Search Engine Optimization SEO with DotNetNuke

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with DotNetNuke
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About Tom Kraak

• Working on the Web in various roles since 2000
• Built first client project on IBuySpy in 2001
• Teamed with Vasilis Terzopoulos of
  ThinkOfDesign.com in 2004
• Formally founded Seablick Consulting in 2005 with
  a complete focus on DotNetNuke web development
• Authored over 100 DNN centric blog posts on
  seablick.com/blog

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What is SEO?
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Typical SERP
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CrawlingIndexingProcessingRanking
How do SEs work?
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The degree to which the content of the documents
returned in a search matched the user's query
intention and terms.
Relevance (Document Analysis)
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The relative importance, measured via citation
(the act of one work referencing another, as
often occurs in academic and business documents)
of a given document that matches the user's
query.
Popularity (Link Analysis)
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on-pagevs.off-page SEO
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On-page DNN SEO Overview

• Semantic skins search engine-friendly
  navigation
• Page titles and descriptions
• Search engine-friendly modules
• Optimized page copy
• Search and human-friendly Urls
• Robots exclusion protocol
• XML sitemap

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SE-friendly Skins Navigation

• Use SE-friendly menu provider(s) to increase
  spiderability
• Place important content in HTML text
• Position ContentPane high up in the skin code
• HeaderPane instead of hard-coded header images
• Use CSS for page layout
• Semantic containers use H2, H3 for module
  titles
• Write valid (X)HTML and CSS

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Page Titles

• Make your brand stand out
• Incorporate keywords
• Be aware of character limits
• Target searcher intent
• Repeat in headline

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Page Descriptions

• Describe page content honestly
• Be aware of character limits
• Write ad-like copy
• Incorporate keywords and phrases
• Dont always write meta descriptions

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SE-friendly Modules

• Watch for proper internal linking and Urls
• Check for use of standard-compliant HTML and CSS
• Avoid JavaScript, Ajax or Flash for content
  delivery
• Press for control over HTML meta tags
• No Black Hat, no Gray Hat

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Optimize Page Copy

• Use keywords phrases in header tags
• Write semantic HTML
• Know limits of WYSIWYG editors
• Pay attention to links and avoid LinkClick.aspx
• Watch for duplicate content

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Search Human Friendly Urls

• Describe your content
• Keep it short
• Rewrite dynamic Urls to appear static
• Separate with hyphens
• Cut down on duplicate (home) pages

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Robots Exclusion Protocol

• Use dotnetnuke.com/robots.txt as base
• Block printer-friendly, landing, and throw-away
  pages
• Disallow privacy statement and terms of use
• Choose between site and page level exclusion
• Site robots.txt
• Page ltmeta name"ROBOTS content"NOINDEX"gt
• Point to XML sitemap

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XML Sitemap

• Recognize limitations of DNNs sitemap.aspx
• Use 3rd party tools or modules / providers to
  generate sitemap file
• Submit to all major search engines

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Off-page SEO Tips

• Attract editorial, one-way incoming links with
  link-worthy content
• Approach associations and business partners for
  link opportunities
• Take advantage of social networks
• Submit to quality, industry-specific (paid)
  directories

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Web Resources

• google.com/support/webmasters/
• help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/webmaster/
• webmaster.live.com
• seomoz.org
• seobook.com
• searchengineland.com
• seablick.com/blog/seo