hugo-mistergeek/docs/SEO-IMPROVEMENTS.md

SEO Improvements Documentation

Overview

This project has been enhanced with comprehensive SEO capabilities using a modular partial system in Hugo.

File Structure

layouts/partials/seo/
├── seo-config.html      # Main SEO configuration loader
├── seo-meta.html        # Core SEO meta tags
├── opengraph.html      # Open Graph tags for social media
├── twitter-cards.html  # Twitter Card tags
├── structured-data.html # JSON-LD schema markup
└── favicons.html       # Favicon variations and PWA support

Features Added

1. Core SEO Meta Tags

• Dynamic meta description
• Keywords (with fallback)
• Author information
• Canonical URLs
• Robots meta tags
• Dublin Core metadata
• Geo tags (if configured)

2. Open Graph Tags

• og:title, og:description, og:image
• og:type (article/website)
• og:site_name
• og:url
• Article-specific tags for blog posts

3. Twitter Cards

• twitter:card (summary_large_image)
• twitter:title, twitter:description
• twitter:image
• Site and creator handles

4. Structured Data (JSON-LD)

• WebSite schema
• Article schema for blog posts
• BreadcrumbList schema
• Organization schema

5. Favicon & PWA Support

• Multiple favicon sizes
• Apple Touch Icons
• Android icons
• PWA manifest.json
• Theme colors

Configuration

Hugo Configuration (hugo.toml)

[params.seo]
  description = "Your site description"
  keywords = ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
  author = "Your Name"
  theme_color = "#007bff"
  default_image = "/images/og-default.jpg"
  logo = "/images/logo.png"
  
  [params.seo.twitter]
    site = "@yourhandle"
    creator = "@yourhandle"

Content Frontmatter

Add to your content's frontmatter:

---
title: "Your Post Title"
description: "Detailed description for SEO"
keywords: ["seo", "hugo", "optimization"]
author: "Author Name"
image: "/images/post-image.jpg"
robots: "index, follow"
---

Testing & Validation

Recommended Tools

• Google Rich Results Test: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
• Facebook Sharing Debugger: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
• Twitter Card Validator: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator
• Schema.org Validator: https://validator.schema.org/

Validation Checklist

• Meta tags present in page source
• Open Graph tags validate
• Twitter Cards validate
• JSON-LD schema validates
• Favicons load correctly
• Canonical URLs are correct

Next Steps

1. Generate favicon files for all sizes (use a favicon generator)
2. Create og-default.jpg and twitter-default.jpg images
3. Set up Google Search Console and add verification code
4. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools
5. Test with social media sharing

Fallback Values

The system includes intelligent fallback values:

• Description: Page → Site → Title
• Keywords: Page → Site → Empty string
• Image: Page → Site → Default
• Author: Page → Site → Site Title

All SEO improvements have been successfully implemented!