Case study: Improving SEO of Human-centred design playbook
This review is based on an analysis of the current state of the playbook and its performance to date, as well as a review of Google search trends. It was originally shared at our monthly meet up in July 2023.
Background
The playbook went live in February 2020 and has had approximately 96,000 sessions to date. However, the site section has not been updated since 2021.
Page Title
While the page title is good, there is no page summary because of the hero image used. We recommend removing the hero image so that the page summary can be displayed. This holds more weight in search engines than the intro banner text added as an H2.
Google Search Review
The Google summary is a definition, not a call to action. We recommend updating the Meta description in the CMS to include the following text: "For public servants who are designing, procuring, or managing a human-centred design process."
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Google Trends Review
The term 'design thinking' trends higher than 'human-centred design'. We recommend using 'design thinking' in the content of the page to boost SEO. Additionally, the term 'toolkit' trends higher than the term 'playbook'. We suggest considering changing the title to 'Human-centred design toolkit'.
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Summary of Recommendations
Remove the hero image to display the page summary.
Update the Meta description to include a call to action.
Use 'design thinking' in the content of the page to boost SEO.
Change the title to 'Human-centred design toolkit' as 'toolkit' trends higher than 'playbook' in Google search.
These recommendations are based on our analysis of the current state of the playbook and its performance to date, as well as a review of Google search trends. By implementing these changes, we believe that the Human-centred design playbook will see increased visibility and traffic, leading to greater engagement with public servants who are designing, procuring, or managing a human-centred design process.
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