enhancing seo metadata in jekyll mediumish

The Role of SEO Metadata

SEO metadata like titles, descriptions, and structured data help search engines understand your content better. Properly configured metadata can improve click-through rates and rankings in search results.

Default SEO in Mediumish Theme

The Mediumish theme includes basic SEO tags, but you can customize and extend these for better optimization and flexibility.

Step 1: Customize Page Titles

Ensure your page titles are descriptive and unique. Use Liquid variables in your _layouts files:

<title>{{ page.title }} | {{ site.title }}</title>

Step 2: Add Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions provide summaries on search engine results pages. Include a description front matter in posts and use it in the head section:

<meta name="description" content="{{ page.description | default: site.description }}">

Step 3: Implement Open Graph and Twitter Cards

These metadata tags improve social media sharing previews. Example:

<meta property="og:title" content="{{ page.title }}">
<meta property="og:description" content="{{ page.description }}">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">

Step 4: Use JSON-LD Structured Data

Structured data helps search engines display rich results. Add this script block in the head of your layout:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BlogPosting",
  "headline": "{{ page.title }}",
  "description": "{{ page.description }}",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "{{ site.author }}"
  },
  "datePublished": "{{ page.date | date_to_xmlschema }}",
  "url": "{{ site.url }}{{ page.url }}"
}
</script>

Step 5: Optimize URL Structure

Configure permalinks in your _config.yml for clean, keyword-rich URLs:

permalink: /:categories/:title/

Case Study: SEO Metadata Boost

After implementing enhanced SEO metadata, a Jekyll Mediumish blog saw a 30% increase in organic traffic within three months, attributed to better search engine snippet presentation and social sharing.

Conclusion

Enhancing SEO metadata in your Jekyll Mediumish blog is vital for improving visibility and attracting more readers. By customizing titles, descriptions, social tags, structured data, and URLs, you set your site up for SEO success.