Why search engine discoverability is so important…and what you can do to help

By Chris Hardin

Why is discoverability so important?

Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines are the principal ways in which people will find your article online today. The search engine is now the first port of call for researchers and it is of paramount importance for them to be able to find your article in search engines. While SAGE already undertakes many measures to ensure that your work is indexed in all the major search engines, the starting point is the content that you write.

What is SEO and how does it work?

 SEO, or ‘Search Engine Optimization,’ is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine. In other words, SEO is a name given to activity that attempts to improve search engine rankings. Therefore, we are constantly optimizing our website to assist search indexes in finding your content as easily as possible.

So, what can you do to help?

You also play a crucial role in optimizing the search results for your article—below we have some simple steps you can take to optimize your article for search engines, allowing people to most easily find, read, and cite your work.

Get the title right

o   Not surprisingly, search engines treat the title with importance. Start here and ask yourself if the title is relevant, accurate, and descriptive to your article. 

o   The title is not where you should get creative—aim for clarity.

o   For your article’s audience, what would they be looking for/researching?  Would this title satisfy their search?

Know your keywords/key phrases

o   Think about the term(s) that you want your content to be known and found for and choose them carefully.

o   Repeat your keywords in the abstract and article, but don’t use the keywords just for the sake of it—maintain a natural flow.

o   Think about what you would likely search for to find an article on your subject matter. Are the keywords/phrases you placed in the search contained within your article?

o   We recommend 3 to 4 key phrases and an additional 3 to 4 keywords and ideally one or two of your main keywords would be within the title.  

Optimize your abstract

o   Search engines also place emphasis on the abstract page of your article (which is free for everyone to look at on SAGE Journals Online). Your abstract gives search engines the data they need to find your article and rank it in the search results page.

o   Try to repeat your key phrases in the first sentence or two of the abstract, but again, don’t overplay it—write naturally and avoid ‘keyword/phrase’ stuffing.

Additional advice

o   For any illustrations, figures, graphs, etc., make sure your captions are clear and descriptive (search engines look at captions too).

o   Use hyperlinks as appropriate and external/inbound links (e.g., a link to your article from your social media and/or institutional site) is quite valuable for SEO.

o   Subheading helps both the reader and search engines decipher your article.  Like the title or keywords, keep them clear and relevant.                                                     

Summary

o   These are tips for helping to improve the SEO of your work, but keep the focus on writing valuable content!

For more information, you can visit our webpage on helping readers find your article—and please feel free to post questions.

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