SharePoint and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

There are quite a few factors that go into Search Engine Optimization. At the end of the day, content is king. Implementing SEO practices into SharePoint is no different. Focus on the following:

• Title tag has the biggest importance
• H1, H2, H3, etc. have the 2nd biggest importance in declining order
  • H1 should have the page header or possibly the page title
  • H2 should separate your content into sections…
• META tags are important and should be part of each single page
• Link between your sites and to other sites
• Include a sitemap

This quite a short list and I have to say that its not very exhaustic. I just wanted to give a little insight into what factors affect Search Engine Optimization. At the end of the day, make the experience for the user worth their while; for example:

• They came to your site for content, so, first and foremost, remember: content is king
• Provide links to related articles, competitors even
• Images, links, embedding objects (like Flash), etc. should be have textual respresenation

Writing is not easy; however, on the web you have two audiences:

• Web visitors - visually and content wise the web page/site should be what they wanted and offer value
• Search Engines - textually, everything from structure of the document, placement of data to relation to related articles, essentially 1000+ of variables that affect the value of your web page/site

A few good resources for those interested in SharePoint and SEO, should check out:

• MOSS SEO - a brief introduction to SharePoint related SEO
• SEO Tips for Developers - Josh lists 34 tips that he has found work for developers
• Joel has two farely basic motivational posts on How to Create a Blog and Get Search Results and Join the SharePoint Blogging Revolution! that are not really SEO related but are worth including here.

Keep all this in mind and if you get a chance, share some of your tips here.