Overview
In October 2018, UTMB Health began using a new search appliance to index and provide search results for its university-hosted web content (both public and intranet content). The search tool and the pages it indexes and delivers are being continually updated and refined, and we expect search results to improve dramatically over time.
We do have the ability to manually associate certain terms or phrases with a specific web page. This process of keyword matching is called "Featured Links" at UTMB. There are some applications and instances where keyword matching makes complete sense, and instances where other approaches (like page optimization) are a better approach.
Guidelines for Featured Links
A “featured link” can be requested by a web page developer for her or his page, or it may be requested by a user who’s unable to find important content.
Featured links should only be requested for commonly referenced content.
Before a page is added as a featured link, it should be be optimized with a meaningful page title, content and meta data (see sidebar).
All requests for new featured links are reviewed for potential conflicts, page readiness and demand.
All requests are subject to review and revision at any time. If there is a problem with a featured link or an associated web page, we reserve the right to remove or modify the link at any time.
Remember: UTMB's search appliance only indexes and delivers results from UTMB web sites. Featured links to non-UTMB sites will only be created in exceptional circumstances, and only when those links relate directly to UTMB business.
A caveat: There is a drawback to featured links: search is designed to be organic and evolving, responsive to unique requests. Setting a featured link bypasses this process, forcing an arbitrary decision on all users. For example, if we take a term such as “cardiology” and link it to a heart clinic page, we’ve made an assumption that excludes the possible needs of someone with departmental business, a research interest or academic needs. Also, featured links are displayed at the top of a page of search results, and as these increase in number, the regular results are driven down and off the first page.
Featured links are not a substitute for good SEO practices; ensuring pages are optimized will continue to be our first and primary solution, and will serve users beyond the use of Mindbreeze.
If a featured link request is declined, the requester will be contacted with an explanation or to discuss alternatives.
Requesting a Featured Link
To request a “featured link," please send the information below to the IS Service Desk via the link below. This information is necessary to create the entry for the link:
- The page title or name
- The URL or link
- A description of the page or document
- Associated keywords
- Whether the site is available externally, or limited to UTMB’s intranet (if you know)
As an example:
- TITLE: UTMB Health Patient Portal
- URL: https://www.utmbhealth.com/
- DESCRIPTION: UTMB Health’s patient web site offers information about a full range of primary and specialty health care services throughout Southeast Texas.
- KEYWORDS: UTMB, Health, patient care, doctor, clinics, hospitals, locations, services
- VISIBILITY: Public