Selecting A Cms For Search Engine Optimisation

If you have a website then you will probably want the flexibility to be able to edit it yourself. Unless you are an expert programmer you will need a content management system or CMS to be able to do this. However picking a CMS could dramatically affect your search engine optimisation and so you need to think carefully before you pick one.

There are a lot of content management systems on the market and most of them are prebuilt and designed to have certain features to make your life easier. However a lot of these features will affect your SEO significantly. Below is a list of things you need to look out for:

1. URL Structure

When you add a new page to your website through your CMS what sort of URL do you get? This can be really important as many content management systems will generate a URL that contains a string of useless data. This will not help your SEO in any way at all so it is important to look for a CMS that generates useful descriptive URLs based on the name that you give your page. This will help the search engines to very quickly work out what each of your pages are about.

2. Title Tags

Does your CMS generate title tags? If so are they useful and descriptive and are you able to edit them at a later date? If the answer is no to either of these questions then you want to run a mile. It is really important to be able to edit the title tag to each of your web pages. This will allow you to ensure they are all unique and that you can change them as your SEO campaign develops.

3. Meta Description

Although your meta description will not help your SEO directly it is often the snippet of text shown up in the search results. In addition the search engines will check to make sure you have a unique meta description on each of your pages. For that reason it is vital that your CMS allows you to edit the meta description for each of your pages.

4. Website links

When you insert a link into your website does your CMS allow you to select the anchor text? If the answer is no then you will get little value from links on your website.

5. Image ALT Tags

When you add an image does your CMS allow you to select and edit the alt tag that you give to it? This can be important as the search engines will take these tags into account when ranking your pages so if you are able to add in your keywords this will make life easier for you.

So now you know some of the things your CMS should have how do you select one? Well in my opinion it is a good idea to go for a bespoke system. This will allow you to work with your web developers to ensure you have everything that you need. If you go for an off the shelf package you will find you are stuck with what you have and your flexibility will be a lot less in the future. Any top quality web developer will be able to offer you a bespoke CMS and create it with all the required features that help you with your SEO.