A Content Management System (CMS) can be an incredibly efficient way to manage a medium or large website. When properly implemented, a CMS can save time and money, allow a broader base of individuals to participate in creating and updating the website, and maintain a consistent look and feel across the site. However, your CMS may not be helping your website rank as high as it could in search engines.
The bad news for your search engine visibility is that the vast majority of CMS systems were designed to solve the specific problems of content management; they were not necessarily designed to solve search engine indexing and ranking issues. The good news is that a few of the more comprehensive CMS packages are perfectly capable of helping your site rank well, if you only give them a little help.
Issue #1: Unfriendly URL’s
If pages on your website have query strings (anything after the ? in a URL), this can sometimes limit the number of pages the search engine is willing to index. While Google can usually handle many parameters (providing you don’t use “id=” in your URL), it is wise to avoid using query strings where possible. This is because using a shorter URL with an imbedded keyword can help your ranking, and also because it’s wise to help the smaller engines also index your site.
Solution: Have your developer look into URL Aliasing for your website. This can allow you to change this URL:
http://www.example.com/index.asp?p=20&s=no&d=96A51DIRM94
Into this URL:
http://www.example.com/your-product.html
Issue #2: Page titles similar or identical across website
Sometimes, multiple pages which have similar titles can suffer a mild penalty in search ranking. This situation can usually be easily rectified by enforcing unique page titles for every page on your site.
Solution: Speak to your developer or vendor if you are unable to specify page titles through your CMS. You may also want to consider enforcing a policy of unique titles for every page on your website. Depending on your situation and CMS, it may even be worthwhile to have the CMS draw teh page title from the main subject heading of the page if no other title is defined.
Issue #3: Code Clutter
Having a table-based design layout may not harm your rankings, but it also may not help, especially if you are competing in an industry with strong search competition.
Solution: The vast majority of CMS packages allow you to edit and update the website templates. You can use this utility to define a more search-friendly HTML layout.
Issue #4: Search engine unfriendly links
A search engine may have trouble navigating your website if the main links are in flash or javascript.
Solution: When designing the template, avoid Javascript or Flash for the navigational links. Also, use anchor text that describes the page it is linking to.
Issue #5: The Human Element
Frequently a site will “drift” from it’s original design and intentions over time. This can be a natural progression over time as the website is updated by multiple individuals with different styles and goals. The less standards and training that is in place, the faster and more drastic this process can be.
Solution: Make sure each person who will be updating your website receives at least some basic training on good practices. Create a document with content, style, and design standards, and distribute it to everyone who will be updating the website. Also, consider conducting a Quality Review on a regular basis, to make sure that the website is maintaining the high standards that your organization deserves.
If you would like to learn even more about how to leverage the power of your CMS, join non~linear creations and RedDot on Nov 2 in Toronto for Content Management: Your Organization’s Competitive Advantage