Search engine optimization (SEO)

Introduction

A website’s SEO is vital for making sure Californians can easily find the information and services they need on ca.gov. When individuals search for government resources, effective SEO practices improve the visibility of our websites in search engine results.

This means using relevant keywords, creating high-quality, accessible content, and ensuring our websites are technically sound. By prioritizing SEO, we ensure essential state services and information are readily accessible to all citizens, promoting transparency and ease of access.

All of these items are great for SEO – and within your control:

  • Title tags and meta descriptions: Include relevant keywords and make them compelling.
  • Header tags (H1, H2, etc.): Structure content clearly.
  • Image alt text: Helps with accessibility and image search.

Terminology

Let’s learn some important words about how search engines work. Then, we’ll see why they matter and how we can help our state websites show up better when people search online.

  • Crawling: Google programs, sometimes called bots or spiders, look through websites to find new pages or changed to old ones
  • Indexing: After crawling, Google saves the information from the pages in its big collection. This allows it to show these pages when people search for related topics (like putting a page into a library)
  • Serving (search results): When someone searches, Google looks through it’s library and shows relevant pages it thinks are most helpful for that search
  • Slug: This is part of the website address (URL) that comes after the main website’s name. It tells you more specifically what’s on that page
  • Canonical (and canonical paths): The same information might be on a few different web addresses. The canonical address is the main or shortest one that Google should pay the most attention to avoid confusion

 

Have clear HTTP response codes

Clear HTTP response signaling is the foundation for predictable indexing, preserved link equity, and usable experiences. Treat response codes as operational signals first, diagnostic signals second. Then implement correct cords at the origin or edge, and validate with webmaster tools.

  • Use 301 when content has a one-to-one replacement and update any internal links that point directly to the final URL
  • Use 401 when content is intentionally removed and you want the URP to be dropped reliably. Return a normal-sized HTML page that explains the removal
  • Return 404 only for never-existent or clearly mistyped URLs. Treat accidental 404s after deleting content as operational failure
  • Avoid redirecting removed pages to homepages or generic search pages as long-term patterns; this will produce soft-404 signals
  • Keep redirect chains to single hop; flatten multi-hop chains to preserve equity and reduce crawl time

 

Compact UX considerations

  • Provide a clear headline and brief rationale on 410/404 pages so users understand intent and next steps.
  • Offer a primary action: link to replacement, relevant category, or a prefilled site search.
  • Keep site header/footer visible and maintain accessible markup so users retain orientation.
  • Instrument removal pages for searches, clicks to related content, and support requests to detect usability regressions.
  • Prefer a one-to-one 301 over forcing users to re-search whenever possible.

 

Runbook checklist (short)

  • Decide status: 301 if direct replacement; 410 if intentionally removed; 404 only for never-existing.
  • Deploy mapping at CDN/edge first, origin as fallback. Store mapping in version control.
  • Ensure 410/404 pages return normal HTML with navigation and a search box.
  • Flatten redirect chains to final destination.
  • Monitor Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and server logs; prioritize URLs with backlinks or referral traffic.
  • Add SEO and UX sign-off to content removal or migration tickets.
  • Retain mappings for 2–5 years depending on backlink profile.

Common Page Indexing Issues

  • Soft 404
    • The crawler is calling you a liar.  The site is redirecting missing content to a common page without returning a 404 response.  Make sure your site is returning a 404 status code when content has been removed, not just redirecting to another page.  If the content is really moved, use a 301-Permanent redirect and target the replacement.  If the content is too different, the crawler will assume you are lying about it moving and label it a soft 404.
  • Not found (404)
    • There will always be 404s, but you should check for certain fixable situations
      • Page was moved – If you moved a page, but didn’t set up a 301-Permanent redirect, you’ll see it here.  Fix that by setting up redirects.
      • Page is actually gone – 404s should be replace with 410-Gone when you actually want the page to be removed from indexing.