Search Engine Optimization Best Practices
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps make your web pages easier to find through search engines like Google. An SEO-friendly website is well-structured, readable and accessible, ensuring users can quickly find relevant information.
Many factors influence search rankings, but there are key best practices that improve visibility. Using clear titles, descriptive system names, and relevant keywords helps search engines categorize content effectively. Proper content structure also enhances how pages are indexed and displayed in search results.
The following guidelines outline essential SEO strategies to create a web experience that is user-friendly, accessible and search engine-friendly.
Introductory SEO Questions
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it's the process of optimizing web experiences to better serve both users and search engines. The goal of SEO is to achieve more organic (non-paid) website traffic through web pages that are deemed higher quality and thus ranked higher by search engines.
What is a search engine?
Search engines include Google, Bing and Duck Duck Go. Search engines basically scour billions of websites and web pages within them, index them, and then serve the results to people who search.
What is a search crawler?
Search crawlers are the names given to the processes with which search engines navigate through and index web pages. They literally crawl through pages, viewing and categorizing thousands of details.
What is a SERP?
SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. After someone searches for a query, the SERP is the result that it generates.
Why should I aim to improve my web pages' SEO?
As a web contributor, our goal is to provide the best experience possible for anyone visiting our website. By optimizing pages for search, you are also providing visitors with a better experience.
How do search engines rank content?
Search engines use thousands of signals to rank pages for queries, but there’s a few that are typically agreed upon to prioritize. Here’s .
Does every page need to be SEO-optimized?
All pages, regardless of intent, should be technically optimized for best performance. After a page meets the technical standards for SEO and accessibility, then we must consider intent. Pages for our internal audience (current faculty, staff, or students) will likely not need to have the same optimization that a page that is trying to reach prospective students is.
How often should I update content?
Main pages should be updated at least twice per year, but the goal for heavily trafficked pages should be even more often. Content audits should be done annually at the minimum, and preferably twice per year.
How do I know if my efforts are working?
Using Google Analytics, you can track performance of pages, and compare that to other pages to see if your hard work paid off.
On-Page SEO Basics
Headings
Headings are simply the headline of the page, and should be tagged with "h1". All pages should have an H1 heading, and that heading should identify the main topic of the page. H1 headings should aim to be unique to the entire cmu.edu domain when possible.
H1s like, “News” or “Undergraduate Program” are vague, and likely used through many departments and colleges throughout the CMU domain.
Better H1s describe the page topic, even if it may initially sound a bit redundant. For example, “Psychology Undergraduate Program” is a better page heading than simply “Undergraduate Program” on a psychology page.
In rare instances, it’s OK to use more than one H1 on a page, BUT in most cases, we should aim to use one page H1 heading, and using H2 is preferred for all subheadings underneath the main page headline.
Titles
Title tags are the html tags that say what the title of a web page is and are one of the most important ways that pages are identified by both users and search engines. You can normally see the title of a webpage in a web browser’s title bar, as well as SERPs.
Title Tags will appear in search results in the following ways:
Because the title of a page is considered to be the single most important identifier of what the page is about, great care should be taken to ensure the title contains the top keyword(s) associated with the page. Ideal title tag length is <50-60 characters for top pages, but can vary.
Page Titles are often an extension of a page’s H1 heading, with a bit of CMU branding added automatically. Title tags will often include “- CMU - 好色先生TV” to help identify the brand within SERPs. By default, your site name and 好色先生TV are added after the page title in the browser's title bar.
In the CMS, when you give a page a title (not to be confused with headings as addressed above) you will see it reflected in three areas: the side navigation, the breadcrumb links and in the title bar at the top of the browser window or tab. Title tags should be placed in the header html and are not visible to the user on the web page itself. Every page without exception should include a title.
Q: Can headings and titles be the same?
A: Yes, but most often, you want to include something that shows the Carnegie Mellon name, like “ - CMU” or “- 好色先生TV” in titles, so it’s unlikely.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions provide brief summaries of a web page, and are meant to give search engines (and users) a tailored snippet of what a web page is about in SERPs. Similar to title tags, meta descriptions should be placed in the header html and are not visible to the user on the web page itself.
A good meta description:
- Accurately describes the content of a page
- Is more than 70 and less than 155 characters
- Is unique, and not duplicated from another page
Best practice is to include a meta description on every page.
**Note** just because a page has a meta description doesn’t mean Google or other search engines need to follow it on SERPs. Especially in the case of long, detailed searches, search results may often take a snippet right from a page body text instead of the meta description.
Alt Tags
Alt tags are used on images to describe the image. This is used heavily for both SEO search results and site accessibility for being able to quickly read and analyze web images. It is recommended to include alt tags in all non-decorative images sitewide. Writing a good alt tag includes describing the image in detail, summarizing the key points of an image, as if it was being described to someone who can't see it.
Further reading:
- Not sure if an image should have alt text or be labeled as decorative?
Content Writing with SEO in Mind
When writing/publishing web content, first consider the purpose of a new page, and what the intent of the page is. If the page is intended to navigate someone into deeper content, ensure that every page is properly linked and explain where you’re taking users to. If the page is informational, do you want the content to appear to people outside of CMU for any reason? If so, consider the following to help optimize for search:
Be Comprehensive for Content Length
A good SEO written article is as long as it needs to be to answer any and all questions. There’s no set rules to follow for length, but the best rule of thumb is to ensure that whatever is written is comprehensive.
A quality, comprehensive SEO article is the compendium of helpfulness. The best SEO pages answer all questions related to a query, so that a viewer feels no need to continue their search for more information.
If a topic can be discussed comprehensively in 500 words or less, great. But more often, more is more.
Longer pages > more pages. Data shows overwhelmingly that users would rather scroll through a longer page with more content than load multiple pages. Sort pages out using subtitles, and try to keep as much data as possible on one page, rather than spread across multiple pages.
Try to provide all similar topics and answer as many related questions on the same page, instead of breaking things out across multiple pages, especially if things are closely related. Average time on page and engagement data indicates that viewers prefer to scroll through a long article over navigating through smaller pages. Anchor links can also be added to provide waypoints to jump through to content quickly.
Can web page content be too long?
Short answer: we probably won't run into an issue when content is too long.
Long answer: As long as the content isn't going off script or combining content unnecessarily, there’s not many instances where page content is too long.
There's no maximum word count for page length. What we should be aware of is load time for pages, but this is more for visual elements like images and things like that. Text-based content loads super quick.
Additionally, we want to make sure we stay on topic. It wouldn't make a ton of sense to group a department’s research and admissions pages together normally, because those are different topics, and can have different (but sometimes overlapping) audiences.
Otherwise, being more comprehensive provides people with more of a sense of completeness, especially where a bulk of our content intent is, which is in providing users with information. Instead of feeling like you need to navigate from one page to another to find the information you're looking for, providing a complete experience without having to leave a page or wait for another page to load is going to provide better engagement, better SEO rankings, and better long-term web traffic.
As far as content length is concerned, when you wonder if something is long enough or too long, ask: "Is there anything else that people might be wondering about, if this was the only page they visit?"
did a study that showed that top results are on average 1,447 words long or longer.
Reading web content isn't as linear as reading a book. In many instances, when we look at a web page, we scroll through sections quickly—maybe we read the first bit of content, and then we scroll through the subheadings until we find the section of information we're looking for. Maybe after that we scroll down, or we scroll back up, etc., but if someone is looking for information, they may only be looking for a specific thing. By frequently using subheadings to break up content, it allows users to navigate web pages in a way that’s more navigable to more people.
Another consideration is the quality and length of similar content. If we're talking about a subject that doesn't have much information anywhere on the internet around it, we might be able to get away with a bit less content on a single page. However, if other results are longer and more comprehensive than ours, we should aim to beat them in every single way, including how thorough we are. More is almost always more.
Let's use Shakespeare as an example.
When you Google "Macbeth" the top 2 results are Wikipedia, and then , which is the play.
