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aeaweb.org, read 7 days ago. Back to the report

60 to 100 in 24 steps

Do them in this order. Each step says what to change, on which pages, and what it adds. Hand the whole plan to your agent, or work through it yourself.

6060 nownow661#195,332722773top 50%8148358668878989099110921193129413961497159716971797189819982099219922992310024full marks

Now #217,279 of 263,577Step 1 #195,332Step 3 top 50%Step 24 full marks

Worked out from this read, with every step before it done. A score says pages are well formed. It does not say an assistant cites the site.

The steps

Each is one change across the pages named. When one is live, read the site again and mttr marks it done.

  1. 1

    Set each page's canonical address

    +6 points, to 66, and #195,332, 21,947 places up

    Add a canonical link that points to the page itself.

    98 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • and 88 more in the copied plan
  2. 2

    Add a tap-to-call link

    +6 points, to 72

    Add a tap-to-call phone link.

    97 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • and 87 more in the copied plan
  3. 3

    Add structured data

    +5 points, to 77, and into the top 50%

    Add valid JSON-LD that says what the page is.

    98 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • and 88 more in the copied plan
  4. 4

    Use one main heading

    +4 points, to 81

    Give the page exactly one h1 that says what it is about.

    96 pages

    See the pages
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-statistics
    • and 86 more in the copied plan
  5. 5

    Show when guides were updated

    +2 points, to 83

    Show when the guide was last updated, and set dateModified in its schema.

    25 pages, 20 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • and 15 more in the copied plan
  6. 6

    Fix description lengths

    +3 points, to 86

    Write a meta description of 70 to 165 characters that summarizes the page.

    98 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • and 88 more in the copied plan
  7. 7

    Link straight to the final address

    +2 points, to 88

    Point links and the sitemap at the final address, not at one that redirects.

    97 pages

    See the pages
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-statistics
    • and 87 more in the copied plan
  8. 8

    Answer the first question right under it

    +1 point, to 89

    Answer the first question in the paragraph right under it, in 25 to 90 words. Whether the paragraph truly answers is for the judge or a person to say.

    25 pages, 20 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • and 15 more in the copied plan
  9. 9

    Match structured data to the page

    +1 point, to 90

    Use the schema type that matches the page: Article for guides, Service or Product for offers, Organization or WebSite for the home page.

    26 pages, 20 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • and 16 more in the copied plan
  10. 10

    Phrase headings as questions

    +1 point, to 91

    Phrase at least one heading as the question a person would ask.

    24 pages, 19 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • and 14 more in the copied plan
  11. 11

    Add depth to thin pages

    +1 point, to 92

    Add true, specific detail until the page covers its subject.

    19 pages, 14 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • /resources/students
    • and 9 more in the copied plan
  12. 12

    Name the publisher

    +1 point, to 93

    Name the author or publisher in the Article schema.

    25 pages, 20 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • and 15 more in the copied plan
  13. 13

    Show sources on guides

    +1 point, to 94

    Link the sources for the guide's facts where a reader can see them. Official and primary sources carry the most weight.

    9 pages, 7 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/students/careers
    • /resources/students/high-school-student-journal-access
    • /resources/teachers
    • /resources/teachers/economics-concepts-examples-in-research
  14. 14

    Describe images

    +2 points, to 96

    Describe every content image in its alt text.

    60 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/honors-awards
    • /about-aea/press
    • /conference
    • /conference/2027/preliminary
    • and 50 more in the copied plan
  15. 15

    Set a share image

    +1 point, to 97

    Set og:image so links to the page carry a picture.

    93 pages

    See the pages
    • /
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-ombuds
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/cpc
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/committees/cswep
    • /about-aea/committees/economic-education
    • and 83 more in the copied plan
  16. 16

    Let AI crawlers in

    Under a point

    Remove the robots.txt rules that shut out AI crawlers. On Cloudflare, also turn off "Block AI bots", which writes these rules for you.

    Once, for the whole site

    Steps for your host: Cloudflare, WordPress, Namecheap and more
  17. 17

    Publish a sitemap

    Under a point

    Publish /sitemap.xml listing every page that should rank, and name it in robots.txt.

    Once, for the whole site

  18. 18

    Compress pages

    Under a point

    Turn on gzip or Brotli for HTML on the server or CDN.

    Once, for the whole site

  19. 19

    Put figures in tables

    +1 point, to 98

    Where the guide compares options or gives figures, put them in a table.

    21 pages, 17 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • /resources/online-seminars
    • /resources/students
    • and 11 more in the copied plan
  20. 20

    Put the text in the HTML

    Under a point

    Put the page text in the HTML the server sends. Most AI crawlers do not run scripts.

