cases: add custom meta title and meta description to (data versioning tutorial) [SEO]

[jeremydesroches]

The data versioning tutorial has good placement in search results for key terms like "versioning data" and "dataset versioning". The results for this page typically show the default dvc.org meta description, and the title is limited to "Tutorial".

A unique description that matches the page content can increase clickthrough and reduce bounce (leading to better search ranking). Pages that include the search terms in their title typically rank better on those terms.

This PR adds a custom meta description and expands the meta title to "Tutorial: Data & Model Versioning".

[jorgeorpinel]

That's not what I see in the search result for those 2 terms, respectively 🤔

[jorgeorpinel]

Left specific comments on the proposed description. Also:

• What about the term "dataset versioning" you mentioned in the PR description, should it be included in the SEO desc. and/or featured more in the text? (Currently it's buried under Automating capturing).
• What other terms can we include in the doc/desc that currently don't rank as high? I feel like optimizing terms that already rank high is not the lowest hanging fruit (although improving CTR/ minimizing bounces seems helpful of course).

[jeremydesroches]

• What about the term "dataset versioning" you mentioned in the PR description, should it be included in the SEO desc. and/or featured more in the text? (Currently it's buried under Automating capturing).

For the meta description, "data versioning" matches to "dataset versioning" as far as being highlighted (shown in your latest screens). While the description doesn't affect rank, the matching variations and strong page position for "dataset versioning" (No. 3) make me think it doesn't warrant further optimization on that term.

• What other terms can we include in the doc/desc that currently don't rank as high? I feel like optimizing terms that already rank high is not the lowest hanging fruit (although improving CTR/ minimizing bounces seems helpful of course).

This PR was meant to be only for optimization, indeed improving CTR and minimizing bounces, but the title addition could also have a significant effect on the position. A quick look doesn't show any other terms ranking lower for this page that would be easy to add. Like all the others, I'll consider this page for more in-depth changes to rank on new terms (out of scope for this PR).

[jeremydesroches]

That's not what I see in the search result for those 2 terms, respectively 🤔

I see the same. Good example of how quickly things change and of "experiments" the engine runs on its own: switching between descriptions, titles, etc. Sometimes it will even discard a custom description if it thinks it has a better idea. Keeps things interesting!

[jeremydesroches]

I see the same...

Further to this, just came across Google pre-emptively editing the title for us, in another set of results:

[jorgeorpinel]

just came across Google pre-emptively editing the title

Woah 😮 I don't see that rn but that's crazy. I guess it makes sense that it experiments with lots of A/B tests to see what users engage with more.

[jorgeorpinel]

Looks good, I'd just remove that '&' altogether for consistency, as we won't be using any other ampersand in titles or navs soon.

[jeremydesroches]

Final check on this as requested for GSoD, @jorgeorpinel:

Tutorial: Data Versioning - Link - 12% more clicks, 8% more impressions, and 3.8% increase in clickthrough. Average position improved from 4.8 to 4.2. Notably, added clicks and impressions were on more "long tail" terms while maintaining performance for existing key terms. 👍

Also see #1906 for data before/after prefix was added to the title and h1.

[jorgeorpinel]

Great, so for this one every metric improved slightly. Aligned 5w before and after merge to confirm:

Some interesting (mixed) results per term below. But I suspect that some of the drops may have to do with new docs we have that have capture them instead.

Notably, added clicks and impressions were on more "long tail" terms

Like "model versioning" above? Could you post some other examples @jeremydesroches ? Thanks

[jeremydesroches]

Like "model versioning" above? Could you post some other examples @jeremydesroches ?

Yep, exactly. "model versioning" gained clicks and impressions and "version control data" went from 1 impression to 200. Using your timeframe:

Here's another group that is also typical for "long tail" in terms of format... usually longer terms and different combinations. (columns are Impressions post-merge, pre-merge, and difference).

Mixed results are always difficult to interpret, so sometimes it's easier to see effects in the lower-volume/long-tail terms. A 10x increase is a clear signal that something happened.

[jorgeorpinel]

Makes sense. I think we definitely improved the accuracy of the search results at least.