SEO

The title and description search engines see are set in layers, so you only write what differs:

Layer	Where	Applies to
The entry’s own SEO	The entry’s edit page, SEO section (a tab on products)	That entry, on every site
SEO template	The site’s SEO page	All of one type, on that site
Site defaults	The site’s Edit page, SEO Defaults tab	The whole site

Each of the three values is worked out on its own, using the first that has one:

Value	In order
Title	The entry’s SEO, the template, the entry’s own title on that site, the site’s Default Meta Title
Description	The entry’s SEO, the template, the site’s Default Meta Description, otherwise none
Indexing	The entry’s SEO, the template, the site’s setting, otherwise indexable

Every entry has a title, so in practice a page with no template shows its own title, and Default Meta Title rarely appears.

SEO templates

Open the site, then SEO, then Add SEO Template. There is one template per type on each site, and a type with none falls through as above.

Field	What it does
Applies to	The content type or taxonomy. It can’t be changed afterwards.
Meta title template	The title, with merge tags.
Meta description template	The description, with merge tags.
Discourage search engines (noindex)	On asks search engines not to index this type on this site.

A template’s title is used exactly as written, with nothing added. To show the site’s name after the title, include it:

{{this.title}} | {{site.name}}

The merge tags you can use:

Tag	Gives
{{this.title}}, {{this.description}}	The entry’s value, including its override for this site. {{this.name}} on types with a name instead of a title.
{{site.name}}, {{site.domain}}, {{site.url}}	The site’s details.
{{company_name}} and others	The merge tags you manage yourself.

Reset to default deletes a template, so the type falls through as above.

Saving or resetting rebuilds that type on that site in the background, so titles change a little later.

Editing a merge tag doesn’t update titles straight away

Merge tags in SEO text are filled in when an entry is rebuilt. If you change the value of a merge tag such as {{company_name}}, an entry’s title or description keeps the old value until the entry is next saved or its type is rebuilt.

Previewing

An entry’s SEO section shows a Per-site SEO preview: one row for each site whose rules include it, with the title, description and indexing that apply, and where each comes from (from site template or inherits site default).

It shows the template as written, with its merge tags, not the finished text. It reflects what has been saved, not what you are typing. It disappears while the entry overrides, as the entry then uses the same values everywhere.

To see the real result, use Preview under Available On and view the page’s source, or look at the live page.

Setting SEO on one entry

In the entry’s SEO section, turn on Override the site SEO template:

Field	What it does
Meta Title	Blank uses the entry’s own title. The template is not used while overriding.
Meta Description	Blank uses the site’s default description.
Indexable	Off asks search engines not to index this entry.

This is all or nothing: while it is on, the template is ignored for this entry, even for fields you left blank. Merge tags work here too. It applies on every site the entry appears on, so use {{site.name}} rather than typing a site’s name. Turn it off and the entry goes back to the templates; what you typed is kept in case you turn it on again.

Hiding a whole site

Allow search engines to index this site on the SEO Defaults tab asks search engines to leave out the site’s pages.

Caution

The more specific layer still wins here. An entry overriding with Indexable on can be indexed even on a site set to noindex. On a site that must stay out of search results, check for those.