This page explains fundamental strategies to optimize your documentation SEO.
Content basics
Make your writing and structure easy for search engines to scan.- Headings and subheadings: Use sequential, meaningful headers to structure your content. Each page has an H1 created from the
title:property in the frontmatter. - Short paragraphs and bullet points: Break down large chunks of text into easily readable sections. Use bullet points and numbered lists where appropriate.
- Internal linking: Link to related content using descriptive anchor text. For example, “Learn more about rate limiting” instead of “Click here.”
Technical SEO basics
Once your content is optimized, ensure your documentation performs well from a technical standpoint. These basic technical SEO practices help make your docs more discoverable:- Meta tags and descriptions: Craft SEO-friendly titles (50-60 characters) and descriptions (150-160 characters) for each page. Most meta tags are automatically generated.
- Alt text for images: Provide descriptive alt text for images with relevant keywords. For example, “OAuth 2.0 API authentication flow” instead of just “diagram”. This enhances SEO and accessibility.
- Sitemaps: Ensure your sitemap is up-to-date. Mintlify automatically generates a sitemap. However, you can manually create a sitemap if you prefer a custom format. Once created, search engines index site maps over time, but you can submit your sitemap directly to Google Search Console to speed up the process.
Page performance
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for technical SEO improvement. Examples of more advanced optimizations:- Optimize media for speed: Compress images using formats like WebP or AVIF and ensure your pages load quickly (ideally under 3 seconds).
- Structured data (schema markup): Add schema markup (like HowTo, FAQ) to your pages to help search engines better understand and rank your content.
Keyword research
To increase organic traffic, invest time into understanding which keywords help users land on your documentation.- Keyword research: Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner or Keywords Everywhere to identify common phrases or long-tail keywords.
- Integrate keywords naturally: Add keywords naturally into headings, subheadings, and throughout the body text. Don’t overstuff keywords. Your documentation should be written for your users, not search engines.