Content Management Systems and SEO can be a terrific match in the wrong hands. However, many companies pair together and get it wrong. I understand the want and need to be able to update the content of your own – and done right a system of non-stop content management SEO efforts. That said, again and again I have people come to me saying they just had their site under construction, but are now getting the search engine results terrible.
When looking at your site usually notice three things right off the bat – 1) have a CMS, 2) the CMS is using the same metadata (title, keywords, description) for all pages, and 3) the URL of the inside pages are read as well – domain.com/pages/service1.php. By further inspection I also realize that the images are named 21.jpg and do not have alt tags.
Some of you may be wondering – so what? Well, the "what" is that your site is probably on the classification and for the preferred terms as it is key to "Service1".
Without entering into the in and out of the SEO, suffice to say that the file names and structure of a site can help or hinder your SEO efforts. With so many companies now focused on search engine optimization that many companies can not afford to be penalized by the structure of a site as faux pas.
Does this mean that the CMS is evil? Of course not – it just means that developers who set up the site did not know much about SEO or do not think matter to your business.
Was it a limitation of the CMS? Possibly, but most major content management systems such as Expression Engine, Joomla, Drupal and has options that enable developers SEO minded to make adjustments to the structure, metadata and file names that are online with their SEO efforts.
Another point worth considering when deciding on a CMS is the level of knowledge of SEO content managers (those responsible for introducing and updating content). If the content of administrators do not have at least a basic understanding of the factors of SEO then you should consider providing training. Using headings, titles and names of the structures that do not fit into your SEO strategy may have undesirable effects on your search rankings.
For training I would suggest http://www.SEObook.com. It is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn SEO and content was developed by Aaron Wall, who is the closest thing to a rock-star SEO you can find.
Therefore, I think the net net of all this is that if you are considering a content management system and SEO is important to you – then do your due diligence and hire a company that has expertise and understands SEO. Also, consider training as part of their costs and give your content managers the tools they need to make your SEO success.
Tags: cms, content management system, search engine optimization, seo
