5 Tips for Improving the SEO of Joomla Web Pages

Search engine optimization is no longer a matter of choice. Rather, it is essential today, especially due to a rapid increase in the number of web pages indexed by search engines. There remains a constant pressure to attract unique visitors looking for your services and products, and we all know that this can only be achieved by optimizing web pages and closely analyzing the results. Unlike other content management systems and web tools, Joomla provides excellent tools for website optimization. Here are the top 5 tips that can help you improve the SEO of Joomla web pages. A word of caution: Search engine optimization can be expensive, therefore, make sure you consult a professional before diving into it.

Select the right server type

Check the server you are using to host Joomla-based web pages, even before altering the serial configurations. Using a Mac on an IIS Windows Server may not be the right choice when installing and configuring Joomla. It can also result in lost equipment and the ‘rewrite modules’ may also not work well. Joomla works best on an Apache web server with an integration of mod_rewrite module.

Install sitemap extension

Sitemaps are useful for updating search engines whenever you add new content to your website. You need to keep your sitemaps updated since it tells you about your website structure. Moreover, your old sitemap cannot truly reflect on your website items. The best and simplest way to keep your sitemap updated is by installing an extension called Xmap. Joomla doesn’t take more than a few seconds to create an XML map.

Submit sitemaps to search engine webmasters

You must not forget to submit the sitemaps to search engine consoles to monitor any changes in your search engine optimization practices. This will also provide you with critical data related to your website, such as links, keywords and search queries. Doing this along with ensuring good search engine optimization practices will offer you properly indexed web pages while not letting you miss out on potential unique visitors.

Optimize texts and images

To optimize texts and images, use Joomla’s content management interface that helps create meta-descriptions for all web pages. Often overlooked by SEO optimizers, this effective practice can help your page rank at the top of search result pages. The meta-descriptions should not exceed 130 characters and should never use the default image title. Don’t use duplicate meta tags as it can potentially jeopardize your optimization efforts and adversely impact the overall ranking of individual web pages.

Create SEO-friendly URLs

Search engines are more likely to index pages that have clearly readable URLs, as unindexed URLs are not displayed in the results. It is fairly simple to convert the old URLs into more readable, search engine-friendly ones. Just log into Joomla’s administration panel and go to Global Configuration area. Enable User URL Rewriting and Search Engine Friendly URLs. URL Rewriting removes the “/index.php/” part of the URL, while the latter option deletes random characters in the URLs and replaces them with menu item list. If you are new to Joomla, I would recommend you to keep default settings for other options in the Global Configuration area.

No search engine optimization is complete unless you receive links from web pages that relate to your industry. With good quality, relevant content and good search engine optimization practices in place, your website is sure to top the charts!

Looking for improving your Joomla site’s search engine ranking?