Notes From "SEO Best Practices for the Drupal.org Redesign" Webinar
Noted here are SEO recommendations for the drupal.org redesign, as presented by Erik Wagner and Josh Ward of Volacci. The video of their presentation is available at http://blip.tv/file/3006098 and on the Acquia site.
Purpose of SEO Within The Drupal.org Redesign
Part of the Drupal.org redesign is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) effort to raise page rank and direct visitors to the correct content. Successful site visits build the community, increase awareness of Drupal, and facilitate learning about Drupal. Page rank drives d.o results higher on the search results page of search engines, such as Google.com. Properly directing visitors to the correct content makes them happier and more successful during each visit to the Website.
Help With D.O Redesign
Note that members of the Drupal community can help by writing SEO-friendly content, following the guidelines for high search ranking when they write for Drupal.org. Volacci will be filing required changes in the issue queue for Drupal.org, so please feel free to take a look and see if you can help.
By Linking To Drupal.org You Can Raise Drupal's Page Rank
Use links that contain keywords describing Drupal.org on your own sites, blogs, and while micro-blogging or using social media and social networking tools. Links are like votes and give credibility to Websites by the total number to links pointing to that site or page
SEO Key Performance Indicators
KPIs are Bounce Rate and New Visits, referring sites, etc.
Keyword Research and Keywords, such as: Drupal, Content Management, etc. Where is the most potential in terms of search volumen and where we want to be
Page Titles and Title Tags
Tag strings should have fewer than 69 characters and avoid duplicates. Search results are displayed among the search results and therefore need to accurately describe that content. Use the most important keyword for that content first and within the title.
Directory Silo
Use a directory silo strategy on Drupal.org to improve the ability of visitors to find what they need and have a successful visit. Directory silos mean distinctly different sections that include keyword and point visitors to the correct content. A directory silo helps to more clearly define the purpose of each page
Who is the audience, what are the different visitor types and how can we serve each visitor
Header Tags
Make sure each page has header tags and the right ones. There should be a single <h1> tag per page.
The most important search terms should be used in the <h1>. Add a few <h2> and <h3> tags. Note that <h2> tags should be around keywords, not links
Meta Description and Tags
Each page needs a unique Meta Description that is less than 156 characters. This should include keywords for the page and is delivered to search users in the search result. Each page should have a few keywords.
Page Content
Use the keywords (see blow) on each page within the text content and image "alt text." Use fewer than 100 links per page because that is the maximum followed by Google. Fewer links per page increases the Google search value of each link. Watch redirects so that the "from link name" is in accord with the "to link," which means to properly format URLs. Make sure lots of links on a single page don't look like a link farm, which means you should create separate pages for different types of links with fewer links per page.
Website Robots.txt File
Exclude content that should not be search indexed via the robots.txt file.
Disallow search indexing if the site goes up on the Web before it's ready, again via robots.txt.
Correct any error in your robots.txt file
HTML and CSS (as output by the theme)
Test for valid HTML and CSS output at http://validator.w3.org/
Google ranks your page higher if it validates properly
Images:
Include images with "alt text"
Conversions
When the redesign is complete, A/B testing with Google Web Optimizer can help identify what Call-To-Action wording yields the greatest number of downloads of Drupal. What should be the "Call-To-Action," which is dependent upon the type of visitor and their need. Simple, clear calls-to-action prevent visitors from leaving without taking the desired action, such as finding the right answer, downloading Drupal, identifying the right module, etc.
Web+2.0+BETA.thumbnail.png "(reflect)Web+2.0+BETA"){kind=small}
