Global Elements
Title tags
Also called Page titles, or Browser page titles, title tags appear in the browser tab, and as a clickable link on a search engine results page. They are sometimes also used as destination links on external sites. Title tags tell users and search engines what page they’re on. Title tags differ from the page header (headline), although they should be aligned.
Guidelines for title tags:
Each page title should be unique, and descriptive of the page content. No duplicates.
They should be as closel y aligned with the H1 Headline as possible
Word count: Between 30 and 60 characters, including spaces. Anything longer will get cut off.
Title case
Include top 1-2 keywords, front-loaded
Format: For the home page only, start with the brand name e.g. “CREW Network | Home”
For all other pages except the home page, follow the format “Category | Title” e.g. “Membership | ”Benefits”
Using the pipe (|) as a separator allows for more pixels on screen before words get truncated.
Headings and subheadings
Headings and subheadings organize content into topics and subtopics, and present a clear hierarchy of information. They help to make content easily scannable, instead of presenting the reader with a solid wall of words. Consistency in formatting is key to helping a user understand and move through the content, and to understand the importance of and relationship between blocks of information.
Both headings and subheadings on a page are tagged with “H-tags'' to indicate their information hierarchy. H-tags are vital for both accessibility and SEO.
Important: Do not confuse the h-tag level with visual styling. A large font isn’t necessarily the same as H1 in the content hierarchy. While it’s possible to create default settings that align a font size with H-tag levels, font style and hierarchy tags are independent characteristics.
Every page needs a headline to let the reader know what the page is about. Headlines are important for both search results and accessibility. The headline is always tagged as an H1.
Each page heading needs to be descriptive and unique to that page. There should be enough information for a reader, and search engines, to determine the content of the page at a quick glance. Before creating a new page, check the site to ensure your desired headline does not already exist on another page.
Headline Checklist:
Every page needs an H1 Header to let the user know what page they’re on and to help search engines find the content.
There should only be one H1 on each page.
The H1 wording should be descriptive and unique. Duplicate page titles, such as “overview”, “about”, etc., should be made more specific: e.g. “Membership overview”, “Accreditation course overview”, etc. Expand on any existing headlines such as “Overview”, “Rates”, “FAQ” to be more specific.
The home page H1 should clearly identify what site the user has landed on; it’s important that the home page H1 doesn’t get changed, as search engine rankings could be affected.
Keep length succinct (remember content translated into other languages will likely be longer); recommended 35-65 characters Character count: under 70 characters, including spaces.
Don’t rely on the site structure to fill in details for the reader, as they may have arrived at the page directly through search, not by clicking through related pages. The purpose of each page should be clear out of context.
Front-load headlines with the most important keywords.
Use plain language, and be factual; don’t use “market-speak”. If using content that was originally written for print, you may need to rewrite headlines to better accommodate the digital requirements of SEO and accessibility.
Adding subheadings to content helps a reader quickly scan content to find what they’re looking for. They are also important for accessibility: subheads are used as short-cuts by screen-reader users who can tab through them to “scan” a page to get an overview, and to quickly jump to content that they need without having to listen to an entire page.
Both headings and subheadings on a page are tagged:
H1: What the page is about.
H2: Sub-sections of content on the page.
H3: If sub-sections also have sections of content within them, they’ll be tagged as H3.
H4-5: For even more granular content within an H3.
Unlike H1 tags, you can use any number of H2-5+ tags.
H-tags indicate content hierarchy, and are independent of visual styling.
Levels shouldn’t be skipped (e.g. a page can’t have H2s and H4s with no H3s).
Some components will also have their own subheadings. The component might offer a choice between levels, such as H2 or H3. Choose the H-tag that is appropriate to the larger hierarchy of the page as a whole; for example, if a table is included in a subsection of content, the table is considered a nested section. The section of the page would be tagged with an H2, and the table with an H3.
SEO Keywords and metadata
Every page should have keywords and a meta description to make content findable by both search engines and in-site search. The meta description is a sentence that summarizes the page, and includes the keywords.
For the page that it’s attached to, the meta descriptions usually don’t appear to the site visitor but are “behind-the-scenes” information for search engines. However, they can also be used as a summary on-page, and they commonly appear on search results pages. The descriptions can also be pulled into other areas of the site and made visible, such as short text in a routing component.
The meta description includes the most important keywords.
Meta Description word counts: between 70 and 155 characters, including spaces.
Remember your target audience. Keywords should use the everyday language that users would commonly use to search for something, not just the internal language that the organization uses.
Keywords will include some language that is on the page (such as important words in your header) but may also include common synonyms.
URL formats
To ensure that pages can be found by search engines, URL formats should be consistent and adhere to the following guidelines. These will also help with accessibility.
Unique, short but descriptive, including keywords from your SEO strategy. May be a variant of the Headline.
Don’t use auto-generated URLs that only include numbers. If these are required in your CMS, add descriptive keywords after the numbers to make the pages findable..
Use all lower-case letters
Under 115 characters
Words separated by hyphens
Don’t use underscores, spaces or multiple slashes
If you use Vanity URLs (short links that people can recall easily - especially common in print), include your brand name and a keyword. It should be descriptive of what the user will find once they click on the link or type the URL.
