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Is Joomla 1.5 RC 1 Ready for Search Engine Optimization?

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

I have been running a test-site installation of the new Joomla 1.5 RC 1 to see what improvements there have been made for SEF and SEO.

There is a difference between SEF and SEO, you can read more about that on  Search Engine Friendly or already Search Engine Optimized but I will not go into that much more here, as the point of the exercise was the see what changed / improved.

First thing you notice is that the Basic URL without the SEO Option set is still the same as before.

Basic Joomla URLs

Next  you go into your Global configuration and look up the Seo Settings…
That has changed a little, and has a new option, which is really great!

Joomla SEO Configuration Settings

Did you see it? There is an option that says “Use mod_rewrite” ! and the best part is that is works!
So now if you don't know how to, or can not use a .htaccess file because of provider restrictions, you can still have SEF URLs like this one..

Joomla SEF Urls without .htaccess

You see there is now an index.php between your domain name and the SEF URL.

Full SEO Options

You can set both settings and use an .htaccess file to get ride of the index.php so that the full (SEF) URL looks like:

Full SEO Configuration options on Joomla

SEO Setting with .htaccess file

Hmm.. maybe they should call it SEF Settings? But it is a great improvement that you can use the SEF URLs without a special component.

Does that mean that we don't have to use a SEF Component anymore?
No, they are still very valuable for several functions like URL rewrites… yes those still apply, because you want more control over the how the URL is formed.

The SEF function of RC 1 uses the Title Alias for the URL, so you can play a little with that, but that takes away a possible use of the alias for HTML Title rewrites…

Also you want to control the 404 Sef function and landing page, with Joomla 1.5 RC 1 there is good basic 404 page with the right headers, so old URLs will be removed form the search engines.

Also SEF component is able to prevent Rewriting URLs if a Components doesn't support them and breaks with te standard URLs.

The Duplicate Metatag problem 

What you would see with the “Old” Joomla was that the Global Metadata was inserted into the HTML code together with the Article Metatags like description and keywords.

The problem seems now to be resolved, so if you now fill an article with The Metatags Description and Keywords (and you know you should) than ONLY those tags are in the source code!

From a Search Engine Optimization view, this is a very good thing… problem is that you still get the Global description on every page you don't fill the parameters, so pleas leave the Globals empty and let the search Engines pick there own excerpts. 

You see, there is still a need for a nice Metatag generator if you have lots off pages or multiple editors.

Overall SEO conclusion for Joomla 1.5 RC 1

You have a better Content Management System than before from a Search Engine Friendly and Optimization point of view.
The basics are in Place to get any new website based on this Joomla 1.5 version to get better results, just by activating the SEO Settings on a bare minimum of SEF URLs.

Its a very big improvement that it can work without the .htaccess files that so many people are struggling with, so that every website can have nice URLs to work with, so set that configuration option to ON.

As I will do some more testing, expect more post on these and other items, but please be patient, as I want to Inform you based on experiences, and time is limited..

So if you want to be up-to-date, and you liked the post, use the RSS Feed to keep up..


Joomla SEF and SEO Questions? Here is Where You Get Answers!

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

Joomla SEF and SEO Questions? When you have questions about Joomla with regards to making Joomla Search Engine Friendly, and the next step, making it Search Engine Optimized, where do you go the get answers?

Well, you found this Blog and the website www.pathos-seo.com I hope…

But that is where you can rad all about it, with How-To's and hopefully some great insights in improving your own website.

For getting answers to questions you might have with specific situations this is of course not a great solution.|
You want to post a question and get an answer as quick as possible…

Now you have several options to do that, main source of Joomla information is the forum at forum.joomla.org
If you have a more specific question related to SEF and SEO with Joomla your have recently got two extra specific forums to post your question:

The Joomla SEO Forum at Alledia
The Joomla SEO Forum at Joomlashack

Both Forums are great resources of getting more information in how to solve problems with your Search Engine Optimization for your Joomla website.

And yes, before you ask, I try to visit and answer Joomla SEO and SEF question on these Forums.

P.s. For the Dutch readers, you can go to SEO-SEF Google Forum on www.dutchjoomla.org

Joomla Basics 60 percent of Top 5 Negative Ranking Factors

Filed Under: Joomla Blog, Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

I was looking at search-ranking-factors at SEOmoz.org and they not only have made a very good list to look for Search Engine Optimization factors.
They also have a list of negative factors and there is a top five of negative factors.

