The site is naturally optimised to appear high in results for routes-related keywords - you can see this by looking at the top landing pages, and then the keywords that bring people to them. They include many keywords to do with timetables and specific routes.
Route pages contain the H3 title 'Timetables' which will be optimising our pages for timetable + route searches.
However, FMT is not optimised for phrases like 'complain to TFL' or 'Arriva complaint' - we have relied on a) adwords and b) landing pages to cover these concepts. The latter are not specific to operator names, and have not been terribly successful. Not every user will click on the former (and we may not be highly placed if they are being competed for).
While the official channels will certainly be higher ranked than FMT for such phrases, we should at least try to compete for the next position.
Suggestions:
We optimise the homepage for generic complaint keywords via every means possible - changing some of the text on the page, adding a metadata description, encouraging inbound links that mention complaining to operators.
If possible we automate the optimisation of route pages to include metadata descriptions for 'complain to [operator]', and also change page titles so that instead of 'number 48 bus route' (for example) the title is 'complaint to [operator] about the number 48 bus route. This should also help clarify the site's purpose to first-time visitors.
I don't know if you can exclude robots from just one element of a page, but if you can, we should put that around the 'timetables' header (or consider making it an image rather than text)
Change the ALT text on the 'report a problem' button so that it reads 'complain to [operator]' or similarly optimised phrase.
Add H3 paragraph below 'Timetables' which explains the purpose of FMT but which is primarily there to ensure the presence of keyword-rich text on the page.
The site is naturally optimised to appear high in results for routes-related keywords - you can see this by looking at the top landing pages, and then the keywords that bring people to them. They include many keywords to do with timetables and specific routes.
Route pages contain the H3 title 'Timetables' which will be optimising our pages for timetable + route searches.
However, FMT is not optimised for phrases like 'complain to TFL' or 'Arriva complaint' - we have relied on a) adwords and b) landing pages to cover these concepts. The latter are not specific to operator names, and have not been terribly successful. Not every user will click on the former (and we may not be highly placed if they are being competed for).
While the official channels will certainly be higher ranked than FMT for such phrases, we should at least try to compete for the next position.
Suggestions: