SEO Optimization Guide

SEO Optimization Guide

This document outlines the SEO best practices implemented on this website and recommendations for ongoing optimization.

✅ Current SEO Features

1. Technical SEO

  • ✅ Sitemap generation via jekyll-sitemap plugin
  • ✅ robots.txt file for crawler guidance
  • ✅ humans.txt for site credits
  • ✅ Canonical URLs on all pages
  • ✅ Google Analytics tracking (G-Z9796LV2MV)
  • ✅ Google Search Console verification
  • ✅ Mobile-responsive design
  • ✅ Fast page load times

2. Meta Tags & Structured Data

  • ✅ Enhanced Schema.org JSON-LD markup for:
    • Person schema with author information
    • BlogPosting schema for blog posts
    • WebSite schema for main pages
    • Organization affiliation
    • Social profile links (sameAs)
  • ✅ Open Graph tags for social media sharing
  • ✅ Twitter Card tags
  • ✅ Meta descriptions on key pages
  • ✅ Keywords optimization

3. Content Optimization

  • ✅ Descriptive page titles
  • ✅ Semantic HTML structure
  • ✅ Keyword-rich content
  • ✅ Internal linking structure

🚀 Recommendations for Further Improvement

1. Image Optimization

Add Alt Text to All Images

Always include descriptive alt text for images:

![Javad Ibrahimli working on computer vision project](path/to/image.jpg)

<img src="path/to/image.jpg" alt="Detailed description of image" />

Optimize Image Files

  • Format: Use WebP format for better compression (fallback to JPEG/PNG)
  • Size: Compress images to reduce file size
  • Dimensions: Resize images to appropriate display size
  • Lazy Loading: Implement lazy loading for images below the fold
<img src="image.webp" alt="Description" loading="lazy" />

2. Content Strategy

Blog Posts

When creating new blog posts, always include:

---
layout: post
title: "Descriptive and Engaging Title (50-60 characters)"
description: "Compelling meta description (150-160 characters) that includes target keywords"
keywords: "keyword1, keyword2, keyword3, long-tail-keyword"
og_image: /assets/img/post-specific-image.jpg
date: YYYY-MM-DD
tags: [Tag1, Tag2, Tag3]
categories: [Category]
---

Project Pages

Each project should have:

  • Clear, descriptive title
  • Detailed description with keywords
  • Technologies used (helps with keyword diversity)
  • Visual demonstrations (with alt text)
  • Links to GitHub/demo (external validation)

3. Page Speed Optimization

Enable Image Optimization in _config.yml

Currently disabled - consider enabling:

imagemagick:
  enabled: true  # Change from false to true

Minimize CSS/JS

  • ✅ Already using sass: style: compressed
  • ✅ Jekyll Minifier enabled

Consider Adding:

  • Defer non-critical JavaScript
  • Preload critical resources
  • Use CDN for static assets
  • Implement service workers for caching

4. Internal Linking

Best practices for internal links:

  • Link related blog posts to each other
  • Link from blog posts to relevant project pages
  • Use descriptive anchor text (avoid “click here”)
  • Ensure footer and navigation are consistent

Example:

Learn more about [autonomous vehicle motion planning](/projects/autonomous-vehicle-motion-planning/)

5. Regular Content Updates

Search engines favor fresh content:

  • Update blog regularly (aim for 1-2 posts per month)
  • Keep CV and projects updated
  • Add new skills as you learn them
  • Update copyright year annually

Build authority through backlinks:

  • Share articles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium
  • Contribute to open-source projects (links from GitHub)
  • Write guest posts on tech blogs
  • Engage in academic communities (ResearchGate, Google Scholar)
  • List your website in academic directories

7. Local SEO (if applicable)

Since you’re in Istanbul:

  • Ensure “Istanbul, Turkey” appears naturally in content
  • Add location to Schema.org markup (already done)
  • Consider creating content about local tech scene

📊 Monitoring & Analytics

Google Search Console

Monitor these metrics weekly:

  • Crawl errors
  • Index coverage
  • Core Web Vitals
  • Mobile usability
  • Manual actions

Google Analytics

Track:

  • Organic search traffic
  • Bounce rate (aim for <50%)
  • Average session duration (aim for >2 minutes)
  • Top landing pages
  • Conversion goals

Tools to Use

  1. Google Search Console - Already integrated ✅
  2. Google Analytics - Already integrated ✅
  3. Google PageSpeed Insights - Test regularly
  4. Lighthouse (Chrome DevTools) - Audit performance
  5. Screaming Frog SEO Spider - Crawl your site
  6. Ahrefs/SEMrush - Competitor analysis (paid)

🔍 Keyword Research

Primary Keywords (Already Used)

  • Javad Ibrahimli
  • Computer Vision
  • AI Research
  • Vision Transformers
  • Autonomous Vehicles
  • Medical AI
  • Deep Learning
  • Istanbul Technical University

Long-tail Keywords to Target

Consider creating content around:

  • “Vision transformer implementation PyTorch”
  • “Autonomous vehicle perception system”
  • “Medical image segmentation deep learning”
  • “Edge AI deployment optimization”
  • “ROS2 computer vision integration”

📝 Content Checklist

Before publishing any new page or post:

  • Unique, descriptive title (50-60 characters)
  • Compelling meta description (150-160 characters)
  • Relevant keywords (4-6 main keywords)
  • H1 heading (one per page)
  • H2-H6 subheadings (hierarchical structure)
  • Alt text for all images
  • Optimized images (compressed, right size)
  • Internal links to related content
  • External links to authoritative sources
  • Mobile-responsive layout
  • Fast load time (<3 seconds)
  • Schema markup (automatic via template)
  • Social sharing image (og_image)

🎯 Quick Wins

High-impact, low-effort optimizations:

  1. Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
    • URL: https://javadibrahimli.github.io/sitemap.xml

  2. Create Google Business Profile (if applicable for local visibility)

  3. Claim your profiles on:
    • Google Scholar (already done ✅)
    • ORCID
    • ResearchGate
    • Academia.edu

  4. Add schema markup for projects (can enhance in future)

  5. Create an XML sitemap index for better organization (if site grows large)

🔄 Monthly SEO Tasks

  • Review Google Search Console for errors
  • Check Google Analytics for traffic trends
  • Update content based on search queries
  • Add new blog post or update existing content
  • Check for broken links
  • Monitor Core Web Vitals scores
  • Review and update meta descriptions if needed
  • Check mobile usability

📚 Resources

🎉 Recent Improvements (October 2025)

  1. ✅ Enhanced Schema.org structured data with author, publisher, and image information
  2. ✅ Added humans.txt file
  3. ✅ Added comprehensive meta descriptions to Education and Skills pages
  4. ✅ Improved JSON-LD markup for better rich snippets
  5. ✅ Created this SEO documentation guide

Last Updated: October 16, 2025
Maintained By: Javad Ibrahimli