Here is the short list:

  • Server is Often Inaccessible to Bots
  • Content Very Similar or Duplicate of Existing Content in the Index
  • External Links to Low Quality/Spam Sites
  • Duplicate Title/Meta Tags on Many Pages
  • Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming)

Looking at these factors its easy to see where thing go wrong in a standard installation of Joomla (before version 1.5)

Duplicate Content 

First one is the Content similar to Duplicate or Existing in the Index:
This is because in a standard installation there are version in the standard HTML, PDF versions and print versions of each page of your website.

To prevent this, you should disable this functions in your Global Configuration under Content, disable the PDF and Print buttons.

Duplicate Title and or Meta Tags on Many Pages

All tough the Duplicate Title will not that easily happen, the Meta Tags can be a problem.  

If you use the standard Metadata fields in the Global configuration you could really have a problem with this.
These value's are given to each page in your website…
Even if you use the separate Fields of each page to give a separate description and keywords!

You can simple check this if your site is indexed by Google, just do a search in Google like site:www.example.com and see what is in the description fields.. it might surprise you.

The best way to prevent this is to leave your Metadata fields empty and fill your page Descriptions and Keywords.
Even if you don't wont to use that, leave all fields blank and let the search engines take the excerpts from your pages.

Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming)

I wrote a post about this problem a while ago Joomla and Keyword stuffing and its of course related to the same problem as the one above.

The simple solution is to leave the Global Metadata fields blank.
Because Joomla will ADD the meta keywords to the list of keywords in your Global configuration.

You could install the free SEF patch from Joomlatwork.com to overcome some of these problems.

With the solutions used to prevent the above you can overcome some of the Negative Ranking Factors.
All it takes are some simple configuration changes and empty the Global Metadata fields,  so make sure you don't let your website fall into the Top 5 factors… 

The Little Joomla SEO Book now also in Russian

Filed Under: Joomla Blog, Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

I just received an email telling me that “The Little Joomla SEO Book” just has been translated into Russian…

Now that is what I like about the Internet and sharing Knowledge, so that people can help each other, even in other languages.

If you are Russian, you can go to Russian version of this book available here (translated by Dead Krolik)

At the same time I saw the Images for the SEO Book by Steven from Alledia.
I had the pleasure of proof reading his Joomla SEO Book, and I can highly recommend it if you are ready to make your Joomla site better found in the Search engine's.

So now you have three alternatives:

And of course a big thank you to to Dead Krolik for his translation for the Russian Joomla Community.

The Forgotten Joomla SEF Component

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo

Joomla SEF Components

I was looking at one of my clients Mambo based website, to see what it would take to move it to Joomla.
Main reason for this was that the Administrator Interface of version 4.5.x breaks the menu in Internet Explorer 7.

One of the Components I used on this site was Remosef, a special, but very stable SEF Component.
So I thought I would check if there was an update for version 4.6 if that transition would be easier than the conversion to Joomla..

But there was a nice surprise from Martin Brampton…

The Remosef for Joomla Component

As it turns out, Martin has created a SEF Component upgrade for Joomla 1.0.x version.
And since I liked the stability and simplicity of the old Remosef for Mambo component I put it into a test for you.

Now this is not a special technical test, like seeing how much queries and processing time this component takes, you have task other people how it preforms in that area.
For me the simplicity and workability counts, it should be as easy as possible for you.

Normally the installation of the component is just enough, with some alterations in the standard Joomla .htaccess to make sure you can use Third party SEF Components.

For the optimum results of this component, there is an extra step to take, but that is not that hard to do.

Installing the Component

Like I said, step one is always downloading the component and reading the information and installation instructions.
You follow Download the Remosef Component to get the file…
But make sure you also Download the SEF Modules, you will need them later on.

“Caution…. don't install this component, or any other component on a website that is already in the search engine indexes!”
Remosef is the Only site that has a warning like this, and some thoughts on duplicate content as well…. good thinking..
But of you have I website with the standard Joomla SEF URLs, you might reconsider :-)

Installation of the component is just like any other component, just by using the Component Installer of Joomla, point it to the .zip file and “Upload and Install” basically you are done after you made the changes to the .access file and upload it to the root.

You have to set the options in the .htaccess file to get the Third party SEF components to run, but you have to add an extra line at the end of the file, just as explained on the remosef site:
RewriteRule ^(content/|component/|jos/) index.php

Last step is to unzip the module file, and upload the files via FTP, directories are already made, so you can FTP it in one session.
These modules make sure that you get the best result from the rewrites done by the component.

Configuration of the SEF Component

Now here is why I like the component…
If you check the administration panel of the component, there is just one page.

The page consist of a few sections:

  • Remosef Options
  • Component name mappings
  • Character translations
  • Content tasks translations

That's it..

