A lot have been written for and against Joomla Content Management System (CMS). The usual saying is that Joomla is not a best bet in terms of Search Engine friendliness. However, this is the view of those unprofessional who really don’t know how to optimize the power of this Content Management System.
Joomla is among the best the world has ever seen in terms of CMS and for the critics, Joomla can be Search Engine friendly provided it is handled by SEO experts who know how to maximize Search Engine results for Joomla websites. Search Engine optimization is a crucial tool in the hands of Internet marketing professionals, and although it is widely believed that Joomla is perhaps the toughest to optimize for Search Engine results, yet it is very much possible if the professionals know their job and have an in-depth knowledge of Joomla CMS.
Joomla is a better choice for SEO than its traditional competition because of the following reasons:
1. More visible URLs: Search Engine friendly URLs that end with .html or .htm and don’t have a ‘?’ or other special characters is one of the characteristic of Joomla.
2. Customizable Title and Meta tags: Each page can be easily customized for Title and Meta tags that prevent duplication, which is viewed negatively by popular Search Engines. You are empowered with a unique menu system that makes the task of customizing simpler.
3. Header Tags feature: You are given free hand to make changes in the versatile template system and easily add the Header tags.
4. Custom 404 Error Page: A customized 404 Error page has become the order of the day, especially when surfers are getting bored of the same error message replicated in the websites. With Joomla, you can customize this vital page and also keep track of the broken links people are using to surf your site.
5. Nofollow: Joomla allows you to use Nofollow feature, which instructs the Search Engines not to rank pages, like Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and other similar essential, but non-optimized pages.
6. Newsletter: Newsletter forms a vital ingredient of a successful commercial website. You can remain in touch with your customers and prospects with this feature, which can be integrated through a customized newsletter extension in your Joomla.
7. Blogs: Blogs offer a unique personalized tone to your approach towards your target traffic. Well written and optimized blogs not just attract more traffic to your website, but also enhances the goodwill of your product and/or service. Joomla offers user-friendly tools to post your blogs online without much effort.
8. Sitemap: With Joomla component or extension, a sitemap of your website can be automatically generated. This sitemap could be either html-based or xml-based. Submission of sitemap to Google, Yahoo, and other popular Search Engines is not of great help; however, it will help to index your site quickly.
9. RSS Feeds: RSS (or ‘Really Simple Syndication’) feeds represent the oft-used cutting edge technology that enable a website owner to continually freshen the website content without having to make periodic content updates. These feeds are popular among search engines, like MSN, Yahoo News, etc. as they offer user-friendly RSS feeds of their search results. SEO experts are adept at integrating RSS feeds feature to your Joomla website.
10. Link Exchange and Other Software: For the traditional SEO fans, Joomla has the ability to offer several link exchange software that can be easily added to your site. These softwares will automate the process of link exchange and helps you to aggressively promote your website on the Internet.
Similarly, Joomla offers other third party software in order to address specific concerns of the most common requirements of websites, like Shopping Cart, User Registration, etc.
