SEO in Your IA Strategy
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This is an official illustration produced by DSIA Research Initiative TM SEO in Your IA Strategy SEO in Your IA strategy v1.0 © 2012 Nathaniel Davis | DSIA Research Initiative Based on the article, “Putting SEO in Its Place: An Information Architecture Strategy” - by Nathaniel Davis Search engine optimization (SEO) Information Organization 2 can be described as a practice of Information architecture must provide a improving the relevant findability of sound organization for pages and content Search Third-party information by search engines. on Web sites. Planning a Web site’s page Engines Link Nodes hierarchy can be critical for users as well 1 Navigation Information architecture naturally improves as search engine spiders. Because of the findability, thus SEO, of content through convenience of using internal and external Search engines want to know strategies for enabling navigation, information who and how many link to search engines and contextual and inline your content, and how people organization and relationships. navigation methods, users may rely less navigate to and throughout on taxonomy-structured menus. Search your site While SEO is generally viewed as a engine spiders, however, have a greater specialized practice, DSIA Research appreciation for formal, hierarchal content 2 Organization Your Initiative considers SEO to be native to structures. Determine whether your Search engines want to know Site information architecture. Consequently, organizational approach needs to extend how your site groups pages information architecture deliverables beyond your local domain and into the and organize content by should always provide recommendations domains of search engines, third-party subject matter; text that A displays on a page; the that meet basic SEO requirements. The sites, and emergent social grids like organization and access to following summarizes how the top three tiers LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If so, this images, documents, audio, of IA practice satisfy basic SEO requirements. video and other may impact your final IA recommendations. communication mediums. B Navigation Information Relationships 1 3 Navigation forms the most concrete When you create and implement a meta- connection that users have with the work data schema, you naturally position your product of information architecture. View content for findability by search engines. 3 Relationship both internal and external search engines Content models should always consider as extensions of your site’s navigation Search engines want to know URL the use of page titles, page descriptions, how your content is described Page Titles scheme. As a result, determine whether keywords, and image descriptions. This in ways that offer meaningful Metadata you need to consider how link nodes and basic level of discipline benefits even the context and relevant - Keywords metadata might formally display within smallest of projects and translates well to associative relationships. - Descriptions This example shows a basic third-party domains like a search engine or larger, managed environments with Headings set of content attributes to Web site, and how users will access your database-driven content. consider for a page. content beyond the home page. See A B methodbrain.com/dsia The DSIA Research Initiative is a private think tank dedicated to advancing a formalized discipline of information architecture TM DSIA Research is curated by methodbrain based on theory, research and practice. .