User-centered SEO isn’t just some magic you sprinkle on finished web copy right before hitting publish. SEO components—like user intent, internal-linking structures, content hierarchy, structured data, and meta descriptions—are built into content design decisions. After clashing on projects and stepping on each others’ toes, Chris (an SEO) and Rebekah (a content and UX strategist) found smarter ways to integrate their work and create helpful, relevant web experiences that are search-engine friendly, too. In this session, they’ll share what they’ve learned and help you understand when, where, and how to integrate SEO into your content design process. In this presentation, you’ll learn: - A better understanding of how, when, and where SEO essentials play into your web content workflow - Practical approaches and tools you can use to add a search-strategy lens to the content research and design work you already do, without compromising user experience - Ideas on how to collaborate more effectively with SEO stakeholders This presentation is a good fit for people who want to expand on their knowledge of modern search strategy and understand how to account for SEO without compromising user experience.

1. SEO and Content Design
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
INTEGRATING USER-CENTERED SEARCH
STRATEGY INTO YOUR WORKFLOW

2. @BEKAHBAGGS @CHRIS_CORAK

3. I M A G E C R E D I T | A W W W A R D S . C O M

4. SEOSEO and Content Design
I N T E G R A T I N G U S E R - C E N T E R E D
S E A R C H S T R A T E G Y I N T O Y O U R
W O R K F L O W
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

5. Crawling + indexing
Technology rendering content + nav
Page speed
URL handling
Structured data (Schema.org)
XML Sitemaps + robots.txt files
Internal linking structure
Canonical links
Duplicate content
PageRank + links
But wait!
There’s still a lot of
technical SEO that
goes on behind the
scenes, outside of
content design.

6. TECHNICAL
SEO
CONTENT
DESIGN
our focus today
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

7. No redesign?
No problem!

8. adding an SEO
lens to content design can
make a positive difference.
Whether you’re a team-of-
one or part of a large
organization,

9. Modern SEO
AND YOU

10. Panda
The difference
between low and
high quality
content

11. Hummingbird
Semantic
connections and
meaning

12. Voice search
People are
changing the way
we search

13. RankBrain
An advancement in
artificial intelligence

14. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

15. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

16. Photo by George Baier
Sites that have better UX
and engagement are doing
better in search results.
- Rand Fishkin

17. then why would we cater to
algorithms instead of working
harder to make users happy?
If Google’s #1 goal is to give
people what they want,

18. ✓ Website designed before real content is understood
✓ Writer writes web content to fit template
✓ Page template doesn’t quite work like how people intended
✓ Key features or functionality are missing
✓ Content modules explode, etc.

19. ✓ SEO is an afterthought
✓ We lose search visibility in the migration process
✓ Rewrite, or re-design or re-develop, or all three
... nobody’s happy

21. Oops!

22. There’s got to be
A BETTER WAY

23. In every practical sense
SEO is part of content design,
and content design is part
of SEO.

24. You can no longer “do” SEO
without having an SEO lens
throughout the entire web
design process.

25. L E V E L O F E F F O R T
Research Planning Design Development Iteration
4
5
3
2
1
Research Design Planning and production Development Iteration
T Y P I C A L
O N W A R D

26. Create a shared
project roadmap
Add a search lens
to research
Don’t let it get lost
in development
Add a search lens
to content design
–1–
–3–
–2–
–4–

27. 1. Create a shared
ROADMAP
Photo by Jo Szczepanska

28. Project steps (the work)

29. Related tasks (and needs)

30. Teams and people involved

31. Project steps
Tasks, teams
+ people
CONTENT AUDIT
Crawlthesiteto
captureallpages
Determine content
grading criteria
(include SEO factors)
USER RESEARCH
User interviews
User intent analysis
IA/SITEMAP
Determine
categories and
nomenclature
Slickplan diagram
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

32. Project steps
Tasks, teams
+ people
CONTENT AUDIT
Crawlthesiteto
captureallpages
Determine content
grading criteria
(include SEO factors)
USER RESEARCH
User interviews
User intent analysis
IA/SITEMAP
Determine
categories and
nomenclature
Slickplan diagram
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

33. Draw a line to
connect cards.
You can connect
your cards.
Add new connections
as you go.
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

34. Typically each team has their
own project plan,
but how can you reach the
same destination if you don’t
have a shared roadmap.

35. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Bring UX, SEO, content, design and dev people together
Create a shared project roadmap
✓ Understand shared areas of responsibility, timing and
dependencies
✓ Map everyone’s steps in the whole project
✓ Create a culture of inclusion and collaboration

36. Create a shared
project roadmap
Add a search lens
to research
Create development
guidelines
Add a search lens
to content design
–1–
–3–
–2–
–4–

37. 2. Add a search lens
TO RESEARCH
Photo by Jo Szczepanska

38. RESEARCH Stakeholder Interviews
User Intent Analysis
User Interviews
Content Audit

39. Stakeholder
Interviews
Add a search lens to reveal:
§ Priorities
§ Processes
§ Team structures
§ Opportunities
That impact search strategy
and constraints
Include questions
that reveal search
considerations,
opportunities and
challenges

40. Landing pages,
microsites and subdomains

41. We needed to know
Are there broken processes
that lead to organic search
problems or constraints?
So we asked
How do you use
subdomains and microsites?

42. We needed to know
Does the executive team have
realistic expectations?
So we asked
How do you envision
organic traffic playing into
the marketing strategy?

43. Interview the SEO

44. politics,
people and team structures
that impact SEO.
Add a search lens to
stakeholder interview
questions to reveal
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

45. User Intent
Analysis
Analyze long-tail search data to
understand:
§ How people search
§ What information matters
most to them
§ What language they use to
describe things
Capture user
intent, questions,
tasks, and priorities

46. It’s all in the longtail

47. Photo by Thos Ballantyne
Active intent is the intent
that is explicitly described
by the query syntax…you
must satisfy active intent
immediately.
@ajkohn

48. Photo by Thos Ballantyne
Passive intent is the intent
that is implicitly described.
@ajkohn

49. Google Search Console

50. On-Site Search History

51. http://answertheclient.com/assets/atp-dark-inline-9dc08e1790f7273b9aee6bcfa16580e9dda179dbea01081599f7d9a04f9ab112.png
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

52. search term here

53. read for themes

54. Cost + Quotes

55. Meaning

56. Value

57. Intent themes identified
• Cost + Quotes
• Validation
• Taxable
• Meaning
• Local Agents
• Value

58. Out of 1.8 million monthly searches…

59. can help you prove
value and prioritize content.
Summing up the search
volume for each theme of
intent

60. It’s the most powerful tool we
have to align SEO to real user
needs and expectations.
User intent analysis is more
than just keyword research.

61. bit.ly/understandingintent
Start analyzing user intent
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

62. User
Interviews
Add a search lens to user
interviews to reveal:
§ How they search and the
terminology/phrases used
§ What results they follow and
why
§ How and where search fits into
their user journey
Include questions
that reveal search
habits

63. Don’t bias the answers

64. We needed to know
What their search journey looks
like? How do they start? Why?
So we asked
Tell me about the last time you
searched for (product) or
(service) or (problem) online?

65. Hotel site vs. booking engine

66. We needed to know
What language they use to
describe things
So we asked
What words or search
phrases did you use?

67. and what
language they use to
describe things.
Interviews uncover the
reasons behind what
people search for, how
they search
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

68. Content
Audits
SEO, UX, and content are
intertwined:
§ Avoid duplicate or conflicting
recommendations by considering
UX, SEO and content in one audit
§ Invite SEO and UX teams to co-
create audit when possible
§ Content audits need a technical
SEO and UX lens in order to be
effective
Audit content
holistically

69. Don’t just
check the SEO box

70. ✓ Use analytics to understand top performing and under-performing
pages in organic search, audit accordingly
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Audit against active and passive intent identified in user intent
analysis, use this to identify gaps in content
✓ Pay attention to internal linking structures, do pages have forward
paths to related information, is the link crawlable?
Key SEO audit criteria

71. We need each other in
order to be successful.
Content audits without an
SEO lens (and vice versa)
don’t tell the whole story.

