How to Use the Technical Improvements

This guide explains how to make the most of all the SEO and social sharing improvements made to your blog.

🚀 Quick Start Checklist

1. Update Your Site URL (REQUIRED)

Edit _config.yml and update the URL to match your actual GitHub Pages URL:

url: "https://yourusername.github.io"  # Replace with your actual URL

How to find your URL:

• If using username.github.io repository: https://username.github.io
• If using a project repository: https://username.github.io/repository-name
• If using a custom domain: https://yourdomain.com

2. Deploy Your Blog

After making changes, deploy to GitHub Pages:

cd blog
git add .
git commit -m "Add SEO improvements and social sharing"
git push origin main

GitHub Pages will automatically rebuild your site. Wait 1-2 minutes, then visit your site.

📊 Testing Your Improvements

Test Social Sharing (Open Graph & Twitter Cards)

1. Facebook Sharing Debugger
   • Go to: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
   • Enter your blog post URL
   • Click “Debug” to see how your post appears when shared
   • Click “Scrape Again” to refresh the cache
2. LinkedIn Post Inspector
   • Go to: https://www.linkedin.com/post-inspector/
   • Enter your blog post URL
   • See how it appears when shared on LinkedIn
3. Twitter Card Validator
   • Go to: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator
   • Enter your blog post URL
   • Preview how it looks when shared on Twitter

Test Structured Data (JSON-LD)

1. Google Rich Results Test
   • Go to: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
   • Enter your blog post URL
   • Verify structured data is detected correctly
2. Schema.org Validator
   • Go to: https://validator.schema.org/
   • Enter your blog post URL
   • Check for any validation errors

Test RSS Feed

1. Visit your RSS page: https://yourdomain.com/feed.html
2. Test the feed URL: https://yourdomain.com/feed.xml
3. Subscribe using an RSS reader (Feedly, Inoreader, etc.)

🎯 Using Social Sharing Buttons

For Readers

The social sharing buttons appear automatically at the bottom of every blog post. Readers can:

• Click to share on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Reddit
• Copy the link to share elsewhere
• All buttons open in new tabs

For You (Promoting Your Posts)

1. Share on Twitter
   • Use relevant hashtags: #Nextflow, #Bioinformatics, #DataScience, #RNAseq, #RStats, #Python
   • Tag relevant accounts or communities
   • Include a brief summary or key takeaway
2. Share on LinkedIn
   • Post in relevant groups (Bioinformatics, Data Science, etc.)
   • Write a professional summary
   • Engage with comments
3. Share on Reddit
   • Post in: r/bioinformatics, r/datascience, r/nextflow
   • Follow subreddit rules (read sidebar first!)
   • Provide value, don’t just self-promote
4. Share on Facebook
   • Post in relevant groups
   • Use engaging visuals if available

📝 Optimizing Individual Posts

Add Better Meta Descriptions

In your post front matter, add a description field:

---
layout: post
title: "Your Post Title"
date: 2026-01-15
description: "A compelling 150-160 character description that summarizes your post and includes keywords. This appears in search results and social shares."
categories: [bioinformatics, data-science]
tags: [nextflow, genomics]
author: Your Name
---

Tips:

• Keep it 150-160 characters
• Include relevant keywords
• Make it compelling and click-worthy
• If omitted, Jekyll uses the excerpt automatically

Add Social Images

For better social sharing, add an image to your post:

---
layout: post
title: "Your Post Title"
image: "/assets/images/your-post-image.png"  # Add this
---

Image Requirements:

• Recommended size: 1200x630 pixels (for Open Graph)
• Format: PNG or JPG
• File size: Under 1MB
• Place in blog/assets/images/

Use Relevant Tags

Tags help with SEO and discoverability:

tags: [nextflow, bioinformatics, rna-seq, tutorial, data-analysis]

Best Practices:

• Use 5-10 relevant tags
• Include both broad and specific terms
• Use consistent tag names across posts
• Check existing tags to maintain consistency

