Technical Requirements for Project Apollo Migrations
Canonical Tagging
The canonical product pages need internal links pointing directly to them on the site and should be in the XML sitemap. In addition, these links should, ideally, be in the raw HTML as opposed to being added during the rendering process. This further facilitates ease-of-access for Google so it can eventually index the pages properly.
Canonical tag (automatically put in on profession/product combination pages but ability to add in as well)
Need to be able to denote if a URL is the “rel canonical” (the original/main URL). Canonical tags should be automatically put on the original URL but with the ability to override.
Why this is important: Canonical tags show the true, original URL that should be indexed. Canonical tags prevent duplicate content and self-cannbalization.
Built out <header tag> structure with only one H1 and then multiple H2, H3 etc…
Existing header tags should be moved over to new CMS
Need to be able to add new H1, H2, H3, etc. tags or change existing header tags
Why this is important: Header tags help break up content and denote the importance of the content. They also help search engines to understand what the page is about. There should only be allowed one H1 tag per page, and this should be the main title/most important thing on the page.
Structured data/schema set up
The SEO team needs to be able to add structured data.
Why this is important: Structured data helps Google to understand content and present it in search results.
Mapped out URL structure at start
Consistent URL structure + redirect logic in place to send traffic to canonical version
Http --> https
Trailing slash vs non-trailing slash
All lower-case
uses dashes and not underscores
no .html or other extensions at the end
follows page structure closely (i.e. /courses/course-name, /state-requirements/north-carolina, /professions/physician etc…)... SEO should be involved before finalizing
URL consistency of keeping URLs the same as courses or packages get updated year after year reduces the number of redirects the SEO team has to implement every time the URL changes. With each redirect, the original SEO value is diminished. Search engines stop following redirects after 3 “hops” (URL A is redirected to URL B is redirected to URL C)
Server-side rendering
is optimal, see this Google Resource https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/javascript-seo-basics
Metadata
Metadata should transfer over from the existing CMS to the new CMS
Any metadata not specified by SEO team to be transferred
Meta title (auto pulls from page title/H1 but can be overridden). The end of the meta title should automatically include a pipe with the brand name such as “ | Nurse.com” at the end of the meta title. Auto pulls these fields up to 60 characters.
Meta description (auto pulls from short description or first paragraph of non-product page but ability to override). Auto pulls up to 160 characters.
Character counts for meta title and description.
Why this is important: metadata is essential for helping users understand what the page is about and how it relates to their search query in search results. Optimized metadata can help improve CTR to the website. Having metadata that is longer than the allotted character amount leads to ellipses in search results and this is not helpful for users.
Open Graph Tags
Need the ability to add Open Graph (OG) tags (includes: title, description, image) for each page
Why this is important: OG tags are another type of meta tags that allow a page to control what will be displayed when a user shares a link of the page on social media. OG tags are important for pages that encourage social sharing.
On page attributes
Link and image alt tag access to update
Need to be able to add internal links to pages where relevant.
Why this is important: Internal links can help keep users on the site longer, it can point them to additional useful pages, and also helps search engines find related content and understand the structure of the site.
Heading tags
Ability to update H1, H2s, H3, etc.
Redirects
Ideally redirects can be added and updated without downloading and uploading a csv file.
Redirects at both an individual and csv upload level for SEO team
Ability to choose redirect type, 301, 302, etc.
Why this is important: Redirects help pass on the SEO value of a URL if the page changes or moves (ex: a migration). Typically, we’d always want to use a 301 (permanent) redirect. 302 redirects signal temporary redirects and do not pass link "juice" from URL to URL but there may be some instances where a 302 would be necessary to use and we should have this option.
Add parameter ‘?source=oldsite.com’ to the end of redirects from the old site. Do not use UTM codes since they reclassify incoming traffic and inflate the ‘referral’ channel.
XML Sitemap/Robots.txt
SEO team should be able to add, update and edit robots.txt file
Automated sitemap but need to enable "include/exclude in XML sitemap" ('index/noindex") capability on each page.
Also need to enable follow/nofollow markups on each page.
Verifying site in Google Search Console
Why this is important: The SEO team should have the option to include or exclude a URL from being indexed or included in the XML sitemap. Test pages, non-canonical pages, non-200 status code pages, and orphaned pages should not be included in the XML Sitemap.
Video Implementation & Optimization
It is important for team members to be able to embed videos within pages in an organized and structured way.
Why this is important: We are seeing video and interactive content getting more popular and search engines putting more value behind these types of visuals in search results so we need to be able to add these assets to the site and have the capability for optimization as well.
Templated Pages
Need to have access to create net new pages from a template without having to build a page from scratch or involve engineering to develop a new page.
Why this is important: Having predesigned and approved templates from the UX team and having those already developed, we can avoid having to retroactively fix pages that other teams have built that do not align with best practices.