---
title: "Introduction, frames, iframes, and tech comm tools (search engine optimization)"
date: 2013-12-13
description: "Search engine optimization   1.0 How to Search Engine Optimize (SEO) Your Help Documentation  1.1 → Introduction,..."
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2013/12/13/seo-for-help-documentation-introduction-frames-and-iframes/
---
# Introduction, frames, iframes, and tech comm tools (search engine optimization)
## Introduction to SEO for technical writers

**Search engine optimization (SEO)** is the practice of making your content rank high in search results. Different search engines have different algorithms for surfacing content, but given the dominance of Google as a search engine, many of the concerns about SEO center on optimizing content for Google's search algorithm. However, you can search engine optimize your content for any search engine, including your help tool's search engine.

SEO covers a broad array of issues. My focus here is on SEO in the context of help documentation.

## Do technical writers have time for SEO?

Although SEO is important, not many technical writers seem to have time for SEO. Most of us are working in agile environments with rapid publishing cycles. Just getting help ready for the next release consumes most of our time.

In general, we aren't worrying about whether we're using the right keywords and if we're repeating them in optimal places on the page for SEO reasons. We're hoping that we have covered all the functionality and that the material is clear, accurate, and integrated with the rest of the documentation before release.

Nevertheless, in an age of information, help content is increasingly treated as a business asset that can attract new customers and help the company rise in search results. Certainly help documentation usually includes many keywords that potential customers are searching for. If your help content appears in Google searches, it can help customers find your company and product.

As we start to view our help content as a business asset that has value not just to end-users, but also to the target audiences for marketing, sales, support, and engineering teams, we have to seriously consider how to optimize our help content for maximum visibility, particularly in Google.

## Challenges for SEO and tech comm

Information about SEO has traditionally been geared towards online business entrepreneurs looking to rise in Google rankings so they can sell a product. As such, much of the literature on SEO doesn't fully address the technical writer's situation.

And yet, the technical writer's situation presents a host of conflicts and difficulties with SEO. Issues such as duplicate content from single sourced material, frames and iframes to facilitate TOC navigation, page length and context, official versus colloquial terms, are all specific challenges technical writers face.