Look at the Remosef options:

Remosef Options

Normally after installation the SEF prefix says “jos” but you might not want that in your URL, do you?
So you can change it to something like “site”, but if you do this, you also have to match that in you .htaccess file!
For this option it would become:
RewriteRule ^(content/|component/|sites/) index.php

The second option you should always set to “yes” since hyphens do better in SEO than underscores.

The Component name mappings:

Remosef Component settings

As you can see, you can set any name for the normal and extra components to be rewritten to whatever you like…
And yes, I have to correct the Typo in Technical Articles…

The Character translations options are specifically for Foreign languages to rewrite things like ö and ü to “oe” en “ue”

Content task translations

You can rewrite every content name with anything you like:
You could do only one here, if you don't like the “view” in you URL, you could use “pages”instead.

Remosef Content Translation

With all the settings you could set in the manner as described, you would get URLs like:

http://www.example.com/site/pages/General/General/Information-on-Opensource-and-Internet-Resources/

Notice the Upper and Lower text? Remosef takes the exact phrase of you title!

If you use the standard after installation you would have seen example.com/jos/view/ instead of example.com/site/pages/

If you know Logout, you get an error… because of the rewrite.. You also get an error if you want to use the “preview”option form you administrator panel.
Don't worry, its just those two, and its because the index.php isn't used anymore because of the rewrite function.

Why I like it?

Because it works that simple.. and because it the most stable SEF component I know, next to SEF Advanced.
And it works with all SEF_extend.php that are compatible with SEF Advanced.

I am currently in the process of setting up an new website with this component, once its loaded with content and gets indexed by Google, I will post the results and look if it works like I think it will.
And although it says its in “Beta” I have found no errors yet.

And here is another nice part.. it has its own Joomla 404 errorpage… and you can modify it as well.
Test revealed you get a standard Error 404 from IE7, but the modified page from Firefox, but with the right 404 Not Found headers.. whohaa!!!

So if you are looking for a SEF Component for your Joomla based website, don't forget to check Remosef for Joomla

Simple things to do on Your Joomla site to avoid basic Duplicate Content

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo

I was reading a Post on Pandia on Duplicate Content on then I realised there are some basic settings in a standard Joomla Installation that create Duplicate Content.

As you look at your standard installation, you will see three icons on every page:
– a PDF Icon to Create a version of the page in PDF format
– a Print Icon to Create a basic version of the page to be printable without the Template settings link Menu and Headers.
– a E-mail icon the send the URL to any email adres.

Turning the Dups off 

On the post 10 Things to Do on Joomla you could read how to disable the PDF Option, because they are “Dead-Ends” for you visitors, there are no navigation options in the PDF.

But they are also Duplicate versions of your page, so another reason to disable this in your Glogbal Configuration.
And while you do that, please disable the “Print” function as well… this again is another version of your page.

The E-mail link is fine, because there are no pages generated.

Stick to One SEO Option

Now this one is also Big!
Choose your SEF Component, set the configuration option on how the URL's are rewritten, and don't change them after that !!

I did a test with several SEF Components, which did not all have the same options.
The site has no 1430 !! pages indexed in Google… but the site is currently on 91 Content pages..

This means that google will pick the pages they think are most relevant and that might just be the PDF version!

Start now and prevent the Duplicate Content penalty an keep control over your own index pages!!

Please give me a 404 Page!

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

I really, really want a 404 page for my Joomla sites!

I know, you can create one via a content page, if its a static or dynamic, and set that URL in the configuration of your SEF component…
Been there, done that.. even do for most of my sites anyway.

BIG problem with this is, not that I loose my visitor, because I make sure that it looks good and I give several options to choose alternatives to go into the site.

Biggest problem with the this option via Joomla and a SEF or redirect components is the fact that my Error page headers are wrong!!
No, not the text headers, my HTTP headers!
Check yours via this On-line Header Checker.

Yes I can create a separate file and set an Error document setting in my .htaccess file, works also, but not so good for me, I want my CMS to handle this file! 

Now if you use WordPress, you are fine, because WordPress gives you the right headers, and you can manage you Error pages mostly by editing you 404.php page that is included in the Template.

But for Joomla, whatever you do, you always get a status 200 OK, even if its wrong… because every thing goes via the index.php!
I would like to have the ability to edit my 404 page as a special page in Joomla itself, not depending on a SEF Component like Joomsef (who has it Build in….but I don't like the Advertisements within the Component..) 

On of the problems this lack of a good 404 Error page is that, if you remove pages from you website, or change the URLs, they still keep popping up in the Search results pages…. Joomla says they have a status 200 OK so no need to take them out of the Index!

So if anybody knows how to solve this in an easy way… please leave a comment and I will test and come back on it..

Luckily a Joomla Developer Lied to You

Filed Under: Joomla Blog, Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo

Now how's that for an opening…

Actually I am very happy to see this post today of Jinx telling you about the lie about Joomla 1.5 and Loosing ItemID's in the URL.

Joomla! 1.5 Accessibility – Look Ma no Itemid’s 

Read the post and check the URL examples he provides both with Mod_rewrite on and without!

Looks Joomla 1.5 is going to be the best on SEF yet, so you can focus again on writing great content on your website, but you are already doing that… right?
Because that is what Search Engine Optimization is all about!

Ten Things to do after a new Joomla installation

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo

Here are Ten Things that I do after a fresh Joomla installation, If you haven’t done this to your installation, you can always correct it !
Just kidding, its more like one of my Joomla best practice things…

1. Change the admin login name
2. Secure the Administration directory
3. Install SEF Patch
4. Install OpenSEF (or other SEF component)
5. Install Joomap component
6. Install JoomlaXplorer component
7. Create sitemap.xml
8. Disable statistics except search
9. Set Configuration file SEO on and place htaccess file and Fill Metatag Data
10. Change Configuration content basics and Close IT down!!

And I even through in a – Bonus installation Tip

[Read more…]

Using Metatags in Joomla for getting more visitors

Filed Under: Joomla Optimization, Joomla SEF, Joomla Seo, Search Engines

I have been writing about using the Description Metatag in Joomla before on several Blogs.

So I thought I will tell you about the importance of this special Metatag here as well.

Joomla Meta Info Tab 

As you might know, there are two special fields that show on the Meta Info tab in each content item in Joomla.

First you have the Description, followed by the Keywords.

If you read about Metatags on the Internet in relation to Search Engine Optimization, a lot of people will tell you not to spend any time on it.

I am telling you to take the time to learn how to write good page descriptions and put in some keywords from the content as well.

Most important item here is the Description Metatag !!

If you look at the Search REsults Page (SERP) in Google and other Search Engines you will see the content of these description tags showing up right under the Title tag.

Just try and do some searches on your own… later afcourse…

There seem to be even some studies to confirm the following:
– People are more likely to click on the Link that has a good description than on the top links, especially if this is “above the fold” , that means in the first screen part, seen without scrolling.

Here you see the Importance of a good description Metatag, as that is what is mostly show.
Google however also likes to take some excerpt of the content just below the relevant text they found on your page.

Description Metatag and Getting the Visitors

If the content of your Description Metatag is shown so prominently in the Search results, then this is where you can get the advantage over your competitors.

People look at the page title to see if its relevant to there search, right after that the read the text underneath the title.

So make sure you write your text for this tag as good as you possibly can, including the keyword(s) you try to target.
Just think of this text as a small advertisement for free from the search Engines…..

Look at Your Description Tag as a free advertisment

Lure your visitors to your rich content page, but don't write a fake description that does not cover the page content !! 

Just like any good advert, deliver what you promised !!, the competition is just one click back…

You should make it a second nature, to think and write the Meta Info directly after you wrote your page content.
This way the subject of your writing is still fresh in your head, and then its easy to make a little to the point excerpt of your page.

Keyword Metatag

This one has lost a lot of its power early in the search engines history.
People wrote the keywords several dozen or more times into the tag, thus creating the need for search engines to reduce the value.

Some I..d..ts eh, less informed Search Engine Optimization specialists, still use this techniques called Keyword Stuffing or Spamming.
Which is great if you want to get out of the Google and other indexes.. 

You can still use this keywords Metatag, but use it the right way.
Just put in between 5 and 10, at the most thirty (on big pages) keywords, that are in the content of the page.
Don't try to put in something like “nude” if that is not the topic of your page.
You could even hurt your page rank that way, as this is also seen as spamming.

Metatag Generators

If you are using OpenSef on your Joomla site, your can find the pages that are missing these tags with the SEO Assistant and then choose the Metatag Generator.

You should not use the automatic generation for the tags, because you most certainly do a better Job writing them yourself.

But if you want to start with one to see how it works, fine, let it run for a few pages and see what comes up, it might save you some time.

There are some other Metatag generators for Joomla out there, but please write your own if you want top quality, you have read why its important..

P.s. if you want the tags to perform the way they should, you MUST install the SEF Patch from http://www.joomlatwork.com/ !!
If you don´t, then please, please look how the description tags come out in the source code of the page and change the Tags in the Global Configuration to the bare minimum, as it is attached in the source code ahead of the page description…
Sometimes is even better to loose the Tags from the Global config alltogether.

if you want to see how your page and descriptions show up in Google, try to search “site:www.example.com”  replace with your own domain name.

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