EPIC: SEO guidance

[davidhunter08]

What

NHS.UK content designers were trained in search engine optimisation last year. We could potentially publish guidance on SEO best practice in the service manual. It could be as little as one page, covering the following topics, for example:

• page descriptions
• headings
• synonyms
• metadata

Why

It would help make sure that NHS.UK content designers are continuing to refer to the training and guidance. It could also potentially help content designers beyond NHS.UK create good search engine optimised content that meets users' needs.

Needs prior to picking up

-[ ] Establish the value of SEO guidance to the content community working in health and care

Must

• [ ] Draw on the guidance on Confluence created by supplier: https://nhsd-confluence.digital.nhs.uk/display/NP/SEO+%28search+engine+optimisation%29+guidelines - check if it's still up to date
• [ ] Review meds team guidance (does the meds team have different guidance?)
• [ ] Review guidance in Confluence and see if we need to review what we say about headings and SEO in the accessibility guidance: https://service-manual.nhs.uk/accessibility/content#set-page-titles
• [ ] Put it to a content crit
• [ ] Test with users
• [ ] Iterate
• [ ] Run it by the Content Style Council and clinicians for approval
• [ ] Publish

Other resources

• [ ] Guidance - Search engine optimisation for publishers: Best practice guide - Published 28 January 2020

[sarawilcox]

@georginaplatt, I wonder if we should close this as an epic as we haven't seen any interest in SEO since the epic was proposed. Instead, we could put an issue into the content community backlog in case people want to comment on the need for it or share insights. What do you think?