consider rewriting headlines for the web to increase SEO.  Headlines should contain keywords whenever possible.

Bad Headlines:

  • City Council Approves Budget - Tells search engine nothing about what city? Or what budget?
  • Flood Coverage - For where?
  • Governor Caught in Money Scandal - Which Governor? Which state?

Better Headlines:

  • Moline City Council Approves Budget - Search engine users are more likely to search for Moline City Council than just City Council
  • Cedar Rapids Flood Coverage - Search engine users are more likely to search for Flood Coverage + city
  • Illinois Governor Blagojevich Caught in Money Scandal - Using the name Blagojevich helps your ranking for users searching for him.  You'll also have increased ranking for users searching for Illinois Governor

Keyword Tagging

Users posting content should regularly be keyword tagging content for improved SEO.  Keyword tags added to articles will appear in tag clouds at the bottom of that article.  If for example, an article is tagged Barack Obama it will appear at the bottom of the article in a tag cloud and will be clickable to a page that shows other content tagged Barack Obama. 

Best Practice:  It is recommended to have at least 5 keyword tags on each asset to improve SEO.

Link Juice/Page Rank

The terms Link Juice and Page Rank are interchangeable.  Essentially PageRank is a measure of the quantity and quality of inbound links to your site.  The reason search engines use this metric in determining rankings is the idea that, if a lot of other sites are linking to your page, then it must be pretty important.  The quality of the link also is a determining factor in the ranking.  If CNN.com links to you, it holds a lot more weight then if john-does-blog.com links to you as CNN.com has far more people linking to it.

Some SEO industry experts speculate that PageRank is as high as 70-80% of the factor that Google takes into consideration when determining rankings.  Major search engines however do not disclose algorithms (calculations they use to determine which sites rank higher for certain terms) so it is hard to know for sure the exact amount.

For really competitive keywords, the ranking sites have millions of links from other sites.  For non-competitive keywords, very few links (as few as 1) may garner you the top spot in the search results.

FAQ's

The most frequently asked questions regarding SEO.

FAQ: Can we use our headline or keyword in our story URL's?

BLOX will assign a random-digit as a unique identifier to be used in the assets URL. This ensures that all articles have a single URL, no matter how many days, or sections that an article is posted in.

Sites may additionally choose to insert asset titles into asset URLs (Settings -> Site) which inserts important words from the title into the URL. Numbers and low priority words are omitted because they may change during development of the article.

If a site changes their headline, their URL will change - but the previous title will 301 redirect to the current asset page and title. Note that this may cause minor repetitions in statistics or other third-party applications that track uniqueness of articles based on their URL.

FAQ: What are the most important factors for SEO?

The important factors for SEO are:

  • A unique and permanent URL to the content.
  • Content should never be duplicated.
  • Title tags are critical to the relevance (this is what the search engines use to determine what the page is about).
  • Use headline tags (H1) to display headlines instead of font tags, spans or divs. This helps the search engines know what the key content portions are. (Standard BLOX templates do this automatically.)
  • Placement of BLOX keyword tags.
  • Citations from other sites of authority: When sites link to you in reference to a topic, search engines give you PageRank in that topical area. Work with your local area organizations or bloggers and encourage them to link to your site. 

FAQ: How can we fill out meta keywords and descriptions?

According to Google and other search engines, meta keywords and descriptions are heavily discounted (if they are considered at all) when calculating PageRank. That being said, we still consider it a best practice to provide as much accurate information to search engines as possible, so it is still a good idea for sites to make sure their meta information is filled out properly.

To edit meta data, go to the URL map (Settings / URLs). 

  • Keywords and descriptions on the URL map itself are used for the front page and as fallback information on other pages.
  • Keywords and descriptions on section pages are used on the section pages, and on assets filed into those sections.
  • Keywords, geo tags, and section tags from assets are used on asset pages. Categories are also used on business assets. If no tags exist on an asset, BLOX will use default keywords from the URL map. 

How does Site Speed affect SEO?

Speed performance of your site is another variable that affects your sites SEO processing. The following examples explain how.

  • Google SEO uses speed as a ranking metric
  • Google has "mobile friendly" label in search
  • Google pagespeed score is important performance factor
  • 3rd party widgets and trackers, use "Ghostery" to see trackers on site

Here are some resources that can help you identify content on your site that may be affecting your sites speed performance.

How Does SEO Improve My Business Listing?

A title tag is the main text that describes an online document. Title elements have long been considered one of the most important on-page SEO elements (the most important being overall content), and appear in three key places: browsers, search engine results pages, and external websites. In addition to Title Tags, we insert the business name, keyword, and location data in to the page title that we automatically create for business listings. If Keywords are missing, we insert the Categories related to the business. You won't see anything on Business Listing itself, but in the browser source code, the new format for title tags are:

  • Keywords Present - [business name] | [keyword 1] | [keyword 2] | city
  • Keywords Missing - [business name] | [category] | city

What is Search Boost?

TownNews.com has SEO technology in place to optimize search results on your site.  Search Boost is a marketing term used to inform Print Publishers how they can further benefit their advertisers and their own bottom line by digitizing a Print Ad and assigning it to a Business Listing in their Business Directory.

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