Search
engine optimization (SEO) of your journal articles is as important for you to
do to market your research as it is for a company to market a retail product.
Different markets and end users, but the same purpose and means. Thanks to
companies like Google, SEO is almost obligatory if you would like to increase
readership of your articles, increase citations and acknowledgment and to
create an overall stronger academic visibility, both offline and online. By
optimizing your articles, you guarantee that your articles are indexed and gain
a higher ranking in general and academic search engines, such as Google
and Google Scholar,
Elsevier’s Scirus, SciDiver, IEEE Xplore, PubMed , SciPlore.org and more.1
 |
| Article Optimization |
Keywords
Using
keyword tools, such as the popular Google AdWords keyword tool, you
can find which keywords are most popular in searches. Based on this
information, you can inform your decision of which keywords (and synonyms of
those keywords) to use in your article title, sub-heading, description tags,
abstract and throughout the main text of your article. Using a strong keyword
in your title is better than, for example, only using it in the description
tag.4 However, you should plan to use one or more relevant
keywords in your title, abstract and several times in the main text of the
article. Regarding how often to use keywords in your text is referred to as
"keyword density."5
An
overview of places in the article where you can use strong keywords relevant to
your topic include:
- Title
- Heading and sub-headings
- Description tags
- Keywords
- Descriptions of the authors
- File name of the document
- Main body text
- Abstract
- Graphics, tables and figures – both in the
graphic as well as in the title of the graphic6
Tips
- Write a good and short
title for your article. If you can use one or more keywords in the
title while accurately describing the content of your article, then do it.
Keep in mind the audience of your article and any academic keywords
specific to your field to inform which keywords may be best to use.
- In addition to the
keywords tool from Google, check out Google Insights and Google Trends. With the latter two, you
can see the popularity of keywords over a period of time and by geographic
location, which may or may not be relevant for you and to your article.
Until now, Google offers the most tools for SEO.
- Don’t go overboard with
using numerous top keywords in every location of your article. You want to tastefully
optimize your article without compromising the relevance and quality of
your writing and research.
- Using the most popular
keyword tool may not always be best for you and your article. After all, it is the
most popular for a reason, partly because it is frequently used in
documents by others. You can test this by doing your own search of the
keyword and seeing how many search results are found. If it is an
exorbitant amount of articles, you may want to choose another keyword that
is also very relevant to your research topic.7
Metadata
The
metadata of an article refers to a number of things. Metadata can refer to
keywords used, as well as to the type of file your document is, such as whether
it is a PDF or Word file, the title, subjects and authors of the article, the
date of the article, the name of the publisher and more. The metadata of your
article also factors into the indexing and ranking of your article, so you
should ensure this information is complete.
Types
of graphics
Believe
it or not, the types of graphics – including tables and figures – you use in
your article factor into the calculation of the ranking of your article. For example,
if you use an image-based graphic (represented by the file types: .tiff, .bmp,
.jpeg, .png, .pdf, .gif and .psd, to name a few of the most common), the text
in that graphic type cannot be "read" and indexed by search engines
and therefore cannot be factored into the algorithms used by the search
engines. Consequently, it is advised to use so-called text-based "vector" graphics (most
commonly represented as .svg, .ai, .eps, .ps in file types).8 Using
vector graphics, which can be indexed, enables you to use relevant keywords and
phrases in those graphics, figures and tables to enhance the optimization of
your article.9
Tip
Consistent
spelling of authors’ last names and initials is important to ensure articles
and citations are correctly identified by search engines.11
Citations
Citations
are critical in the academic world, both offline and online. The more your
research articles are cited by others in their articles, the better. Your
visibility and reputation benefit from numerous citations. Accordingly,
for SEO, the number of citations to your past and current research factors into
the indexing and ranking of your past, present and future articles.10 Citations
to your past publication within your current and future publications, as well
as in the publications by other authors, are very relevant and good for SEO.
Publicizing
your article using Internet and social media tools
Writing
and publishing your scholarly article is not the final step. You must inform
everyone in your academic and social networks about it as well. Create a public
group for your article or research in any number of places12, share
links to your abstract or publication onAcademia.edu,LinkedIn, on your website, your
academic institution’s profile page,Facebook, Twitter , etc. Also,
include the publication in your institution’s repository, onMendeley,ResearchGateand elsewhere.
Always
remember: There is an important balance to strike and to uphold between
increasing the visibility of your research through (A)SEO and presenting
relevant, high-quality research. Do not compromise your writing and research
quality, academic reputation or ethics.13
References
1.
Beel, Joeran, Gipp, Bela and Wilde, Erik. “Academic Search
Engine Optimization (ASEO): Optimizing Scholarly Literature for Google Scholar
& Co.”; and Hoyt, Jason. Mendeley blog. 29 November 2010. Academic SEO – Market (and Publish) or Perish.
2.
Ibid.
3.
Ibid.
4.
Ibid.
6.
Ibid.
7.
Ibid.
10. Beel, Joeran,
Gipp, Bela and Wilde, Erik. “Academic Search Engine Optimization (ASEO):
Optimizing Scholarly Literature for Google Scholar & Co.”
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.