SEO and sharing

Allow search engines access

Search engine optimization is an essential part of getting your website out to the world. There are several settings that can greatly affect the SEO of your website. The first allows search engines access to your website.

Check that you have granted that access:

Go to [Website name] > Site settings > Basic.

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1. Make sure that the checkbox next to “Allow search engines” is checked.

2. Click Save site.

Modify titles and headlines

The name your site and individual pages can have an effect on SEO.

Site-wide settings

Use keywords in the headlines and slugs associated with your site to make it visible to the people searching for you. These titles can be found Site settings > Basic.​

All fields have an effect on SEO, but the most important field is the “Title of homepage in search results” text box. This is the primary listing that will appear in search engines. It will autopopulate with the title you entered during the install process. If you wish to change it, enter a concise and accurate title of your homepage in the text box. Click Save site.

Page level settings

Like your Site settings, every page has settings that control the headline, title, and slug of the page. You can change these settings by clicking Website > Page > Settings > Page settings. All fields can affect SEO, but the most important is the “Title.” The field will autopopulate with “Name of page - Name of site.”​

This title is a good start for optimization, but make sure to follow these best practices:

• Use keywords. Make sure your title includes the most relevant words for your supporters.

• Make it into a sentence. Search engines favor complete phrases. In the example, it would be best for me to change the title to “Join Sally’s Giraffe Farm Today.”

• Keep it short. Try to keep your title 55 characters or less. This ensures that the full title is shown in the search engine listing.

Page level SEO settings

In addition to your pages’ titles and headlines, there are specific SEO settings that you can modify and maintain to help optimization. Go to your Page > Settings > SEO.​

1. You will have the option to change the title of your page, if you have not already done so.

2. The slug of your page can also affect how your site is read by search engines. Change the slug at any time if you would like to make it more relevant to your content.

3. The headline of your page is another place to include keywords. This will appear on both the page and in the search listing.

4. If you want your site to be ranked highly, Excerpt is a an important field to fill out. This text will be seen in your search engine listing, describing your page. It will also appear when the page is shared on Facebook. Keep the excerpt a few sentences long. If you leave this field blank, search engines will pull the first few sentences from the content of your page.

5. Remember to click Save page.

When you have all the fields filled out, your search listings will be filled with rich, relevant content.​

Page content modifications

There are ways to positively affect your SEO by modifying or enriching the content of your page.

HTML anchor tags allow you to link to pages outside your website, to pages within your website, or to link within a single page. When linking within a page or to other pages on your site, hyperlink keywords. Search engines will associate these keywords with your page and enhance its listing.​

Please note that your SEO can be negatively impacted if you include links that do not work.

Write an Image description when including an image on your page. Include keywords in this description. It is read by search engines and considered in your ranking.

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