It's the whole Tragedy of Macbeth in one page.
A few more results down, and we have .
Now, this isn't the entire First Folio of his many works, but it is a full play, not broken up by Acts or Scenes.
Why are longer pages better? An example
Consider Instagram. How do you interact with Instagram? Do you click into something and wait for it to load? Or do you just scroll infinitely? Infinite scroll is preferred in most scenarios to multiple shorter pages, assuming the content is all connected.
Practice E-E-A-T
EEAT is one of the main factors for consideration in Google rankings, and it pertains mostly to content. EEAT stands for:
- Experience. How much first hand experience does CMU have on the matter written?
- Expertise. To what extent does the author (lesser so CMU/the org as a whole) know what they’re talking about?
- Authoritativeness. How much is CMU an authority on this particular subject?
- Trustworthiness. How legitimate is content from CMU?
The last two questions are so much of a given thanks to CMU’s global prowess, they can essentially be disregarded. With that in mind, when formulating new content, aim to focus on specific experience and expertise in an area to convey points and dominate search.
Further reading:
Search and observe
Before writing anything, quickly do some research. It does not have to be complicated. Start by Googling your intended topic. There’s a strong likelihood that any topic being written has already been written about before, and in the words of Pablo Picasso and this author, “Good Artists copy, great artists steal.”
Consider the following questions when searching for an intended topic:
- What are the first few results like?
- What kind of websites are in the top spots? Other colleges? Big companies? No-name websites?
- How long is the content there taking top spots now?
- Are their video guides?
- What questions are being answered from top results?
- Images for the search results?
Click into top results (at least the top three-four) to get an idea for page organization, topics you may want to consider, and the quality necessary to compete and beat what exists before publishing a page.
Keywords, Research and Keyword Inclusion
A very important factor to making your website search engine friendly is to populate your content with keywords that are highly relevant. Sift through your content and take note of important words and phrases that you feel are most relevant to the topic being discussed.
Overall, a website that has been optimized to use relevant keywords will have a greater chance at appearing in search results when those keywords are searched for. Keep in mind, your goal is not to just draw traffic to your website, but to draw targeted traffic (i.e., traffic that is specifically looking for the information you have to offer).
Before you start keyword research:
- First, have a goal.
- Second, have an audience you’re creating content for.
- Third, have a topic you want to create content about.
You can't perform keyword research without having a goal, audience and topic.
1 main KW + 2 related KWs +
For every new page, aim to have one main target KW, and two related keywords. Anything beyond that is a plus in most instances. Three is a good number to start with.
How many times should I mention a keyword?
Write naturally, and don’t worry about keyword stuffing. Keep content simple, authentic, and helpful to a reader.
Keyword density is a term that refers to how often a KW is used in content. This has previously been a factor for search results, but in more recent algorithm updates, KW density has been largely replaced with more natural, authoritative writing.
Use synonyms
Not everyone searching necessarily has the same lexicon of word usage as the author. For this reason, try to scatter synonyms throughout content.
Don't keyword stuff
Don’t put KWs into articles just to have them in there. The best content is expansive and KWs are used naturally.
Include keywords in headings
What about headings? See the headings section above, but aim to include Keywords in headings to outline the section below.
Create keywords lists
Start with your intended keyword for an article, as well as synonyms. Then, ask yourself (and maybe search for) the following:
- What similar generic words refer to this focus area?
- What might someone search for at the beginning of their journey?
- What might someone search for after reading your content?
Use AI to create/check KW lists
Using ChatGPT/Bard/Copilot, enter something like the following prompt: ‘I want to write an article about {insert topic here}. List the top few KWs to include for best SEO results. Run the same prompt into multiple GPTs, aggregate the results, and search the KWs they include to double check accuracy.
Linking best practices and recommendations
Sticky Webs Catch the Most Flies. More links to more resources across the CMU domain, through the various forms of navigation, provides better experiences for both the user, and for search engines to help navigate a website. Relevant links in the body copy of text, in addition to top nav and side nav menus, is preferred for SEO and user experience. Contextual linking also helps avoid orphan pages. Aim to include at least 1-2 links per 500 words.