72. bit.ly/SEOmyaudit
Add an SEO lens to your audit
C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9

73. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Stakeholder interviews
✓ User interviews
✓ User intent analysis isn’t just SEO, it’s user research
✓ Holistic content audits that account for SEO factors
Add a search lens to research

74. Create a shared
project roadmap
Add a search lens
to research
Create development
guidelines
Add a search lens
to content design
–1–
–3–
–2–
–4–

75. 3. Add a search lens to
CONTENT DESIGN

76. Content Stories
DESIGN IA/Nomenclature
Core Modeling
Structured Data
Content Production

77. IA +
Nomenclature
Use search intent to help you:
§ Identify top tasks and topics that
need representation in the IA
that aren’t there now
§ Prioritize how high in the IA that
content should live
§ Use nomenclature that aligns to
language people use to describe
things
Should be
influenced by
search intent and
semantics

78. Photo by George Baier
Look for the words
(especially the verbs!) that
people use when
interacting with your site or
product, then mirror their
language back to them.
- Lisa Maria Martin

79. Photo by George Baier
Category labels and
navigation structures are
not the place to socialize
corporate lingo or
experiment with
affordances.
- Lisa Maria Martin

80. Content for special circumstances

81. Content for special circumstances

82. Easy to find in the
IA (not buried)

83. Content
Stories
Include user intent analysis
takeaways in content stories to:
§ Humanize search data and make it
more accessible
§ Turn search intent into actionable
writing tools
Articulate user
intent for design
decisions

84. As a
I need to
So that
Content Stories
B Y S A R A R I C H A R D S
&
T H E G O V . U K T E A M

85. Search data tells a story, too

86. Content Stories
As an expecting mother
shopping for health insurance
I need to find out if there’s a
plan without a waiting period
So that I can see if I’m eligible
for coverage
B Y S A R A R I C H A R D S

87. Content Stories
When I’m
I need to
So that
M A D L I B S C R E D : S A R A R I C H A R D S

88. Content Stories
When I’m comparing my
options
I need to see which plans will
cover the cost of a doula and
midwife
So that I can choose an
insurance plan that fits my
birth plan
M A D L I B S C R E D : S A R A R I C H A R D S

89. can help UX and content
teams understand how SEO is
directly part of their work, too.
Bringing search intent to life
with content stories

90. content stories
help prioritize key content
tasks and align them to user
intent.
When informed by search
volume data

91. Core
Modeling
§ Align page content to user intent
§ Provides a shared framework to
consider UX, content, and SEO
input at the same time
§ Allows for compromise and
discussion around priorities
Align page content
to search intent

92. B U S I N E S S G O A L S U S E R T A S K S
I N W A R D P A T H S F O R W A R D P A T H SC O R E C O N T E N T
C O R E M O D E L C R E D I T | A R E H A L L A N D
Page name

93. Content for special circumstances

94. User tasks and priorities

95. Page name
B U S I N E S S G O A L S
U S E R T A S K S
F O R W A R D P A T H SC O R E C O N T E N T
A C T I V E I N T E N T
P A S S I V E I N T E N T
Page titles, main headlines, intro
copy, and sub headers
Subheadings, page content, video,
imagery, and other content should
address a mix of active and
passive intent
I N W A R D P A T H S
Links from high
priority pages
In-site
Navigation/IA
Links to next steps &
related intent
Links to external
sites
In-bound links Breadcrumbs
A C T I V E I N T E N T
+
P A S S I V E I N T E N T
C O R E M O D E L C R E D I T | A R E H A L L A N D

96. satisfying passive intent
in content

98. 28%- in bounce rates
22% + organic traffic
53%+ in people asking for a quote

99. Content
Production
§ Content production spreadsheet
with integrated SEO and intent
keyword targeting data
§ Guidelines on how to write
content that reflects active and
passive intent
§ Align meta descriptions and titles
to key messaging and voice and
tone
Incorporate SEO
into the writing
process

102. Semantic web content writing guide

103. Voluntary vs. Supplemental
543 different phrases
5K in search volume
1,681 different phrases
26K + in search volume

104. Structured
data
§ Describe your content in more
detail to search engines
§ Have more control of how your
search results looks
§ Identify new content ideas, avoid
missing information
Pass along
meaning to search
engines

