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SEO Checklist for a new Victorian Government website to go live

Prepared by Information Victoria, July 2010.

This checklist provides you with a number of things to consider before you go live with a new or redeveloped website.

1. Register domain name

All Victorian Government Domain names must be registered at domainname.gov.au.

Information about Victorian Government Domain Name Registration is available.

Other domains can be registered via an auDA accredited registrar.

Consider using meaningful names - read Choosing a domain name.

2. Configure DNS and Permanent Redirects

Configure both www.[domainname].vic.gov.au and [domainname].vic.gov.au in your DNS

Update your TTL (Time to Live) from the usual default of 3600 to 360 at least 48 hours before your go live date.

Institute a permanent 301 redirect from [domainname.vic.gov.au] to www.[domainname].vic.gov.au

These references on How to Use Your WWW. to Prevent Duplicate Content will show you how using a .htaccess file for apache servers.

If  you've moved your site to a new domain, you can use Google's Change of address tool to tell the search engine about your new URL.

3. Robots.txt

Set up a robots.txt file if you need to restrict access to certain parts of your site.

4. Sitemap

Create a sitemap to help search engines crawl your site. This will show you how to create and submit a sitemap to Google.

5. Create A Google Account

Your Google Account gives you access to Google Webmaster Tools and other Google services such as Google Analytics and Google AdWords

Read the Google Webmaster Guidelines to find out what is acceptable and what is not.

6. Google Webmaster tools

Set up Google Webmaster Tools.

This will show you how to use Google Webmaster Tools.

7. Google Analytics

Set up a free Google Analytics account.

Google Analytics Help is available including a Getting started guide.

Read. The Complete Google Analytics Power User Guide - in pdf format (818kb)

8. Discoverability

Ensure you have complied with the Discoverability Standard.

9. Submit to search engines

Once you are ready to go live you will need to submit your site to search engines. The following are the major search engines you should consider:

• Google - site submit - how to remove a site/url from Google
• Bing - site submit
• Yahoo - site submit
• DMOZ - The Open Directory Project is a web directory of Internet resources run by volunteers. Identify the single best category for your site. Once you've selected the best category for your site, go directly to that category on dmoz.org and then click "suggest URL." An ODP editor will review your submission to determine whether to include it in the directory. Once accepted it may take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months for your site to be listed on partner sites which use the Open Directory data, such as AOL Search, Google, Netscape Search, Yahoo Search

10. Linking

Find other websites which have like/similar content and link to them. If relevant, ask them to link to you, but make sure it is in a meaningful way. Your outbound links will act as a recommendation to your visitors. Inbound government website links are highly sought after by other web sites. Read 17 Ways Search Engines Judge the Value of a Link.

Internal links the importance of what is contained within the structure of an internal link. Read The Elements of an HTML Link

11. Social Media Integration

Consideration of social media as part of your go live campaign is something you should consider. Read Social Media Optimization - A Priority For Your SEO Campaign.

Twitter

Setup a Twitter account for your site - use it to promote new content, events, and so forth. Follow other relevant Twitter users. There are a number of Twitter Guides for government users.

• Twitter: A quick start guide for people in and around government
• Twitter for Government
• Twitter 101: A Special Guide

Facebook

Consider how you might use Facebook to market your site and services. A useful start is the Facebook Marketing Bible.

Social Media Marketing Generally

Consider ROI factors. Read: How to Get Social Media ROI, Part One

11. Documents other than HTML

Ensure all document properties are completed with the correct information (and not the default stuff it comes with!) on your pdfs, word docs, excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations which you have loaded on the site.

Read: SEO for PDF Documents and View or change the properties for an Office document.

Note: This document is a work in progress - any suggestions for changes and additions are gratefully received.

Email: administration@egov.vic.gov.au

Last updated: 16 July 2010

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