This document provides tips for building archives websites that are optimized for search engines like Google. It discusses conducting keyword research to understand how users search, organizing the site structure clearly, constructing pages with unique titles, descriptions and images with alt text, analyzing website analytics to understand traffic and user behavior, and following SEO best practices and blogs to continuously improve search visibility.

1. Building Archives Websites That Google Will Love Jeanne Kramer-Smyth http://www.SpellboundBlog.com SAA2010 Washington, DC August 14, 2010

4. Wikimedia Commons: Spider Monkey’s use of the prehensile tail

6. 200

7. Wikimedia Commons: Home Sweet Home Project Gutenberg

10. World War II or World War 2? Keyword research can show you how people actually search – official vs popular version. Google Insight into Search: world war 2 world war ii

11. Site Organization

12. Site Organization

13. Flickr Commons: Candy Box from Yeshiva University Museum

14. Page Construction Unique page title, less than 65 characters Clear primary keyword target phrase One URL per page Unique meta description, less than 164 characters Content rich text Images have alt text

15. Analytics Where did they come from? When and why do they leave? Where am I on a Google SERP?

16. Analytics Where did they come from? Traffic Sources & Keywords When and why do they leave? Bounce Rates & Exit Pages Where am I on a Google SERP? Google Webmaster Tools

17. Next Steps for YOU! Look at sites that rank higher than you do Check out your Analytics Bake SEO into your web site design discussions Follow some SEO blogs (RSS is your friend!) SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog SEO Book Search Engine Land Google Webmaster Central

18. Questions? Jeanne Kramer-Smyth http://www.spellboundblog.com @spellboundblog