F1 News Dashboard - Editorial Guidelines

SEO-informed steps for article writing

Start the article headline with the main keyword
Write a compelling meta description
Strategically use keywords in the article
Add internal links
Add external links
Select appropriate article tags
Use a relevant primary image
Promote through social media
Best practices checklist

1. Start the article headline with the main keyword

Place the main keyword as close to the beginning of the headline as possible

For example, from an SEO perspective, the following headline:

F1’s most memorable car launches: McLaren MP4/12

would be better as:

McLaren MP4/12: F1’s most memorable car launches

the main keyword is McLaren MP4/12

More headline tips:

Do not include a date or time in your article headline
Try to restrict the length of the headline to between 55-90 characters (including spaces and punctuation)
Should you need to exceed this length recommendation, consider where the text will be truncated in order to try and keep the most important part of the headline visible
This free tool will show how your headline (and the entire search result) will display in Google
The better the article headline, the greater the chance that Google will display it as specified

2. Write a compelling meta description

The main point of the meta description for search is to convince people to click on the article – if it’s not compelling then people won’t click
It is good to include the main keyword in the meta description, but it is more important to make the description as interesting as possible
Do a Google search for your keyword and read the meta descriptions that come up for other articles on your topic
A good meta-description is between 115 and 145 characters

3. Strategically use keywords in the article

Include at least 2 exact matches for the main keyword in the body text of the article
Use related keywords, such as singular/plural versions, variations by tense, or other semantically-related ideas, i.e. using the example of "McLaren MP4/12: one of F1’s most memorable car launches", where the main keyword is McLaren MP4/12, related keywords could include McLaren Car, McLaren F1, McLaren models, new McLaren, McLaren F1 team, McLaren racing, etc.
Google favours above-the-fold content, so be sure to use the main keyword and related keywords early, ideally in the first 100 words
Write content for readability and include the main keyword and related keywords in a natural way

4. Add internal links

a) General Information

Only link to the same page from the same page once (identical links are only counted once)
Place internal links high up in the body of the article, as Google favours above-the-fold-content
The text that links to a page is called anchor text
Avoid using generic terms like ‘see more’ or 'click here' as anchor text

b) Linking from a new article to existing pages

We've used the example of "McLaren MP4/12: one of F1’s most memorable car launches" to illustrate the steps to follow when linking from a new article to existing pages.

To find other relevant articles and pages to link to, look through the article and identify internal linking opportunities
Look for related themes (in this example, a related theme would be car launches), drivers, teams, races etc.
Once you've identified internal linking opportunities, you may want to do a site search to see which pages within your site Google sees as most relevant

For example, Nigel Mansell is mentioned in the second paragraph of the body text.

You could do the following site search to identify relevant pages about Nigel Mansell:

site:www.formula1.com Nigel Mansell

You can add an internal link to Nigel Mansell's driver hall of fame page:

https://www.formula1.com/en/drivers/hall-of-fame/Nigel_Mansell.html

In this article there is also a good opportunity to link to the McLaren team page in the first paragraph of the body text

https://www.formula1.com/en/teams/McLaren.html

If there are no good opportunities to use anchor text, use Related: [article title] in a contextually relevant part of the article, preferably near the top

For example, in the article, "McLaren MP4/12: one of F1’s most memorable car launches", in a contextually relevant place, you could include the following linked text: Related: F1’s most memorable car launches: Benetton B201

c) Linking from existing pages to a new article

By the same token, look for existing pages from which you can create an internal link to the new article

Examples of articles related to "McLaren MP4/12: one of F1’s most memorable car launches" include:

F1’s most memorable car launches: Benetton B201
F1’s most memorable car launches: Jordan EJ12
F1’s most memorable car launches: BAR 01

In the article, F1’s most memorable car launches: Benetton B201, you can include the linked text Related: "McLaren MP4/12: one of F1’s most memorable car launches" in a contextually relevant place, and link back to the new article.

5. Add external links

Adding external links to very prominent and semantically relevant external websites can be hugely beneficial
Best practice is to link words as anchor text that we are not competing for with the external website

6. Select appropriate article tags

Ensure every article has a minimum of 2 relevant tags

7. Use a relevant primary image

Use as specific an image as possible as the primary image for each article
A good way to understand the type of image that best suits the search term you are targeting is to check Google images for similar searches

Example of a poorly optimised primary image:

Example of a well optimised primary image:

8. Promote through social media

Post the link to your article on your official Facebook page, Twitter stream and any other relevant F1 social channels
For articles with significant viral potential, it is a good idea to give an initial paid boost to maximise distribution

9. Best practices checklist

Best Practices Checklist

Does the article headline start with the main keyword?
Is the article headline between 55-90 characters long?
Is the meta description between 115-155 characters long?
Are there at least 2 exact matches for the main keyword in the body of the article?
Are there any linking opportunities from the new article to other pages using relevant anchor text?
Are there any linking opportunities from other relevant pages on the site to the new article using relevant anchor text?
If no good opportunities for anchor text exist, have you created internal links using Related: [article title] in a contextually relevant place, preferably high up in the article?
Are there any linking opportunities to relevant external websites?
Does the article have a minimum of 2 relevant tags?
Has the article been posted to social media channels

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