SEO Template for Individual Articles

To improve SEO for individual articles, add a description field to each article’s frontmatter.

Example: Current Article Format

---
title: 'Agitation'
author:
  - name:
      given: W.E.B.
      family: Du Bois
date: Nov. 1910
categories:
  - Tactics
  - NAACP
citation:
  type: article-journal
  container-title: The Crisis
  volume: 1
  issue: 1
  page: 11
google-scholar: true
format:
  html:
    toc: false
    appendix-cite-as: display
---

Updated Format with SEO

---
title: 'Agitation'
description: "W.E.B. Du Bois argues that agitation is essential for exposing racial injustice, comparing it to pain that alerts the body to disease. Published in The Crisis (1910)."
author:
  - name:
      given: W.E.B.
      family: Du Bois
date: Nov. 1910
categories:
  - Tactics
  - NAACP
citation:
  type: article-journal
  container-title: The Crisis
  volume: 1
  issue: 1
  page: 11
google-scholar: true
format:
  html:
    toc: false
    appendix-cite-as: display
---

Tips for Writing Descriptions

  1. Length: Keep between 120-160 characters
  2. Content: Briefly summarize the main argument or topic
  3. Keywords: Include relevant terms (e.g., “racial justice,” “civil rights,” “NAACP”)
  4. Context: Mention it’s from The Crisis and the year
  5. Action: What does Du Bois argue, discuss, or analyze?

Template Formula

"W.E.B. Du Bois [argues/discusses/examines] [main topic/argument]. Published in The Crisis ([year])."

More Examples

For a political article:

description: "W.E.B. Du Bois critiques President Taft's approach to racial issues and argues for stronger federal protection of Black voting rights. From The Crisis (1911)."

For an analysis piece:

description: "Du Bois examines the economic factors driving the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to northern cities. The Crisis (1917)."

For a cultural piece:

description: "W.E.B. Du Bois celebrates the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance and calls for authentic Black artistic expression free from white expectations. The Crisis (1926)."

Batch Processing Tip

You could create a Python script to automatically add descriptions based on: - The article’s first paragraph - Existing categories - Title analysis

This would help process the 600+ articles more efficiently.