    8 pages under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/students
    • /resources/students/grad-prep
    • /resources/teachers
    • /resources/teachers/classroom-experiments
    • /resources/teachers/online-ed
    • /resources/teachers/student-guides
    • /resources/teachers/teaching-ideas
  21. 21

    Add breadcrumb data

    +1 point, to 99

    Add BreadcrumbList schema so the page has a place in the site.

    25 pages, 20 of them under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /news/assa-2027-lightning-rounds
    • /news/assa-2027-presidents-reception
    • /news/assa-2027-recent-developments-series
    • /news/assa-2027-save-the-date
    • /news/nobel-prize-economic-sciences-oct-12-2026
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/brochures
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
    • /resources/data
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • and 15 more in the copied plan
  22. 22

    Add an llms.txt

    Under a point

    Add /llms.txt: a short plain text map of the site for assistants. Its effect is unproven, so treat it as cheap insurance.

    Once, for the whole site

  23. 23

    Add real images to content

    Under a point

    Add a photo, drawing, or chart as an img with alt text. A CSS background image has no alt text and is not read as part of the page.

    8 pages under /resources/

    See the pages
    • /resources/funding-and-grants
    • /resources/students/other-resources
    • /resources/students/schools
    • /resources/students/undergrad-research
    • /resources/teachers/classroom-experiments
    • /resources/teachers/economics-concepts-examples-in-research
    • /resources/teachers/student-guides
    • /resources/teachers/teaching-ideas
  24. 24

    Fix title lengths

    +1 point, to 100, and full marks

    Write a title of 15 to 65 characters that leads with what the page covers.

    26 pages

    See the pages
    • /about-aea
    • /about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures
    • /about-aea/committees
    • /about-aea/committees/csmgep
    • /about-aea/committees/csqiep
    • /about-aea/leadership
    • /about-aea/press
    • /asset-server/files/25275.pdf
    • /econlit
    • /ethics
    • and 16 more in the copied plan
4 more, to tidy up after 100
  1. 25

    Add lists or tables

    Under a point

    Add a table, a list, or a definition list. Assistants quote these more readily than prose.

    2 pages

    See the pages
    • /resources/best-practices
    • /resources/conferences-meetings
  2. 26

    Fix pages that fail to load

    Under a point

    Fix or remove the link. Every linked page should return 200.

    2 pages

    See the pages
    • /articles
    • /cgi-bin/php82.cgi/ms2/memStep1.php
  3. 27

    Add a way to get in touch

    Under a point

    Give the page a form or a clear link to request a quote or get in touch.

    1 page

    See the pages
    • /asset-server/files/25275.pdf
  4. 28

    Replace unsupported sales claims

    Under a point

    Replace the sales claim with a fact that can be checked.

    1 page

    See the pages
    • /asset-server/files/25275.pdf

Done since the first read

  1. Settle on one address

    Done, seen on the read of October 19. It failed on 1 page before.

  2. Make near-copy pages distinct

    Done, seen on the read of October 19. It failed on 1 page before.

  3. Bring deep pages closer to home

    Done, seen on the read of October 19. It failed on 494 pages before.

What else the read found

Half its pages start answering within 200 ms, inside the 800 ms a crawler is patient with. One fetch a page, the way a crawler sees it.

  • /research3.3 s
  • /resources/students/other-resources3.3 s
  • /resources/teachers/teaching-ideas3.3 s
  • /resources/online-seminars925 ms
  • /news781 ms

Fastest: /terms-of-service/site, 117 ms. Heaviest: /asset-server/files/25275.pdf, 2,485 KB.

Read from its home page’s code and the headers its server sent. A tool that loads later, or only on other pages, is not seen here.

  • ApacheServer
  • Google AnalyticsAnalytics
  • jQueryLibrary
  • Google FontsFonts
  • Adobe FontsFonts
page with strong signs
1
hidden characters
52
chat, markdown or placeholders left in
0
dashes per 1,000 words
0.8
  • /asset-server/files/25275.pdf hidden characters a reader cannot see

A sign is not proof. Hidden characters can carry a watermark or instructions meant for an AI, and they come off with a clean copy of the text.

  • / fails 7: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Add a tap-to-call link1 page
  • /articles passes every rule1 page
  • /about-aea fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /econlit fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /joe fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /membership fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /news fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /resources fails 9: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /conference fails 8: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /economics-discussion-forum fails 8: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /econtrack fails 8: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page
  • /ethics fails 8: Add structured data, Set each page's canonical address and Use one main heading1 page

And 20 more parts of the site.

The read stopped at its page limit, so pages no link leads to cannot be told from pages it did not reach, and neither is reported.

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