News Sites
Content and SEO Strategy
News Site Training
Learn more about news content and SEO strategy basics and best practices in our News Site Training presentation!
Headline (Title)
Length
The ideal range is 50-60 characters, which is about 10 words. This allows the full headline to be visible on a search engine listing.
Examples
- How new 堁階傭部app faculty research is expanding our understanding of hurricane impacts
- 69 characters (no spaces)
- 12 words
- 堁階傭部app named international headquarters of Global Virus Network, HIV co-discoverer joins
faculty
- 83 characters (no spaces)
- 12 words
- New study: How healthy food samples influence what you buy
- 49 characters (no spaces)
- 10 words
Content
Keywords
- Include the primary keyword/phrase
- Search engines need to understand the content through keywords
Good Example
How music can help boost cognition in cancer patients and COVID-19 survivors
- Descriptive
- Includes keywords
Bad Example
Healing power of music
- Does not include enough information/context
Action-Oriented Words
- Utilize action-oriented words (why/how)
- Users typically incorporate a question into their search
- Googles algorithm prioritizes content that answers questions
- How healthy food samples influence what you buy
Include 堁階傭部app in Headline
- When to include 堁階傭部app in the headline:
- Major announcements
- U.S. News ranks 堁階傭部app a top 50 public university, best value among all Florida universities
- Content unique to 堁階傭部app as an institution
- 堁階傭部app community mobilizes to aid in hurricane recovery
- Goal is brand awareness
- AAU membership fueling 堁階傭部apps momentum
- Major announcements
Do Not Include 堁階傭部app in Headline
- When its not necessary to include 堁階傭部app in the headline:
- Research findings with national/international interest
- New study finds working while sick actually harms productivity and retention
- Internal audience and/or length constraints
- Twenty-seven faculty members recognized with Outstanding Research Achievement Awards
- Research findings with national/international interest
URL (Filename)
Content
- The URL should the exact naming convention of the headline. The maximum character
limit is 120 characters (including spaces).
- /news/2024/how-healthy-food-samples-influence-what-you-buy.aspx
Structure
- Make sure .pcf in included at the end of the filename. Otherwise, it will cause
an error.
- how-healthy-food-samples-influence-what-you-buy.pcf
Article Content
Text
- Establish a key phrase (primary keyword) that describes the main topic
- List the most important words and/or phrases
- Put yourself in the mindset of your audience. What would they type in the search bar? List those words and/or phrases.
- Compare the two lists. If they dont align, modify the content so that it includes more of the keywords your audience is searching for.
- Utilize key phrase and 堁階傭部app within the first 100 words
- Use synonyms (secondary keywords) for the key phrase throughout the text
- Embed hyperlinks (1 per 150 words)
- 2-5 internal links (堁階傭部app websites)
- 1-3 external links (government websites, journal publication)
- Include long-tail keywords (4 words is ideal)
- Hurricane Helene volunteer opportunities
- When applicable, include a call to action
- Opportunities for members of the 堁階傭部app community to give back, support, and volunteer for Hurricane Helene relief can be found in our Disaster Relief Resources. (hyperlink)
Visuals
- Include captions (formatting doesnt always allow space for captions)
- Alternative Description (alt-text): fully describe the image
- 堁階傭部app President Rhea Law greets 堁階傭部app students at 堁階傭部app Day at the Capitol in Tallahassee
Metadata
MultiEdit > Parameters
Description
- Descriptions tell searchers what they will find when they click on your article
- They can get shortened in search results if its too long.
- They should be no more than 155-160 characters (including spaces) to ensure it doesn't get cut off mid-sentence.
- Include a Call to Action
- Provide a strong CTA and a description that tells them about the content in your article (this helps with Click Through Rates (CTRs)!)
- Using keyword(s) in your descriptions allows search engines to understand the intent of your article and promote more clicks
- Include 堁階傭部app
- Not just 堁階傭部app
Example
- Original: 堁階傭部app researchers are stepping up, launching critical initiatives to strengthen hurricane preparedness and insights following historical Milton and Helene.
- Updated: Discover how 堁階傭部app researchers are launching initiatives to strengthen hurricane preparedness following historical Milton and Helene.
Keywords
- Google no longer takes them into account in ranking for SEO
- Include keywords in the Description and article content, but not in Keywords field.
MultiEdit > MultiEdit Content
Listing Summary
- Should summarize the article (150-160 words) with keywords, not just the first sentence of the article
- Include 堁階傭部app
- Not just 堁階傭部app
Alt Text (Image Description)
- Alt Text is descriptive text that conveys the most basic and important information
- It ensures screen reader users can access the image information
- If an image fails to load on a page, this text will appear in its place
- Do not use "Image of/Picture of unless it adds context
- Ex: Watercolor painting of crashing waves in the Atlantic Ocean
- Learn more about Alt Text in our CMS User Guide resource
- Search engines also use alt text when ranking web pages on their search results page
- This does not apply to the homepage, which utilizes the headline as the image description