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Optimizing Web Pages for Search

Nova Southeastern University utilizes Cludo, a powerful site search & content enablement platform. All search engines function by visiting a list of sites, following the links on the web pages to various other web pages, and then indexing all of the web pages found. Cludo enables NSU to provide search engine services for all content, regardless of the server on which it is housed. In addition, Cludo allows NSU to create what is called, "scope searching" which can filter a particular site or sites pages into one search experience. Visit NSU's Cludo Search at https://www.nova.edu/search/

How Search Engines Score Content

Like all search engines, Cludo scores content it indexes according to a specific formula. How high a web page turns up in a search engine result stems directly from how well a web page complies with the formula. When Cludo hits a page, it looks at the content found in the body of the document, but uses a variety of other factors, which are not so readily apparent, and does use them to positively or negatively impact your page or document's overall score.

Hidden Factors / META Tags

The text in the body of a document indexed by Cludo adds weight to your pages ranking. However, Cludo and other search engines give extra weight to pages based on the elements listed below:

  1. Title (*META)
    Titles are used as the link text in search results and to identify browser tabs/windows. The Title field should be descriptive to the subject content of the page or document, contain a department and/or service descriptor (if any) and either NSU or Nova Southeastern University (not mandatory but may help with identifying the content).  
  2. Description (*META)
    The "description" field provides a brief summary of the web page or document (PDF). Don't use the same description for every page on your site. While some pages may have the same, or closely related description, differences in content demand differences in the META tags.
  3. Links/Anchors
    Links in your document/web page or links in other documents/web pages that point back to your web page

For example, a page about financial aid that has the title 'Financial Aid | Nova Southeastern University', along with the phrase 'financial aid' in its web page description and body content, will rank high in search engine results returned to a user searching for the words, "financial aid". If a large number of other web pages have links pointing to this page, it will rank even higher.

*META tags (Title and Description) help visitors find your web pages and documents by allowing Cludo and other search engines to index the material you provide and put it into user search results. META tags should contain information that is immediately descriptive and relevant to the page or document on which it is placed. See Title and Description information above.

NSU Search Engine Support

For assistance with NSU's Cludo Search and/or optimizing your web pages to be found via search engines, please contact the Web Development department through our OIIT Project Intake and Support.

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