SEO Documentation & Standards
SEO documentation creates a shared reference for how SEO should be practiced across the organization. Well-documented standards ensure consistency when different team members execute SEO tasks.
Learning Focus
After this lesson you can create SEO guidelines, developer requirements, content standards, redirect rules, schema standards, and metadata standards.
This lesson covers the seven documentation areas (leaves 11.4.1–11.4.7): SEO guidelines, developer requirements, content standards, redirect rules, schema standards, metadata standards, and internal linking standards.
SEO Guidelines
High-level document describing how SEO is practiced in the organization.
Guideline components:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Principles | Core SEO principles the organization follows |
| Strategy | How SEO connects to business goals |
| Roles | Who is responsible for what |
| Process | How SEO work flows through the organization |
| Compliance | Alignment with Google's guidelines |
Developer Requirements
Technical specifications for engineering teams.
Developer requirements document:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Meta tags | Title tag rules, description rules, OG/Twitter tags |
| HTML structure | Heading hierarchy, semantic HTML, ARIA landmarks |
| URLs | Structure, parameters, redirect patterns |
| Schema | Required schema per page type, validation process |
| Performance | CWV targets, image optimization, JS/CSS optimization |
| Mobile | Responsive design, viewport, touch targets |
| Crawl | Robots.txt rules, sitemap generation |
| JavaScript | SSR/CSR requirements, rendered HTML validation |
Content Standards
Standards for content creators and editors.
Content standards document:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Content briefs | Required components, approval process |
| Keyword integration | Primary keyword, semantic coverage, entity requirements |
| Structure | H1-H6 hierarchy, section organization |
| Readability | Sentence length, paragraph length, reading level |
| Internal linking | Minimum internal links per page, anchor text rules |
| Media | Image requirements, alt text, video embed rules |
| Schema | FAQPage, Article schema requirements |
| Quality control | Fact-checking, citation requirements, expert review |
Redirect Rules
Standards for implementing and managing redirects.
Redirect rules document:
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| 301 for permanent moves | All permanent URL changes use 301 |
| 302 only for temporary | Temporary redirects only for A/B tests, maintenance |
| No redirect chains | Maximum 1 hop from any source URL |
| Redirect relevance | Each redirect must point to the most relevant page |
| Cleanup schedule | Quarterly review and cleanup of redirect chains |
| Mapping requirement | Every redirect must have documented mapping |
| Validation requirement | Every redirect must be tested before going live |
Schema Standards
Standards for structured data implementation.
Schema standards document:
| Standard | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | JSON-LD is the required format |
| Schema types | Required types per page type |
| Required properties | Minimum properties that must be populated |
| Validation | Every schema implementation must pass Rich Results Test |
| Content matching | Schema values must match visible page content |
| Updates | Schema must be updated when page content changes |
Metadata Standards
Core Concept
Standards for title tags, meta descriptions, and social metadata.
Metadata standards document:
| Element | Standard |
|---|---|
| Title tag | Aim for 50-60 characters (guideline, not hard limit; Google truncates by pixel width), primary keyword near start, unique, descriptor |
| Meta description | Aim for 150-160 characters (guideline, not hard limit; Google truncates by pixel width), includes target keyword, includes CTA, unique |
| H1 | One per page, matches or closely relates to title, includes primary keyword |
| Open Graph | Title, description, image, URL on every page |
| Twitter Card | Card type, title, description, image on every page |
| Canonical | Self-referencing canonical (best practice for most pages), absolute URL, lowercase, consistent trailing slash |
Internal Linking Standards
Standards for internal link creation and maintenance.
Internal linking standards document:
| Standard | Detail |
|---|---|
| Anchor text | Descriptive, varied, avoid "click here" |
| Link placement | Contextual in-content links preferred |
| Link count | 3-5 contextual internal links per page |
| Priority pages | Important pages linked from homepage and top navigation |
| Orphan prevention | Every page must have at least one internal link |
| Link maintenance | Quarterly audit for broken links |
| Cross-linking | Related content linked where relevant |
Workflow
- Create the SEO guidelines document: core principles, strategy-to-business-goals alignment, roles and responsibilities, workflow processes, and Google policy compliance.
- Write developer requirements: meta tag rules, HTML structure standards, URL conventions, schema requirements, CWV targets, mobile requirements, crawl rules, and JavaScript SEO requirements.
- Write content standards: brief components, keyword integration, content structure, readability, internal linking, media requirements, schema requirements, and quality control standards.
- Write technical standards: redirect rules (301 for permanent, no chains, validation requirement), schema standards (JSON-LD only, required types per page, Rich Results Test validation), metadata conventions, and internal linking rules.
- Publish the documentation set internally as a shared reference. Review and update quarterly with team feedback and Google guideline changes.
Common Mistakes
warning
- Writing documentation no one reads: A 50-page PDF that sits in a shared drive unused is not effective documentation. Create concise, searchable, task-oriented docs that people reference during their workflow.
- Documenting ideal state without current reality: Standards that describe a perfect site but ignore existing technical constraints or legacy content become aspirational fiction. Document both the target standard and the migration path from current state.
- No review cadence: SEO standards written once and never updated become outdated within months as Google guidelines, tools, and practices evolve. Schedule quarterly reviews.
- Standards without enforcement: Documentation without a mechanism to ensure compliance (QA checklists, code review gates, pre-publish reviews) is ineffective. Each standard should have a corresponding validation step.
- Inconsistent title/description length rules: Stating rigid character counts (e.g., "exactly 60 characters") when Google truncates by pixel width leads to confusion. Provide guideline ranges with the context that truncation is visual, not character-based.
Checklist
- Create SEO guidelines document (principles, strategy, roles, process, compliance)
- Write developer requirements (meta tags, HTML, URLs, schema, CWV, mobile, crawl, JS)
- Write content standards (briefs, keywords, structure, readability, linking, media, QC)
- Write technical standards (redirect rules, schema standards, metadata, linking)
- Publish documentation as searchable internal reference
- Review and update all documentation quarterly
- Ensure each standard has a corresponding validation or enforcement step