SEO for publishers

The technical audit of a publishing site is the stage at which I diagnose the elements that affect indexing, URL quality and SEO stability in an environment of frequent publishing. I review indexing, the site architecture and the behaviour of the key templates, including articles and listings. I verify meta elements, structured data, the mobile version, performance, canonical URLs and 4xx/5xx errors. The conclusions from the audit are later turned into an implementation plan and a task backlog.

As part of the audit I analyse indexing and crawl budget, in order to detect the sources of duplication and low-quality pages in the index. I identify, among other things, parameters, thin pages, pagination, archives, tags and areas such as internal search, which can generate unwanted URLs. On that basis I prepare decisions about blocking, canonicals and tidying up the sitemap. In parallel I assess the taxonomy (categories, tags, topic pages, archives and pagination), pointing out the places where the structure dilutes the authority of a section or creates duplication.

The audit also covers an analysis of the templates of the key page types, such as article, author and category, with an emphasis on the fixed HTML elements. I check, among other things, titles, headings, breadcrumbs, linking modules, authorship elements, dates and structured data, as well as the places for supporting content. I analyse performance and heavy elements separately, identifying the scripts, images and ads that slow the site down. The recommendations in this area take into account the need for changes that do not harm monetisation and do not break the layout.

The implementation plan and backlog is the stage at which I turn the conclusions from the audit and the research into specific tasks to deliver. I put together a list of technical and content changes with priorities, dependencies and acceptance criteria, so that the work can be planned and signed off. As part of the arrangements I clarify which tasks are carried out by the publisher’s team and which I carry out as the contractor. Organising the work this way limits the risk of a gap between the recommendations and the actual implementation in the templates and the publishing process.

The result of this stage is the implementation backlog — an organised list of tasks linked to specific templates and sections of the site. Each task in the backlog has a description, a priority, an owner and the dependencies indicated, which makes it easier to manage the order of the work and follow the changes through. Delivery of the technical tasks depends on the availability of the development team and the release priorities on the publisher’s side. The effectiveness of the content tasks depends on the editorial team agreeing to changes in the publishing workflow, content updates, internal linking and authorship standards.

• List of technical and content changes with priorities and acceptance criteria.
• Agreeing on the division of work: the publisher’s team vs the contractor.
• Implementation backlog: task description, priority, owner and dependencies.
• Indicating the templates/sections that each change applies to.

Monitoring and iterations is the stage at which I keep track of the impact of implementations and publications on indexing and on the stability of the site. I regularly check indexing, errors and changes to templates that may affect the visibility of individual sections. I analyse the effects of the implementations in terms of how the technical arrangements are working and how URL quality is being tidied up, and I also watch for problems arising from ongoing publishing changes. On that basis I make corrections to the backlog and the priorities of the work.

As part of the iterations I respond to problems that need quick fixes, particularly if they concern indexing, errors or the quality of sections of the site. Monitoring also covers checking the effects of content changes, including the risk of keyword cannibalisation after updates and publications. The results of the work are presented in a regular report with recommendations, which summarises the actions carried out and their impact on traffic and indexing. In the report I also include a list of risks (e.g. duplication, drops in performance) and an action plan for the next period.

• Ongoing checks of: indexing, errors, template changes and the effects of implementations.
• Backlog corrections and quick responses to publishing problems.
• Checking the visibility of sections and the risks, including keyword cannibalisation and duplication.
• Regular report and recommendations: summary of the work, impact on traffic and indexing, risks and an action plan for the next period.