Optimise content for users first

Help people find the content they need using optimisation techniques.

On-page optimisation includes using keywords, metadata and links in the page content. Website analytics tools can also help you optimise pages for search engines.

Focus on making the page for users first, and for search engines second.

Use keywords in the URL and content

Use keywords in the:

• web address (URL, or ‘uniform resource locator’)
• metadata
• headings
• page content
• internal links
• captions and alt text for images.

Create URLs that contain words from the title of the page with the main keywords close to the start.

The URL should be below 100 characters and make sense to the user.

To separate words in the URL, use hyphens instead of spaces or underscores. This helps both people and search engines understand each word.

Write metadata that explains the page

Metadata is information about a webpage that search engines use. It also has other information, such as the date when the webpage was published. Metadata sits in the code in the background of a webpage.

Two important parts of metadata display in search results:

• the page title
• the meta description.

Write these parts so that users can tell whether the page holds what they’re looking for.

Title

The title tells users and search engines what a page is about.

The title should:

• include keywords
• be different on each page
• be shorter than 70 characters.

Titles that are too long will get cut off by search engines.

In a search result, the title is usually the first line. It works as a headline in the search results.

Example

Meta description

The <meta name="description"> field gives search engines a summary of the page’s content. Search engines often use the description in the search result listing.

Describe the content in plain language. This helps users to know if it’s what they need.

Descriptions need to be user-focused and contain keywords. They can be up to 160 characters. 

Search engines might also use a snippet of text from the content instead of a meta description.

Example

Create useful links to high-quality content

Linking is the basis of the internet. The quality of the pages you link to affects the ranking of your site.

Links can be:

• internal, which take users to pages within the same website
• external, which take users to pages on other websites.

Use relevant keywords as the anchor text (for example, don’t use ‘click here’ as link text).

Link to content on other quality sites towards the end of the content.

Use analytics as part of user research

Analytics are a convenient source for near-real-time information about users. They can help you identify the language people use and give you hints about what they need.

Don’t rely on analytics alone. Use analytics as part of research with users.

Analytics that can support your research include:

• keywords and phrases users are searching with
• landing pages, site journeys and exit pages
• the number of first-time and return visitors
• the length of time users stay on a page
• the volume of traffic and where it’s coming from
• most and least popular pages.

Be careful of using common metrics (like number of unique visits and time on page) as a measure of success. A page might meet a user’s need after a very quick visit.

The National Archives of Australia publishes advice for Australian Government employees working in information management. This advice includes information about metadata for web content.