📈 Setting Up Analytics

Google Analytics 4

1. Create a Google Analytics account
   • Go to: https://analytics.google.com/
   • Create a new property
   • Get your Measurement ID (format: G-XXXXXXXXXX)
2. Add to your blog
   • Edit _config.yml
   • Uncomment and add your ID:

     google_analytics: "G-XXXXXXXXXX"
     

3. Verify it’s working
   • Visit your blog
   • Check Google Analytics Real-Time reports
   • You should see your visit within a few seconds

What Analytics Tells You

• Page views and unique visitors
• Traffic sources (social media, search, direct)
• Popular posts
• User engagement metrics
• Geographic data

🔍 SEO Best Practices

1. Submit Your Sitemap to Google

1. Go to: https://search.google.com/search-console
2. Add your property (your blog URL)
3. Verify ownership
4. Submit sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

2. Create Quality Content

• Write comprehensive, valuable posts
• Use clear headings (H2, H3)
• Include internal links to related posts
• Add code examples and visuals

3. Optimize Post Titles

• Include keywords naturally
• Keep titles under 60 characters
• Make them compelling and descriptive

4. Use Internal Linking

Link to your other posts within your content:

Check out our [Nextflow tutorial](/path/to/post) for more details.

5. Regular Updates

• Post consistently
• Update old posts with new information
• Keep content fresh and relevant

📱 Promoting Your Blog

Immediate Actions

1. Share Each New Post
   • Twitter with hashtags
   • LinkedIn (personal profile + groups)
   • Reddit (relevant subreddits)
   • Email newsletter (if you have one)
2. Engage with Communities
   • Nextflow Slack/Discord
   • Bioinformatics forums (Biostars, SEQanswers)
   • Stack Overflow (answer questions, link to relevant posts)
   • GitHub Discussions
3. Cross-Post Strategically
   • Medium/Dev.to (with link back to original)
   • Hacker News (for high-quality technical posts)
   • Relevant newsletters

Building an Audience

1. Create a Newsletter
   • Use Mailchimp, Substack, or ConvertKit
   • Link from your blog
   • Send monthly updates
2. Engage on Social Media
   • Follow relevant accounts
   • Comment on others’ posts
   • Share valuable content (not just your own)
3. Guest Posting
   • Write for other bioinformatics blogs
   • Include links back to your blog
4. Present at Meetups
   • Virtual or in-person
   • Share your blog posts as resources

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Social Sharing Not Working?

1. Clear Cache
   • Facebook: Use Sharing Debugger and click “Scrape Again”
   • LinkedIn: Use Post Inspector
   • Twitter: Wait 24 hours or use Card Validator
2. Check URLs
   • Ensure url in _config.yml is correct
   • Use absolute URLs in social sharing
3. Verify Images
   • Images must be accessible via absolute URL
   • Check image paths are correct

RSS Feed Issues?

1. Test the feed: Visit https://yourdomain.com/feed.xml
2. Validate: Use https://validator.w3.org/feed/
3. Check configuration: Verify feed: settings in _config.yml

Analytics Not Tracking?

1. Check the ID: Ensure it’s correct in _config.yml
2. Verify deployment: Make sure changes are pushed to GitHub
3. Check browser console: Look for errors
4. Use Google Tag Assistant: Chrome extension to verify tracking

📋 Maintenance Checklist

Weekly

• Share new posts on social media
• Engage with comments and shares
• Check analytics for popular content

Monthly

• Review and update old posts
• Check for broken links
• Update social media profiles
• Analyze which posts perform best

Quarterly

• Review SEO performance in Google Search Console
• Update site description if needed
• Check and update social sharing images
• Review and optimize tags/categories

🎓 Next Steps

1. Update your URL in _config.yml (if not done)
2. Test social sharing on one of your posts
3. Set up Google Analytics (optional but recommended)
4. Share your first post using the new social buttons
5. Submit sitemap to Google Search Console

📚 Additional Resources

• Jekyll Documentation
• Open Graph Protocol
• Twitter Cards
• Google Search Console
• Schema.org Documentation

Need Help? Check the SEO_IMPROVEMENTS.md file for technical details about what was implemented.