Is Joomla SEO Friendly?

But is Joomla SEO friendly?

Though SEO for Joomla can be a bit different from other platforms, it’s definitely doable. You just have to understand how to make the most of the Joomla design and development.

Joomla SEO Tips

Before you start implementing an SEO strategy with Joomla, take a few moments to familiarize yourself with Joomla itself. It’s not necessary that you become a Joomla expert, but it’s important to have background knowledge so you aren’t starting from scratch. Second, use the most up-to-date version Joomla. Older versions are less SEO friendly, and they can be challenging to navigate.

Tip #1—Make the most of what Joomla has to offer.

To start your optimization, start using Joomla’s core functions: Turn on search engine friendly URLs, enable URL rewriting, add meta descriptions, define meta tags, and define title tags. These are modest functions, but they go a long way toward SEO friendliness. The time you spend getting comfortable with these functions in Joomla will pay for itself quickly.

Tip #2—Don’t fall for the “Joomla takes too long to load” myth.

In fact, your Joomla site shouldn’t take long to load at all. If it does, there’s a problem. Look for bugs, or check the sizes of your image, photo, and supplemental files. This content can take up a lot of space on a webpage, and that means long load times.

Tip #3—Always write your own URLs.

Joomla gives you this option, and you need to take it. Your URL titles should give a clear indication of what the page is going to be about. In other words, they need to be readable. A URL that includes random characters, nonsensical text, and other unreadable features is not friendly to users or search engines.

Tip #4—Add image tags and titles.

Images are a terrific way to boost your SEO on your site, and Joomla’s latest version makes them easy to add. But as you enjoy adding photos, don’t forget to use image alt tags. Since search engines can’t read photos, they depend on alt tags to tell them what a graphic is about. Without an alt tag, you’re letting a search engine skip right over your image.

As a side note, your Joomla version may not immediately allow search engines to access your images. If yours does not, you have to manually edit your robots.txt file. The script that blocks images looks like this: /images/. Delete it and save the file, but leave the rest of the code in place.

Tip #5—Download Joomla extensions.

Joomla has tons of extensions that operate similarly to WordPress plugins. The extensions can do anything from creating instant sitemaps to tracking SEO-worthy metrics. You can find lots of recommended extensions on Joomla’s site, but you can also find others throughout the Internet.

In that regard, it’s always important do a little hunting on the web before you download an extension. Joomla enthusiasts will be quick to warn you in advance about any bugs or problems.

Tip #6—Use Joomla’s redirect option.

This is built into the Joomla platform, and it helps you quickly locate 404 page errors. It’s a good time saver, and you can avoid ranking penalties from Google when your site is indexed.

Tip #7—Write keyword-rich content.

No matter what platform you use for your website, it’s essential that you create keyword-rich content. Even if you use all the bells and whistles to make your Joomla site SEO friendly, you’ll get nowhere with lackluster body text. Unique, engaging, and credible content is the cornerstone of an SEO strategy on any platform — including Joomla.

Tip #8—Start a blog.

Joomla gives you the opportunity to easily start your own blog. This is an excellent way to engage both visitors and search engines since you have a stream of constant, fresh content. Search engines will crawl your site more frequently if you consistently add content to it, and blogs are the easiest way to make that happen.

Tip #9—Consistently link with either www or non-www pages — but not both.

One of the best linking practices to keep in mind is that your site will perform better if you consistently link to sites using the same format. For example, if you link to one site as “www.site.com,” then your next link is to “https://www.site.com,” Google will split the link equity between the two URLs, even though they go to the same site.

Joomla doesn’t automatically format www or non-www pages. That means you need to manually make sure you’re linking consistently to avoid links to duplicate content and keep your link value strong. To make the most of your site’s link equity, keep URL references consistent.

Tip #10—Have an Internet marketing firm evaluate the SEO friendliness of your site.

Still not sure if your Joomla site is performing as well as it could? Partner with an Internet marketing firm. The firm can give you realistic feedback on how well your website is working from an SEO perspective. They might also be able to help you increase your SEO presence through tweaks in the code.

Here at WebFX, we have SEO specialists who are familiar with Joomla and its capabilities. If you don’t have the time to optimize your site while running a business, we can do it for you! We’ll work with you to tailor a marketing plan that works specifically for your business so your website can reach the top of search engine results pages. Our award-winning team of professionals will give you the results you want to help your company grow.