Use linking funnels
Links should be relevant to the content on the page. Simply put, find related content you think someone reading would want to read next. But how?- Something higher up - If someone was reading this and felt like they were missing the first chapter, what link would you send them to?
- Something similar - If you like what you’re reading now, what else would you like to read?
- Something deeper - If you’re very interested in learning a lot more about the topic, what is the next level to provide someone?
Avoid orphan pages
Orphan pages exist where there is only one link to a web page. This makes it difficult for both users and search engines to find and serve content, and should be avoided at all costs. Best practice is to either:A - include more than one link to new pages
B - mold new content into an existing page, instead of creating a whole new page for a topic
**Note** Orphan pages aren’t orphaned if they are also included in HTML sitemaps as part of a cohesive web link structure
Use absolute links
Given the size of cmu.edu, best practice for links should be to use absolute links when linking across the site at all times.
Absolute vs Relative explainer: absolute links means using the full URL, relative means the web server is implied. For example:
Absolute link - <a href=”/news/”>
Relative link - <a href=”/news/”>
Between the various CMSs and subdomains, best practice is to use absolute links as a standard will help crawlers better understand the cmu domain.
Force https://
https:// is the standard. There are no exceptions, and we should never use http:// for internal links. This is imperative to force domain-wide. While redirects are in place to update this, it is still best practice to ensure all links use https:// when typed out.
Avoid duplicating content. Consider rel="canonical"
A rel=”canonical” indication on a link informs search crawlers that content between two pages is either identical or similar, and should be attributed to the canonical link, instead of being considered duplicate content. CMU should consider the use of the rel=”canonical” linking when a page is heavily duplicated from an original source elsewhere within the cmu domain.
Example: Let’s say the news team was given a story from the SCS team about a recent professor’s achievement to include in the main news website. Instead of copying the content and publishing, the rel=”canonical” tag can be used on the new page to inform search crawlers that it is not the original news page, and the original is on the SCS site.
Auditing and Updating Website Content
Regularly auditing and refreshing your website content is essential to providing a high-quality, up-to-date digital experience. 好色先生TV is committed to maintaining websites that are accurate, accessible, and engaging. By proactively reviewing your pages and acting on data insights, you ensure that visitors find relevant information and have a positive web experience.
Why Do Regular Audits and Updates Matter?
Keeping your site content fresh and accurate isn’t just housekeeping – it directly impacts your site’s effectiveness and reputation. Outdated information or broken pages can frustrate users and hurt credibility, while well-maintained pages build trust. From an SEO perspective, search engines favor sites that are active and relevant; consistently updated content can help maintain or boost your search rankings.
Regular audits also ensure your site meets accessibility standards and university policies, so more users can benefit from your content. Periodic reviews let you catch issues, ensure content is aligned with current goals, and continuously improve the user experience.
How Frequently Should You Audit and Update Your Pages?
How often you need to review and update your pages depends on the type of content, but as a rule of thumb, every page should be reviewed at least once a year. Mission-critical pages should be reviewed and then updated far more often.
Most Common Types of Pages
- School/College Homepages - Monthly
- Departmental Homepages - Quarterly
- Insittute/Initiative Homepages - Quarterly
- Main Menu Pages - Review Quarterly, Update Bi-Annually
- Side Menu/Inner Pages - Review Bi-Annually. Update 5-10 Bi-Annually.
- News/Press Pages - Review Annually. Update outdated links, remove pages as necessary
- Event Pages - Review Annually. Remove past events as necessary.
These frequencies are guidelines for best practice, but always use judgment. If a page contains time-sensitive content (application deadlines, event details), update it immediately when information changes. And if analytics show a heavily trafficked page (like an admissions FAQ) is getting stale, don’t wait for a scheduled review—update it proactively.
Where do I start in a content audit review?
Start with Google Analytics
A good place to start with an audit is in Analytics. Look at overall page performance using filters for a period of time. Use compare metrics (found as an option within the date range selector on the left of the screen) to get a detailed view of what content has improved, declined, or stayed the same.
