The document outlines strategies for optimizing Plone for search engine optimization (SEO), emphasizing the importance of quality content and proper structuring of web elements such as titles, descriptions, and headings. It highlights the need for keyword research, effective training for content providers, and maintaining clean URLs to improve search engine rankings. Additionally, it advises on site administration practices like using robots.txt, providing a sitemap, and monitoring search statistics.

1. Leveraging
Plone
for
Search
Engine
Op4miza4on
(SEO)
Heather
Wozniak,
Ph.D.
UCLA
Office
of
Informa4on
Technology
design@heatherwozniak.com

2. Plone
and
SEO
• Good
news:
1. Many
features
built-­‐in
to
Plone
2. No
add-­‐ons
required
• Caveats:
1. Keyword
research
2. Training
content
providers/editors
• BoXom-­‐line:
Quality
content
will
bring
you
traffic
(and
hold
visitors’
aXen4on)

3. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
• Text:
content
is
king!
• Posi4on:
star4ng
from
top-­‐le^
• Structure:
headings,
strong/emphasis,
lists,
table
headers,
form
labels,
clean
HTML
• This
stuff
is
good
for
accessibility
too

4. What
maXers
to
search
engines?

5. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle

6. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL

7. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>

8. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>
4.
Descrip4on

9. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>
4.
Descrip4on
5.
Content
(headings
<h2>-­‐<h6>,
<strong>,
<em>)

10. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>
4.
Descrip4on
5.
Content
(headings
<h2>-­‐<h6>,
<strong>,
<em>)
6.
Alt-­‐text
for
images

11. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>
4.
Descrip4on
5.
Content
(headings
<h2>-­‐<h6>,
<strong>,
<em>)
6.
Alt-­‐text
for
images
7.
Meaningful
filenames
for
images
and
files
(see
#2)

12. Great!
How
do
I
control
this
stuff
in
Plone?!

13. EVERYTHING
MATTERS:
leave
no
field
blank

14. Don’t
under-­‐es4mate
the
value
of
Descrip4on
Appears
in
• Google
and
other
search
results
• Plone
search
results
• Folder
lis4ngs
and
collec4ons
• Link
mouseovers/hovers
Can
be
hidden
on
page
if
it
cramps
your
style

15. Adding
a
new
content
item

16. What
maXers
to
search
engines?
1.
Document
4tle
2.
URL
3.
Page
4tle
/
first
heading
<h1>
4.
Descrip4on
5.
Content
(headings
<h2>-­‐<h6>,
<strong>,
<em>)
6.
Alt-­‐text
for
images
7.
Meaningful
filenames
for
images
and
files
(see
#2)

17. Controlling
the
short
name
• By
default,
the
4tle
you
enter
upon
first
crea4ng
a
page
becomes
the
short
name.
• IT
DOES
NOT
CHANGE
WHEN
YOU
LATER
CHANGE
THE
PAGE
TITLE.
• There
are
two
ways
to
edit
it:
– Managers
only
(default)
– Content
contributors/editors

18. Managers
can
edit
the
short
name
by
checking
“rename”
in
the
“Contents”
view
of
a
folder.

19. Or,
you
can
enable
short
name
edi4ng
for
users
• Cau4on:
may
result
in
broken
links
• Under
“Site
Setup,”
check
“Show
‘Short
Name’
on
Content”
• Advise
users
to
go
to
their
“Personal
Preferences”
and
“Allow
edi4ng
of
short
names”
New
field

20. Adding
images
and
files
• Fill
in
every
field
(4tle,
descrip4on,
etc.)
– For
images,
4tle
is
used
to
generate
alt-­‐text
(but
you
can
change
this
at
4me
of
inser4ng
image)
– For
files,
4tle
is
used
as
link
4tle
(displays
on
hover)
– Both
4tle
and
descrip4on
display
in
site
search
and
folder
lis4ngs
• Use
meaningful
filenames:
– chancellor-­‐block.jpg
vs.
image4035.jpg
– 2010-­‐annual-­‐report.pdf
vs.
reporrinaldra^_a.pdf

21. Recap:
elements
you
can
control
in
Plone
out-­‐of-­‐the-­‐box
• Document
4tle
(page
4tle
+
site
4tle)
• URL
(short
name)
• First
heading
(page
4tle)
• Descrip4on
• Headings
for
content
• Alt-­‐text
for
images
• Meaningful
filenames
for
images
and
uploaded
files

22. Keyword
Research
• No
point
op4mizing
for
terms
that
nobody
searches
for
• Iden4fy
your
target
audience
• Know
what
they
search
for
• Use
Google
to
gather
intel

23. Google
Tools
for
Keyword
Research
• Webmaster
Tools
(webmasters.google.com)
– What
does
Google
think
your
site
is
about?
– Where
does
your
site
rank
for
your
target
words?
– What
terms
does
your
site
use
most
frequently?
Too
frequently?
• Analy4cs
(analy4cs.google.com)
– What
words
actually
bring
visitors
to
your
site?
• Adwords
Keyword
Tool
(
adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal)
– What
do
users
actually
search
for?
– What
related
terms
and
phrases
could
you
adopt?

24. Implement
the
Keywords
• Armed
with
this
knowledge,
get
your
keywords
into
the
content
• Op4mize
each
page
for
1-­‐2
keywords
or
key
phrases
• Don’t
use
the
keywords
excessively:
duplicate
and
distributed
content
will
dilute
your
rankings
• Every
page
doesn’t
need
a
target
keyword;
just
ensure
that
each
desired
keyword
does
have
a
page

25. Train
your
content
providers
and
editors!
• Since
content
ul4mately
determines
the
search
rankings
and
results,
the
people
providing
your
content
need
to
know
all
these
concepts
• Ensure
they
use
all
the
page
elements
correctly
• Ensure
they
know
the
short-­‐list
of
primary
keywords
for
your
site
• Ensure
they
are
thinking
in
terms
of
keywords
each
4me
they
create
a
new
piece
of
content
• Ensure
they
add
links
to
external
sites
and
cul4vate
incoming
links

26. Last
but
not
least:
site
administra4on
• Use
robots.txt
to
direct
crawling
• Provide
a
sitemap
(expose
through
Plone
control
panel)
• Setup
301
redirects
for:
– Preferred
domain
(with
or
without
www)
– Pages
that
are
moved
or
renamed
– Don’t
use
aliases
that
allow
the
content
to
exist
in
two
places
at
once
• Monitor
your
logs
and
search
stats