105. Photo by George Baier
Content design is a way of
thinking. It's about using
data and evidence to give
an audience what they
need at the time they need
it and in a way that they
expect.
- Sara Richards

106. Of traffic comes from
Organic Search. While
29% start directly on
your site.
47%CONDUCTOR, ENTERPRISE ANALYTICS STUDY

108. Structured data enhancing UX + CTR

109. Schema.org by type
Product
Local business
Reviews
Organization
Images & videos
More
Healthcare & Medical
Finance & Banking
Real estate
Travel & tourism
Arts & music
Software
More…
www.s c he ma.org / d oc s/ f u l l .ht m l
Schema.org by industry

110. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Account for SEO in IA/Nomenclature
✓ Apply user intent to content stories + models
✓ Highlight SEO and Content overlap in one production spreadsheet
Add a search lens to content design
✓ Think of meta descriptions and structured data as design, too

111. Create a shared
roadmap
Add a search lens
to research
Create development
guidelines
Add a search lens
to content design
–1–
–3–
–2–
–4–

112. 4. Don’t let design
GET LOST IN
DEVELOPMENT

113. Technical SEO
Requirements &
CMS Mapping
DEVELOPMENT

114. SEO
requirements
+
CMS mapping
Communicate
architecture, front, and
backend needs
Create a technical SEO
requirements checklist to:
• Save time in development
• Clearly communicate technical
aspects that will make the build
search engine friendly
• Document expected CMS
functionality and editorial control

115. Technical SEO + CMS requirements checklist

116. Not linkable text
Can’t include
semantic relevance

117. Semantically
irrelevant titles
can’t be changed

118. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Document technical SEO requirements and explain what
that means for development
✓ Create developer-focused guide to CMS functionality and
editorial control
✓ SEO is never done, continually test and measure against
content goals and organizational objectives
Don’t let design get lost in development

119. Create a shared
roadmap
Add a search lens
to research
Don’t let design
get lost in development
Design + produce
content holistically
–1–
–3–
–2–
–4–

120. RESEARCH
Stakeholder Interviews
Uncover org reasons behind
broken search strategy User Intent Analysis
Understand search intent, user
tasks, language and priorities
User Interviews
Capture reasons behind
search habits
Content Stories
Articulate search intent for
design decisionsDESIGN IA/Nomenclature
Influenced by search intent and
semantics, determines URL naming,
directory paths, and how Google
understands youContent Goals
Determine micro and macro
conversions and map to content types
Content Audit
Audit against ranking factors and use
search relevant metrics for guidance
Core Modeling
Align info hierarchy, core content and
forward paths to search intent

121. Structured Data
Research schema.org
markup, map to page types,
markup decisions, features
and functionality
Content Modules &
Page Templates
Account for on-page SEO in module
design and CMS functionality
Migration Plan
Account for dynamic vs.
manual redirects, align
redirect decisions to
relevant content
PLANNING &
PRODUCTION
Content Production
Worksheet
Bring your web content production and
SEO meta descriptions, page titles and
redirect insight together
Web Content Writing
Include on-page SEO elements
and Google answer box strategy,
along with clarity, relevancy and
semantic considerations
Titles, Descriptions &
Metadata
Shouldn’t be done in a vacuum, align to
voice and tone, key messages, and
user-centered writing practices

122. Technical SEO
Requirements
Comprehensive technical SEO
requirements, QA checklist
DEVELOPMENT
Development CMS Mapping
Developer-focused description of
expected functionality and editorial
control of content modules and
interactivity on the front-end.
On-Going Testing
& Iteration
Establish content performance
metrics that account for usability
and search factors, not just end
conversions.

123. In every practical sense
SEO is part of content design,
and content design is part
of SEO.

124. You can no longer “do” SEO
without having an SEO lens
throughout the entire
content design process.

125. C O N F A B | 2 0 1 9
✓ Download the user intent analysis guide and give it a shot
✓ Take your SEO out to lunch
✓ Look for ways to integrate user intent findings into the content
design work you already do
When you get back to work…
B I T . L Y / U N D E R S T A N D I N G I N T E N T

126. @REBEKAHCANCINO
Thanks, y’all!