In most instances, we want traffic to increase. So using the Page report within Analytics, see if traffic has increased over a period of time. If so, great! Keep doing what you’re doing.
If results are flat or have decreased, look for reasons why. Did you update any content? It may have had a negative impact. Did you not update content at all? If so, the content is likely now considered stale.
- Use Google Analytics to identify top-performing and underperforming pages.
- Use filters and comparison tools to assess trends.
- Check engagement metrics like page views and average time on page.
- Look for flat or declining traffic as a signal for content improvement.
- If you've tracked changes over time, compare performance before and after edits to evaluate effectiveness.
have your pages crawled
Request a Screaming Frog Site Crawl. Compare to how things look within your CMS. Use your site crawl data to look for the following:<
- Identify broken links (especially in navigation).
- Detect orphaned pages (pages not linked from anywhere).
- Discover duplicate pages or outdated content.
Use Siteimprove for quick wins
CMU’s instance of Siteimprove, which is freely available for our domain, can help you:
- Spot accessibility issues.
- Flag broken links.
- Prioritize SEO and quality assurance updates.
review pages in your cms (Drupal, Cascade or elsewhere)
Check for:
- Orphaned pages not caught in crawl tools.
- Duplicate or outdated versions of existing content.
- Missing or incorrect metadata, images, or components.
Requesting Subdomains vs Subdirectories
When structuring a website as large and diverse as cmu.edu, it’s important to understand the difference between subdomains and subdirectories—two common ways of organizing content online. While both serve to separate and categorize information, they function differently from a technical and SEO standpoint. Choosing the right structure can affect how users navigate the site, how content is managed across departments, and how search engines like Google understand and rank your pages. Learn about the key differences between subdomains and subdirectories, along with their respective impacts on search engine optimization, to help inform strategic decisions for what makes the most sense to your needs.
If someone at cmu.edu has sent you this page, it’s likely because you requested a subdomain, but best practices dictate that you should really use a subdirectory instead.
What is a subdomain?
A subdomain is a separate section of a website that operates under the main domain but can function independently. Subdomains are mostly considered their own website in the eyes of search engines, and often do not carry the same weight as the root domain.
Format: subdomain.cmu.edu
Best for:
- Large, semi-independent entitities like cs.cmu.edu
- Finite time periods
- Internal data (think student-run labs)
Pros:
- Good for autonomy — departments or research centers can run independently.
- Can isolate technical or security concerns.
Cons:
- Google often treats them as separate sites — SEO equity from cmu.edu may not transfer.
- Requires independent SEO efforts (keywords, backlinks, content updates).
- Can dilute brand authority if not well-integrated.
What is a subdirectory?
A subdirectory is a folder within the main website structure. Subdirectories (sometimes also referred to as subfolders) are basically folders within the root of a website, and carry the same weight and authority as the rest of www.cmu.edu. For net-new external-facing websites, subdirectories will provide the best and fastest SEO authority.
Format: cmu.edu/subdirectory
Best for:
- Content that's part of the core CMU experience (admissions, events, news, etc.)
- SEO (in most cases)
- Most external audiences
- Anything part of the main site's hierarchy
Pros:
- Benefit from the main site's domain authority
- Easier to manage internal linking and SEO strategies
- Centralized analytics and performance tracking
Cons:
- Difficult to set up non-CMU content management systems, like WordPress or GitHub Pages.
What's the Difference Between Subdomains and Subdirectories?
| Subdomain (example.cmu.edu) | Subdirectory (cmu.edu/example) | |
| Treated as separate site by Google? | Yes | No |
| Separate CMS / design / team possible? | Yes |
No* |
| SEO authority shared? | Not automatically | Yes |
| URL structure | Parallel site | Nested under main site |
| Example URLs | example.example.cmu.edu example.cmu.edu |
example.cmu.edu/example cmu.edu cmu.edu/example/ cmu.edu/example/example |
Note: CMU-supported CMS platforms like Cascade and Drupal allow for some flexibility within subdirectories, but full separation may require a subdomain.
