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How to optimize for search engines (SEO)
SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing your website and its content to promote your site's visibility and ranking in organic search results. Websites that rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP) will get more traffic as users are more likely to click on the first few listings. The lower a website ranks, the less likely users are going to be able find your site, much less visit it. The goal of SEO is to get your webpages listed as high as possible on SERPs to increase your site and brand's visibility.
Search engine algorithms are constantly changing, so while there is no guaranteed method of ranking your site #1 in search results, there are standards and best practices you should follow to give your content the best chance of being ranked and discovered.
Page titles
Your page title can provide search engines and users context to what your content is about. While not a major ranking factor, creating strong, unique page titles may help capture users' attention and lead to click-throughs.
Do:
- Create unique and effective titles for each page to draw in visitors
- Apply the H1 tag to your page title
- Keep titles around 55 characters or less (search engines will truncate titles that are too long)
- Include keywords in your title
Do not:
- Use the same title for different pages
- Stuff your title with keywords (this comes across as spammy)
Example of a search engine results page
AEM considerations
When creating a new page in AEM, AEM will auto-generate your slug or page name (what will appear in the final URL) based on the page title you input. If your page title is too long, AEM will truncate the name after 64 characters. For pages titles that are longer, input a custom page name following these guidelines:
- all lowercase
- replace spaces with dashes
- do not include punctuation or special characters
- always double check page names for typos and duplicate dashes before publishing
As a general best practice, follow the SEO recommendation of keeping page titles around 55 characters or less.
Good URL
https://www.stryker.com/us/en/about/news/2025/stryker-example-product-launch.html
Bad URL
https://www.stryker.com/us/en/about/news/2025/Stryker-example-PRODUCT--lau.html
HTML headers
Your page should have clear structure using html H tags (h1 - h6). These heading and subheading tags create structure and hierarchy on your page allowing search engines to understand the content on your page. Applying the heading tags to your page content also improves user experience and accessibility. For example, H tags can help users navigating a website with an assistive device jump to the sections they are interested in.
Do:
- Use the H1 tag for your page title
- Use keywords in your headings
Do not:
- Use the H1 tag more than once, this should be applied to your page's heading/title only
- Use H tags for font style, they should be used to structure your content
- Overuse or complicate your page with the use of subheaders. Pages generally do not need anything beyond H3 tags
Sample product page showing H1-H4 headings. Page title, with h1 tag applied, is outlined in green box
Meta description
Every page should include a brief meta description describing the content on your page. The meta description does not directly impact a page's ranking, but it may inform the user of what the page is about when they are reviewing links in SERPs. A descriptive and compelling sentence can persuade a user to click through to a website. Note that search engines will not always use the meta description in the SERP, but it is still valuable to include as the descriptions can also be pulled in dynamically through out Stryker.com via certain components, Stryker.com search, and Open Graph Protocol for social media sharing.
Do:
- Keep meta descriptions generally around 150-160 characters or 1-2 sentences. Search engines will truncate lengthy descriptions
- Use one or two keywords in your description
- Use human-centric language, aligning with Google's people-first content guideline
- Ensure description is accurate and matches the content of your page
Do not:
- Include marketing claims in your description that reference a footnote or disclaimer
- Include misleading or inaccurate information in your description, which can increase your bounce rate and negatively impact your ranking
The meta description is applied in the page properties in AEM
Images and alt text
Alt text is added to images to provide a description in case the image cannot load or a user is navigating a website with a screen reader/assistive device. While the primary use of alt text is for accessibility, search engines also analyze alt text, file names, and captions for additional information about your content. Alt text should be concise, descriptive words or short phrases to decribe the the subject matter or content of the image.
Do:
- Keep alt text succinct
- Describe the subject matter or content of the image and use keywords if relevant
- Name your image files with descriptive file names (stryker-employees.jpg) vs. generic file names (image1.jpg)
Do not:
- Stuff keywords into your alt text. Search engines may penalize for improper use of the attribute
- Do not design images or graphics with complex data or textual information. This information will not be accessible. If necessary, provide the data/information in a caption, transcript, or in your copy
Alt text is added in image components or the image properties in AEM
Linking
How you link to pages on your website is important and can help search engines better understand the website's structure and how content and pages are related to one another. Internal linking or linking to other pages on the same website can also pass on authority or "link equity" to other pages.
Internal links are easily established in AEM using the path selector in the RTE or other components. Other benefits to establishing internal linking in AEM are: 1) the platform's ability to recognize when pages are linking to other pages, and 2) built-in workflows to automatically update links when pages have been moved, minimizing broken links on your site.
Do:
- Use descriptive words for your anchor text (the text that appears as the link) vs. using general language like "read more here" or "learn more here." Read Google's guide on how to write good anchor text for more information
- Establish internal links using the path selector tool in AEM components
Do not:
- Link for the sake of linking. The content you are linking to should be relevant and related to your page's content
- Place too many links on your page. This can confuse search engines
Use the path selector to select another page on your website to link to
Resources
Explore these pages on Connect for more internal resources and support information: