How CNN Stays on Top of SEO

What’s the biggest SEO challenge for a large media company such as CNN? According to Topher Kohan, the SEO Manager at CNN, keeping up with breaking news is the most demanding part of the process.

On the positive front, because CNN has a TV station, they are able to essentially tell people what to search for. However, on the website, they have to determine what people are searching for on their own. In an interview with WebProNews, Kohan said keywords need to be included in the headline, title, and meta description.

As for the future of video SEO for news sites, Kohan told us that he sees microformats as a key ingredient to getting content seen. Google further indicated this when it announced its support of Yahoo’s SearchMonkey RDFa and Facebook Share in September.

Kohan believes these partnerships will allow SEOs to give the search engines more information, which will be better for everyone. Since he expects to see a set of standardized tags within the next 18 months, Kohan advises SEOs to get on board with the coming changes in order to start preparing now.