As much as exploring new ways to create commanding SEO is a noble way to spend your time, so too is it important to manage what makes it work. For this reason, ironing out issues with your content management system is vital.
One area where a CMS really needs to excel is to allow the complete customization of key areas of the page. As such, the Page Title, Meta Description Tag, Meta Keyword Tag and H Tags should all operate independently of each other.
Auto population of these fields based on well developed rules is fine, but should not restrict complete customization.
As much as ensuring page areas can be capably managed, so too is the same true of a site’s URLs.
What a CMS produces in this regard must clearly be SEO friendly and keyword focused but, more than this, only one URL per page should be produced. This can be tricky to manage where products and services are duplicated across categories, so should be monitored.
To help with duplicate content issues, the rel=canonical Tag should be able to added and exploited to the full. Able to direct paths where they need to go, it solves a host of problems.
Directions can also be adequately handled by 301s, as opposed to 302s. This will ensure pages are properly indexed by the search engines, and remain relevant to readers and robots alike.
There are a great many other areas where a CMS should be working well too, including Pagination and breadcrumb navigation. Spending a little time evaluating what works, what doesn’t and how it can be affected could well reap rewards for your SEO.
Related posts:
- Are meta tags worth the bother?
- Your website should mimick the iPhone
- The Indiana Jones approach to SEO navigation
- Does Google look at the keywords meta tag?
- Classic SEO mistakes
