Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) describes the process you can use or the things you can do to improve your site to become more visible by search engines such as Google. 

Publish Often

Regularly publish fresh content, and update existing content that receives high traffic. If you have a feed on your site for news or posts, ensure posts in those feeds are recent and meaningful. 

Continuously Improve

You should be regularly maintaining and developing your existing content. 

Evergreen Pages

Part of your content strategy should include the creation and curation of durable, evergreen pages whose web address will never change and that is regularly maintained and developed. Durable content becomes a living document rather than a static proclamation.

A durable URL, particularly the portion often called the domain, typically should not contain:

• Dates
• Opinions
• Adjectives
• Author names
• Information about the post itself

Durable URLs should match the core of your audience's target search terms and be simple, short and readable by humans. Links should be built to durable pages, rather than to seasonal or annual pages. Doing so helps to prevent link rot and to retain link equity — mitigating broken links. Instead of creating a new page each year, create a page at a durable address and update that content each year. 

Page and File Naming Conventions

Human-Readable Text

Write foremost for human readability. Use concise, meaningful language for page titles, file names, and on page subheads. Avoid using abbreviations, jargon and overly decorative language. 

Human-Scannable Details

Users of a page start by scanning so break up long bodies of text with sub-heads and labels. Look for opportunities to include captioned images. 

Use Words Where Possible

Avoid replacing words with numbers where possible. Choose a meaningful and descriptive title instead of something autogenerated or unintentional. Choose URL path names that inform a user about what a page is before they click through.

Use Spaces or Dashes

Use spaces where possible, such as in page titles or sub-headers. Where a space is not possible, use a dash, such as in a URL. Avoid omitting spaces. 

Organization

Consolidate subdomains where possible 

Rather than juggling dozens of different content management systems, seek to publish content in a single content management system. Nest as subfolders rather than establishing new subdomains. Rather than establish a new website to house a dozen pages, instead publish that content on an existing domain as a series of landing pages or a site section.

Embrace consolidation of content onto fewer subdomains wherever possible. Critical to address internal cannibalization in search; to efficiently rollout our on-brand design system across campus; and to reduce overall carrying costs of hosting hundreds of subdomains. 

Most subdomains have very little content, and very little traffic. In 2021, Cal Poly maintains more than 250 subdomains. One third of these subdomains serve fewer than 20 pages — many of which are abandoned and contain outdated and inaccurate information.

Consolidate pages where possible 

Publish fewer, better pages. Focus on building and maintaining landing pages that receive the most user traffic and avoid thin content — pages with only a sentence or two.

Create Paths for Users

Use navigation and page elements to help users easily find their path. Rather than fill a folder with files, plan out the user’s journey through your site as if it were a narrative. Most people will navigate your website using google search, consider each page a landing page.