Search – We couldn’t live without it. It’s become part of everyone’s daily routine. When we need a quick answer – we SEARCH. People search on things relevant to them, such as where can I volunteer to help clean up the oil spill ? What is the most family friendly beach in Maryland? Where will there be fireworks displays on July 4th? Answers to questions like these drive people to YOUR sites, and if
you don’t have a good process for search engine optimization (SEO — appearing in relevant search results), your content is essentially lost or non-existent.
To help you institutionalize SEO best practices, GSA’s Web Manager University is hosting thought leader and search engine optimization expert Vanessa Fox for a free workshop next Monday, June 21, 2010 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. We have LIMITED in-person space, but if you don’t get a seat you can register to attend virtually. Vanessa will take a look at government websites and give practical feedback on how to improve search results. For more information see our events page: https://www.govloop.com/events/search-and-seo-workshop.
In person registration (Find the event under our New Media Talks)
Vanessa previously taught for Web Manager University –you can get a flavor for her work by viewing the archived webinar, “The Future ofSearch and SEO” where Vanessa along with 3 other panelists discussSEO. Also check out Vanessa’s blog to learn more about her.
Another way that GSA is supporting agencies in their effort to improve SEO is with Search.USA.gov and the USA.gov Search Services Affiliates Program. Search.USA.gov is a search engine that government agencies can use for free, with web results powered by Bing.
USA.gov Search Services Affiliates Program provides search functionality for USA.gov and many government websites such as NOAA , The Stateof Connecticut, and Navajo County, Arizona. – They could provide search for YOU. To sign up you must be a government site: federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial. Please visit: https://search.usa.gov/affiliates for more information.
Do you know of other good SEO tools or techniques to share with the government community?
I’d love to hear how the gov’t web community optimizes for SEO. Is it built-in the CMS products generally or is much work done. Seems like it is essential as most people find govt info via search. My sense is it works relatively well b/c when I search for things I need like renewing a passport…state.gov shows up.
The U.S. Navy encourages Public Affairs Officers to contribute to the SEO effort by producing relevant and timely information on their web site and social media sites. See http://www.slideshare.net/USNavySocialMedia/search-engine-optimization-seo for more information!