Skip to main content
CNR Internal Resources

SEO (Search Engine Optimzation) Information For Editors

How can my research website be easier to Find Online?

How People Find Research

Most people do not begin by browsing a university website. Instead, they search Google or ask AI tools questions such as:

  • Who studies wildfire smoke and health?
  • Forest carbon research university
  • Environmental policy expert North Carolina

Search engines scan web pages to identify experts and determine which pages best answer a question. When your research page clearly explains your work, it is more likely to appear in search results.

Clear research pages help:

  • Journalists find experts
  • Potential collaborators discover your work
  • Graduate students identify advisors
  • Policymakers locate subject matter experts

Clear descriptions also make it easier for readers to quickly understand your work.

What Helps Research Pages Appear in Search Results

Search engines better understand research pages when they include clear descriptions of your work and the topics you study.

Research overview

Include a short paragraph explaining:

  • What you study
  • Why it matters
  • The main topics in your research

Write this section so it can be understood by someone outside your field.

Research topics

Mention key topics related to your work. These terms help search engines match your page to common searches.

Examples include:

  • wildfire ecology
  • forest carbon storage
  • environmental policy
  • climate adaptation
  • water quality

Use these terms naturally in your text and section headings.

Projects and research groups

Include brief descriptions of:

  • research labs
  • major projects
  • field sites or collaborations

This helps readers understand the scope of your work.

Publications and links

Provide links to important resources, such as:

  • selected publications
  • research group or lab websites
  • major reports or datasets

Links help readers explore your work and strengthen credibility.

Contact information

Make it easy for people to reach you. Include:

  • email address
  • department affiliation
  • lab website, if applicable

Journalists and collaborators often rely on this information when looking for experts.

Google Knowledge Panels

Google may create a knowledge panel for researchers — the information box that sometimes appears on the right side of search results when someone searches for a person or organization.

Knowledge panels are automatically generated from publicly available sources, including:

  • university profile pages
  • publications and citation databases
  • news coverage
  • Wikipedia or other reference sources

These panels may include information such as a researcher’s affiliation, areas of expertise, publications and related profiles.

If a knowledge panel exists for you, you may be able to claim and verify it through Google. Verification allows you to suggest updates and help ensure the information is accurate.

Learn how to claim and verify a knowledge panel:
https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/7534902

Maintaining a clear and complete university profile page helps search engines better understand your work and connect it to your name. Not every researcher has a knowledge panel, but strong public profiles can improve visibility.

Writing Tips

  • Include a short research overview
  • Use clear headings and topic names
  • Mention research topics naturally
  • Link to projects or publications
  • Add images if they help explain the research

Avoid:

  • Pages with little or no content
  • Long lists of keywords without explanation
  • Automatically generated or duplicated content

Resources

How can I claim my Google Researcher Knowledge Panel?

Overview

What is a Knowledge Panel?

Google’s new feature provides a quick snapshot of information for people, places, and organizations. Knowledge panels are automatically generated based on accesibile information on Google. If Google has automatically created a knowledge panel for you or your organization you are able to claim the panel and make changes. 

How to Claim your Listing

If you find you have a knowledge panel on Google and would like to take ownership, please follow these steps: 

Step 1: Get verified on Google

Step 2: Create a Google Account if you do not already have one.

Step 3: Search yourself or organization in the search panel to find your knowledge panel. 

Step 4: At the bottom of the knowledge panel click “claim this knowledge panel” 

Step 5: Sign in to a site listed in the knowledge panel that is associated with you such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. 

Step 6: If Google can not identify you, you will be asked to provide more information. 

Step 7: Add Users You can add users and give permission to others to edit your knowledge panel. 

Step 8: Go to – https://www.google.com/search/contributions/manage

Step 9: Click “start now” under “Add people to this account.”

Step 10: Click add new user and add the user’s email address.

Step 11: Determine if the user will receive manager permissions.

Step 12: To grant manager permission click “invite.” 
Different levels of permissions: manager (can suggest changes and add/remove people), owner ( account owner – same permissions as manager) and contributor (can suggest changes only). 

Resources:

Overview

An alternative tag (or “alt tag”) is text that describes the appearance and function of web images for visually impaired users who may be visiting a webpage on screen readers or browsers that can’t process images. This text also plays an important role in boosting the online presence of pages and websites by providing Google and other search engines with important information about an image, making it easier to find and rank in an online search. In order to support both of these needs, we have created an updated optimal alt tag format to support both NC State accessibility standards and to support our performance in search engines.

A new optimized format for Search Engine Optimization

The new optimized format includes several important elements that include:

  • Descriptive text (Describe what you see in the image. Examples: “a student in the forest holding a notebook” or “a deer standing in a field.”)
  • Page title/name (The title of the web page)
  • Department or college name
  • University name
  • A series of dashes to separate each element in the alt tag

The final format recommendations for images for each department/division

Description text – Page name – Internal Resources at NC State University

Example of using the new format

Example: When inserting an alt tag for the image on this page https://cnr.ncsu.edu/extension-outreach/professional-services/, you would use: “Measuring tools and paper – Professional Services – College of Natural Resources NC State University”

Alt Tags Support Materials and Directions

How to use alt tags in images:

Step 1: Upload the image to the WordPress media library.
Step 2: Type your alt tag information in the field labeled  “Alternative Text.”
Step 3: Make sure to use the new format and enter all information.
Step 4: When done, you can close the image window.

Helpful Videos

How to Use Alt Tags

Review these tutorials about alt tags if you need a refresher on how to use alt tags:

For an overview and demo, you can view this recording: 
Tutorial about how to do new Alt Tag Best Practices (New 2021 Format)
https://ncsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=ccbe72fa-8c51-435b-adc4-ad04010151c0