SEO: Meta description and title improvements

[blyonng]

It could be beneficial to improve the descriptions and titles used for the Docs pages.

Approach

I recommend improving the meta information of the most important documents first, then breaking the remaining document list into smaller phases. It might be helpful to create an initiative from this ticket.

Tools

Metatags.io - Helps preview what search engine results look like (meta info) and what social snippets look like (open graph)

Guidelines:

Titles

60 characters maximum

1. Please try to include a compelling reason why people should click on the link.
2. Use natural phrasing
3. Keep SEO keywords as close to the beginning as possible.

Description

200 characters maximum

1. Describe what the page is about AND why someone should care.
2. The most important information should be at the start of the description.

Copy writing templates

When coming up with meta descriptions and titles for a large quantity of documents, it can be helpful to create a group based template so one doesn't get overwhelmed. For example, "[Feature name] [does X] [for Y]" or "[How to solve] [Error X]" or [API for] [Feature name]"

Copy writing frameworks

The following are copy writing frameworks that can help generate ideas. They're more focused on marketing, but can still be used to inspire technical documentation.

Job-to-be-done

A person is trying to do something, write copy that will help them do that something. Feature X will help you do Y.

Problem-solution

Problem-solution is similar to JTBD, but with more focus on the problem portion instead of the task portion. Feature X will alleviate problem Y.

Value driven

People like to realize value. Examples include but are not limited to: save time, get to market quicker, iterate faster, improve efficiency, advance your career, save money, build reputation, etc.

Featured images

Open graph images are a nice-to-have item, but ultimately are less impactful than good titles and description.

1. The open graph image should be 1200px wide by 630px tall.
2. Design team can create a template for Figma or other tools that helps make it easier to manually create these.
3. Theoretically, these images can be auto-generated from page copy using advanced techniques.