Joomla! + SEO + GOOGLE
Joomla!days Netherlands 2009Jessica Dunbar
What we will learn
• How can Google help you optimizing your site, and how does that work when you use Joomla? A quick tour about search engine optimalization and available tooling from Google to make your website rank higher."
Webmasters Feelings
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXODTDZAyxQ
Google 101
Guidelines• Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.
• Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.
• Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
• Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images. If you must use images for textual content, consider using the "ALT" attribute to include a few words of descriptive text.
• Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.
• Check for broken links and correct HTML. VALIDATE!• Domain Name Vs. Business name
Organic Vs. Paid
SEO only effects organic placement
Crawling
• Crawling is the process by which Googlebot discovers new and updated pages to be added to the Google index.
Indexing
• Googlebot processes each of the pages it crawls in order to compile a massive index of all the words it sees and their location on each page.
Title Tags and ALT attributes• . In addition, Google process information included in key content tags and
attributes, such as Title tags and ALT attributes. Googlebot can process many, but not all, content types.
• For example, cannot process the content of some rich media files or dynamic pages.
Images<img src=“image.png” alt=“image keyword” />
Hyperlinks<a href=http://testsite.com title=“Title for this link”>Keyword in
anchor text</a>
Serving
• When a user enters a query, Google machines search the index for matching pages and return the results Google believe are the most relevant to the user.
• Google works hard to improve the user experience by identifying spam links and other practices that negatively impact search results. The best types of links are those that are given based on the quality of your content.
Content
Do’s & Don’ts of Content
• Grhammer Correct• OrganizeDON’T• dump large amounts of text on varying topics onto a page
withoutparagraph, subheading, or layout separation
Use relevant language
The Plan
• Make a content plan; who, what, when, target audience etc.
• When you blog, write like you are directly speaking with that person, visualize him/her
• Use words, phrases that people search for
Organize your Content
• Like a librarian:– Books needs labeling correctly (correct title,
category and meta tagging).– Put the right content in the right spot of you site.
• Use Google Analytics and Webmaster console to learn from your users
Language• The critical first step to any successful interactive campaign is to clarify
your target audience and uncover what makes them tick. Quite simply…you can’t get their business until you get their attention.
• Our work is intuitive, blending the user perspective with bold design and inventive copy that gets their attention and keeps it. For the future of your business, invest in a targeted, proactive approach to web site development & internet marketing.
• BECOME THE USER
Heading tags
• Not to be confused <head>• <h1>, the most• important, and ending with <h6>, the least
important.
Titles and DescriptionsA title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. The <title> tagshould be placed within the <head> tag of the HTML document. Ideally, you should create a uniquetitle for each page on your site.
What’s Wrong
• http://joomlamarketing.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5:joomla-license-guidelines&catid=25:the-project&Itemid=2
Joomla SEF
JOOMLA SEF
• http://joomlamarketing.info/joomla-overview.html
• Perfect!
Extensions
• sh404SEF
• Artio SEF
• SEF Advance
GOOGLE HATES• Avoid hidden text or hidden links.•
Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects.•
Don't send automated queries to Google.•
Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords.•
Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.•
Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
Site Navigation
• TOO DEEP• 3 click rule• Text links vs. dropdowns & pictures• Breadcrumbs
Sitemap
• Most important links
Sitemap Don’t
• Out of date• Orginization
Useful 404 errors
Make sure to use useful 404 errors
Good practices for promoting your website
• Blog about new content or services• Don't forget about offline promotion• Know about social media sites• Add your business to Google's Local Business
Center• Back link
W3.org
• VALIDATE
• http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joomla.org%2F
Use Webmaster tools• see which parts of a site Googlebot had problems crawling • upload an XML Sitemap file • analyze and generate robots.txt files • remove URLs already crawled by Googlebot • specify the preferred domain • identify issues with title and description meta tags • understand the top searches used to reach a site • get a glimpse at how Googlebot sees pages• remove unwanted sitelinks that Google may use in results • receive notification of quality guideline violations and file for a site reconsideration
web analytics services
• get insight into how users reach and behave on your site • discover the most popular content on your site • measure the impact of optimizations you make to your site (e.g. did
changing those title and description meta tags improve traffic from search engines?)
Recap
1. Title Tags 2. Keyword Density/ Content3. Site Structure & Organization4. Anchor Text5. Human readable URL’s6. Webmaster Tools7. Validate!
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