Search engine optimisation (SEO) is about making your web pages easier to find in search.
Good SEO helps users and search engines identify the content they need.
Drupal has several features that can help with your site's SEO.
URLs
Web pages have SEO-friendly URLs as standard in Drupal if you use 'automatic aliases'. The URLs match your page titles. Dashes replace spaces rather than underscores. They reflect where in the site navigation your page sits. For example, help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/wifi/connect-to-eduroam.
Broken links
Broken links can negatively impact your site's SEO ranking.
You can use the Broken Links report in Drupal to identify links that need fixing.
Contact the Drupal team if you cannot access the Broken Links report.
Redirects
If you delete a page in Drupal you should set up a redirect to an appropriate, related web page.
If the URL of any page changes, a redirect is set-up automatically. Traffic going from the old URL is redirected to the new one. The Drupal redirects module does this.
If you want to set up manual redirects or edit redirects but cannot, contact the Drupal team. They may need to update your permissions to allow you to access to this module.
Meta tags
Page titles and meta descriptions appear in search results. They help users understand whether a page is relevant to their needs. When they're unique and descriptive, they help people find what they're looking for.
The meta description tag uses the text from your summary field by default. We can enable the metatags module so that you can add a separate meta description. Contact the Drupal team for access.
Stop search engines indexing pages
A noindex tag blocks search engines from indexing a page so that it does not appear in search results.
A nofollow tag tells search engines not to follow the links on your web page.
You can add these to individual web pages if the meta tag module is enabled on your website.
Find them under the "Advanced options" in the meta tag section when you're editing a page.
XML sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website's pages. It shows search engines which are the important pages on our site and how to find them. Sitemaps improve the SEO of your site.
All Drupal websites come with the XML Sitemap module available. The Drupal team will need to give you access to it.
Measuring your site
Google Analytics
Google Analytics records information about how your website is being used. You can use it to see how many people visit your web pages and where they're coming from. This data can help you understand which pages need reviewing for SEO.
Find out how to install Google Analytics on your Drupal site.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console helps you understand how your site performs in Google search. Use it to measure the impact of any SEO work.
Find out how to install Google Search Console on your Drupal site.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Google Tag Manager allows you to set up tags for more detailed tracking. The Drupal team can enable this module for you. The Web and Email team in OEAC can set up a GTM container ID for you. Contact them at webandemail@communications.cam.ac.uk.
Get help
If you need help with your Drupal website, please contact the Drupal team via webmaster@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Content editors and website owners around the University should sign up for the Optimise your content course. This is a 6 session course run by the University's Content Community. It will help you improve your website content before it's moved to the new Drupal 10 platform.