Learn the Top 30 SEO tips for Joomla CMS for 2015

1. Joomla Onsite SEO
Guidelines for 2015
Mike Carson

2. Top 30 Onsite SEO Points You Should
Know For The Joomla CMS

3. Joomla SEO Settings
Requires mod_rewrite
Personal choice
Enable when ready to test and go live
Not necessary for most sites
Always choose “After”

4. .htaccess File Update
A change to the default .htaccess and web.config files was made in Joomla! 3.4 to disallow directory listings by default.

5. Robots File Updates
Since Joomla version 3.3 there has been an update to the robots.txt file.
ADDED
bin
layouts
REMOVED
images
media
templates

6. WWW Redirects
If your Joomla site is accessible either with or without a
www-prefix is a matter of duplicate URL's.
Google Webmaster Tools asks you to specify how you want
Google to index your site, with or without www.
Add this code for non-www to www redirect in your .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mysite.com/$1 [L,R=301]

7. HTTP vs. HTTPS
PROS & CONS OF HTTPS
PROS
Minor Google Ranking Boost
Visitor Confidence & Trust
Absolute Must For Ecommerce
Joomla CMS Handles HTTPS Well
CONS
Costly
Speed
Time
Caching Issues

8. Internal Links / Anchor Text

9. Use the rel="nofollow" tag in your links
External Links

10. Image Alt Text
Don’t use generic image names such as DCMIMAGE10.jpg
It is much better to name the file: yellow-lamborghini.jpg
<img src=" images/yellow-lamborghini.jpg " alt=“My Yellow Lamborghini Dream Car“>

11. Page Titles
Optimize Your Page Titles
Keep it under 55 characters

12. Optimize Videos
According to KISSmetrics, website visitors are 64 to 85
percent more likely to convert, or make a purchase after
watching a product video.
In 2015, small businesses should submit optimized videos
not just to YouTube but to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr as
well.

13. Site Speed
Increase Your Site Speed
Only Install What You Need
Use A CDN
Use Caching Where Appropriate
Optimize Images
Use A Good Hosting Company

14. Calls To Action
I am NOT convinced!

15. 404 Errors
Joomla Redirect Manager
.htaccess File
3rd Party Extensions

16. Site Maps
Use A Site Map Extension
Submit to Google and Bing Webmaster Tools
https://www.alledia.com/extensions/osmap/

17. Contact Page
Optimize Your Contact Page
NAP – What is it?
Must be crawlable text
Must match what’s on your Google Places page and citations
It’s OK to style it with CSS, or to have it on one line.
When in doubt about the formatting, refer to a Schema generator:
Schema-Creator.org
MicrodataGenerator.com
Embedded a Google Map to your contact page in order to help link your business locally

18. Fresh Content
Keep It Fresh

19. Content Topics
Optimize Content Around One Topic
Keywords are important but use them naturally
Craft content for humans, not search engines

20. Heading Tags
<H1>Utilize Proper Heading Tags</H1>
Should clearly tell the reader and search engines about the page’s topic
Avoid using generic terms like “Home” or “Products”
Don’t put important information that would likely be your <H1> as an image.
Don’t use multiple <H1> or <H2> tags on the same page

21. Create Incredible Content
Earn Those Links
Quality inbound SEO links are still the biggest influence for search engines
Creating incredible content that people will want to share is still the best way to earn links
Size matters - Big content gets big results
Studies show for most SERPs like content that is at least 1500 words. 2000 is a good target

22. Focus On ROI
Focus on ROI Instead of Keyword Rankings
Keyword ranking does not equal successful ROI
Focus on metrics that bring conversions

23. Google Plus
Encourage +1’s
These days you MUST have a Google Plus account
Share EVERYTHING to Google Plus
The larger your circle, the more likely your business is to be found when someone
performs a search.
Add sharing buttons to your site

24. Rich Snippets
Structured Data Markup
"Structured data markup" is a standard way to annotate your content so machines can understand it.
Structured data markup makes your content eligible for two kinds of Google features:
Enhanced Presentation in Search Results: By including basic structured data appropriate to your content,
your site can enhance its search results with Rich Snippets, Breadcrumbs, or a Sitelinks Search Box.
Answers from the Knowledge Graph: If you're the authority for certain content, Google can treat the
structured data on your site as factual and import it into the Knowledge Graph, where it can power
prominent answers in Search and across Google properties.
https://developers.google.com/structured-data

25. Measurement
Track and Measure Everything
Track conversions with event tracking
Automate whatever you can using marketing automation tools like Mautic (free),
HubSpot, Marketo, and Infusionsoft
Do A/B testing
Use call tracking services offered by Mongoose Metrics, Marchex, LogMyCalls, and
others that can tie calls to organic searches

26. Mobile Friendly
Optimize For Mobile
On April 21st, 2015 Google changed everything
Responsive or Adaptive?

27. Duplicate URL’s
Avoid Duplicate URL’s - Canonical URLs
Joomla out of the box does
not handle these well
There are plugins available
but do your research
Proper planning can help

28. SEO Tools
Recommended Tools
Google PageSpeed Insights - https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
Screaming Frog SEO Spider - http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
Google and Bing Webmaster Tools
CopyScape.com
schema-creator.org
Microsoft Free SEO Toolkit - http://www.microsoft.com/web/seo
snippetoptimizer.net
moz.com/tools
Scribecontent.com

29. SH404SEF
The All In One Extension
SEF URL Based on Content Structure, Not Menus
Meta data management
Social SEO
404 Error Management
Custom 404 Page
Redirects
Canonical URL Management
Anti-spam and security
The most mature SEO extension for Joomla
https://weeblr.com

30. Bounce Rate
Monitor Your Bounce Rate
Check your bounce rate often and analyze those landing pages
Google Analytics considers a visitor to have ‘bounced’ when only
one hit is recorded for a session
One page websites will have high bounce rates

31. Above The Fold
Keep Important Information Above The Fold
Keep headlines and intro text high
Avoid the use of image sliders
Keep adverts below the fold

32. Backlink Beware
Beware Of Your Joomla Extensions
Only use Joomla Templates and Extensions from trusted developers
Some developers insert hidden backlinks
Some have visible backlinks but charge to remove them
NEVER EVER EVER use templates or extensions from warez sites
{contentplugin}Avoid using too many content plugins{/contentplugin}

33. Mike Carson
Thank You
www.itdwebdesign.com
www.joomlashowroom.com
www.ThemeChoice.com
@ITDwebdesign
@JoomlaShowroom
@ThemeChoice
mike@itdwebdesign.comhttps://plus.google.com/+MikeCarson
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