SEO Recommendations for Subdomains/Subdirectories
Subdirectories Are Almost Always Better When Requesting a New Site on cmu.edu
The SEO best-practice recommendation is to use subdirectories in most instances. It is rare to see website requests for new CMU initiatives, departments, labs, or anything else that merit the use of new subdomains.
There are still a few instances where a subdomain would work better than a subdirectory. See examples below.
Other Considerations
Who's the audience?
- General public, prospective students, or media? Use a subdirectory
- Internal use, such as student labs, internal staff events, or information behind logins. A subdomain may be better
Content management system (CMS)
- Using Cascade or Drupal (CMU’s main systems)? Likely a subdirectory
- Using something else (such as WordPress or GitHub Pages)? Likely a subdomain
branding independence
- Will the site still look, feel, and read like a CMU site? Use a subdirectory
- Is it meant to look separate, with its own branding? Use a subdomain
Examples of Best Practice for Using Subdirectories vs. Subdomains
Example 1: a campaign website
Let’s say CMU is launching a new initiative called "Space!" to promote space-related research and events.
Best practice: Use a subdirectory (Example URL: www.cmu.edu/space)
Since this campaign is part of the university's core messaging and will be marketed under the CMU brand, placing it under the main domain helps it benefit from CMU’s domain authority and brand recognition.
Example 2: student life resources
You’re launching a resource hub for student wellness services, events, and support initiatives under the Division of Student Affairs.
Best practice: Use a subdirectory
This content is primarily for current and prospective students, is relevant to the CMU community, and should carry the look and feel of the CMU brand.
Example 3: independent art gallery
CMU received funding for a new art gallery. It has its own staff, a separate advisory board, and plans to publish independent content, host events, and use its own branding and CMS.
Best practice: Use a subdomain (example URL: ica.cmu.edu)
Because the center operates semi-independently and may serve academic or industry audiences without any input from CMU, a subdomain provides flexibility while still linking back to the university.
Example 4: school magazine
Let’s say leadership within the Dietrich College wants to create a virtual magazine to send to alumni, highlighting the great work that current students and faculty are doing. The site will have added visual elements to make it stand out from regular site news articles and will be used for an internal audience only.
Best practice: Use a subdirectory (example URL: www.cmu.edu/dietrich/magazine
Even though visual elements may be different from the normal web experience, and the audience is entirely internal, because a magazine would be CMU-specific, best practice indicates it should be a subdirectory rather than a subdomain.
Example 5: new web application for a student project
Imagine a student just created a web application that turns typed text into code that looks like it came out of a cheesy movie where someone is hacking a mainframe in real time. It sits outside of the central CMU content management systems.
Best practice: Use a subdomain (example URL: )
If there’s something that requires entirely different hosting, CMS, or is an application-based platform, a subdomain will likely be the better choic.
Related Subdomain/Subdirectory Questions
What do we mean by domain authority?
Domain authority refers to the overall strength, trustworthiness, and credibility of a website in the eyes of search engines like Google. Authority comes from the longstanding value of a domain — in other words, how long a site has been around and how trustworthy its information is.
It’s not necessarily a ranking factor used directly by Google, but it’s a helpful concept in SEO to understand how likely a site is to rank well in search results.
What are third-level subdomains?
A third-level subdomain is simply a subdomain within another subdomain. It adds an extra layer to the domain structure, making it more specific.
When should you use third-level subdomains?
- Organizing content within a large subdomain (such as research groups within the CS department)
- Isolating web apps or services
My existing website space is on a subdomain already. Can i request it go back to a subdirectory?
You can request it, but the answer to whether the web team can actually do anything about it is probably a “no.” Once a site is set up, it is difficult internally to move from one experience to another.
Key Takeaways
- Use subdirectories for public-facing content that’s part of the CMU brand.
- Use subdomains only when technical or organizational independence is absolutely necessary — but ensure SEO consistency (title tags, structured data, mobile performance, etc.).