[GH-ISSUE #1283] Improve SEO and sharing metadata for rea.tools #459

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opened 2026-10-15 18:25:14 +00:00 by bsakaguchi · 0 comments

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-15 18:25:14 +00:00

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Originally created by @N0zoM1z0 on GitHub (Oct 9, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/morluto/rea/issues/1283

The website is published at both https://rea.tools/ and https://morluto.github.io/rea/. Both copies currently omit canonical URLs, leaving search engines to choose the preferred domain.

A live audit on 9 October 2026 found 17 distinct page titles and 15 descriptions. The two description-less pages are the Notes exercise applications. There are no canonical links or Open Graph/Twitter card metadata. /sitemap.xml returns 404. /robots.txt on rea.tools already returns Cloudflare's Content Signals Policy comments, so the repository's missing file does not mean the live endpoint is absent.

Implement a small SEO pass while preserving the site's writing and visual philosophy: a good website should be as easy to follow as a good paper, with clear explanations and a clean presentation.

Declare absolute, page-specific canonical URLs on rea.tools in both hosted copies.
Generate the sitemap automatically from current HTML routes and indexing directives, so added, moved and removed pages need no separate URL list. Include reading pages; exclude the two Notes fixture apps, downloads, scripts, JSON and fragment URLs.
Add an authored robots file with the sitemap address and check compatibility with Cloudflare's edge-added policy.
Keep exercise apps usable while marking their HTML pages noindex.
Make search-facing titles more descriptive without rewriting the visible homepage heading or case-study narration.
Add Open Graph and Twitter sharing metadata with an appropriate, simple preview image.
Extend website verification to catch missing, inconsistent or invalid SEO metadata as pages are added.
Document the maintenance rules and the post-publication Search Console checks.

Validation should cover local root and /rea/ hosting, metadata in the actual HTML response, sitemap URL coverage, robots directives, preview image availability, mobile layouts and existing copy/demo interactions. Keep the existing manual publisher and shared deployment artifact.

After publication, the domain owner can submit the sitemap in Search Console and inspect Google-selected canonicals, indexing and search performance. Search Console access and live edge behavior are separate from local verification.

References: Google canonical guidance, sitemap guidance, Cloudflare robots behavior.

Published through PR #1296 with a merge commit preserving the checkpoints. Synchronized deployment succeeded for rea.tools and GitHub Pages at commit 99f257bbf03c27327e5e0a232fefd3c792acd5bc.

Live checks passed for 34 HTML responses across both hosts, 15 sitemap URLs on each, matching page-specific canonicals and sharing metadata, both noindex fixture applications, authored robots, identical 1200 × 630 PNG previews and identical six-file example ZIPs. rea.tools now serves User-agent: *, Allow: / and Sitemap: https://rea.tools/sitemap.xml.

The remaining owner follow-up is to submit that sitemap in Google Search Console and inspect indexing and Google-selected canonicals. The maintenance guide records those steps.

Originally created by @N0zoM1z0 on GitHub (Oct 9, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/morluto/rea/issues/1283 The website is published at both `https://rea.tools/` and `https://morluto.github.io/rea/`. Both copies currently omit canonical URLs, leaving search engines to choose the preferred domain. A live audit on 9 October 2026 found 17 distinct page titles and 15 descriptions. The two description-less pages are the Notes exercise applications. There are no canonical links or Open Graph/Twitter card metadata. `/sitemap.xml` returns 404. `/robots.txt` on rea.tools already returns Cloudflare's Content Signals Policy comments, so the repository's missing file does not mean the live endpoint is absent. Implement a small SEO pass while preserving the site's writing and visual philosophy: a good website should be as easy to follow as a good paper, with clear explanations and a clean presentation. - [x] Declare absolute, page-specific canonical URLs on rea.tools in both hosted copies. - [x] Generate the sitemap automatically from current HTML routes and indexing directives, so added, moved and removed pages need no separate URL list. Include reading pages; exclude the two Notes fixture apps, downloads, scripts, JSON and fragment URLs. - [x] Add an authored robots file with the sitemap address and check compatibility with Cloudflare's edge-added policy. - [x] Keep exercise apps usable while marking their HTML pages `noindex`. - [x] Make search-facing titles more descriptive without rewriting the visible homepage heading or case-study narration. - [x] Add Open Graph and Twitter sharing metadata with an appropriate, simple preview image. - [x] Extend website verification to catch missing, inconsistent or invalid SEO metadata as pages are added. - [x] Document the maintenance rules and the post-publication Search Console checks. Validation should cover local root and `/rea/` hosting, metadata in the actual HTML response, sitemap URL coverage, robots directives, preview image availability, mobile layouts and existing copy/demo interactions. Keep the existing manual publisher and shared deployment artifact. After publication, the domain owner can submit the sitemap in Search Console and inspect Google-selected canonicals, indexing and search performance. Search Console access and live edge behavior are separate from local verification. References: [Google canonical guidance](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls), [sitemap guidance](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap), [Cloudflare robots behavior](https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/additional-configurations/managed-robots-txt/). Published through [PR #1296](https://github.com/morluto/rea/pull/1296) with a merge commit preserving the checkpoints. [Synchronized deployment](https://github.com/morluto/rea/actions/runs/37946410283) succeeded for rea.tools and GitHub Pages at commit `99f257bbf03c27327e5e0a232fefd3c792acd5bc`. Live checks passed for 34 HTML responses across both hosts, 15 sitemap URLs on each, matching page-specific canonicals and sharing metadata, both noindex fixture applications, authored robots, identical 1200 × 630 PNG previews and identical six-file example ZIPs. rea.tools now serves `User-agent: *`, `Allow: /` and `Sitemap: https://rea.tools/sitemap.xml`. The remaining owner follow-up is to submit that sitemap in Google Search Console and inspect indexing and Google-selected canonicals. The maintenance guide records those steps.

bsakaguchi

2026-10-15 18:25:14 +00:00