Search Engine Optimization

Here are some onld notes that I took reading Google's SEO starter guide. I was trying to get better SEO results using React, but I decided to transition to Sever Side Rendering for better results. Nevertheless, the Search Engine Optimization Notes taken here still apply in terms of making your site rank well.

Search Engine Optimization

• Google SEO Starter Guide Reference
• Add a unique title to each page
• Add a unique description meta tag to each page
• Add structured data markup. Reference. React Reference
  • KEY: Every Page, Come Back to,
    • "Breadcrumb" - Should add a "Breadcrumb" to every page
    • "Logo" - Should include Logo on every page
      • (Later) "Dataset" - Look into including "Dataset" in certain situations
    • "FAQ" - Look into including a "FAQ" for common questions that may be asked about the platform
    • "Image Metadata" - for images
      • Look up how other oranizations handle copyright of images uploaded to their site
    • "Job Posting" - Position positing for contributor positions
      • Look HERE at the work from home posting for contributor positions.
    • "Product" - Should include product for subscription
    • "Searchbox" - Sitelinks Searchbox
    • "Subscription and paywalled content" - Paywalled content for articles
    • "Article" - Should add "Article" for news articles
• Allow Google to crawl s3 video, audio, and images
• Meta Tags
  • Look [HERE] (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots-meta-tag) for information about how the page should be indexed and how to control page text-snippet previews
  • Use <meta name="google" content="nositelinkssearchbox">
  • Look at OpenGraphProtocol
• Links
  • Use the "rel" tag to tell google about links
  • rel="ugc" for user generated content
  • rel="nofollow" Use the nofollow value when other values don't apply, and you'd rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site.
  • You can combline them: rel="ugc,nofollow"
• General
  • Look HERE when considering things about articles

  • • Google recommends that all websites use https:// when possible. The hostname is where your website is hosted, commonly using the same domain name that you'd use for email. Google differentiates between the www and non-www version (for example, www.example.com or just example.com). When adding your website to Search Console, we recommend adding both http:// and https:// versions, as well as the www and non-www versions.

  • Disallow bot from crawling /404 page (actually use the noindex meta robots tag)

  • DO IN FOOTER: A site with a good reputation is trustworthy. Cultivate a reputation for expertise and trustworthiness in a specific area.
    Provide information about who publishes your site, provides the content, and its goals. If you have a shopping or other financial transaction website, make sure you have clear and satisfying customer service information to help users resolve issues. If you have a news site, provide clear information about who is responsible for the content.

  • Don't use robots.txt as a mechanism to prevent indexing; use the noindex tag or login requirements for that. Read more about blocking access to your content.
  • Use <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://civgauge.io/en/"/> for each page - all pages should contain all alernates (including itself)
  • Use <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://civgauge.io/"/> for before you have set the language
  • You can also use google search console webmaster tools to use specific version of a site for different countries - be sure to include english for each
  • encodeURIComponent with utf-8
• Page SEO
  • Include Byline Date
  • Include Favicon (Same for every page) in ()
  • Images: meta tag max-image-preview:large
  • Add liscensing for images (can be done with structured data within the page or metadata within the image)
  • Optimize image file size, use responsive images,
  • Add business details
  • Add Website structured data to your home page - This will be the most important way that websites are
• Microdata
  • Itemscope
• RSS Feeds - (Probably should do something with this based on published Langauge) REFERENCE
• Include HighQuality Thumbnails for videos
• Sitemaps for Videos
• Opt out of key moments for videos
• Webstories eventually