There are about a billion different content management systems available on the market, some are open source, for example, this WordPress blog that I’m using right now, while some are a paid solution. Needless to say, if you are seeking the ability to fully control your web site via a browser, the ability to edit and change your content without being tied to a web developer, there are a few considerations you need to know about before choosing a CMS solution.
* SEO Friendly URL’s. All content management systems work out of a database which involves a query of some sort or another. Simply put, the query can make the URL of the page you are seeking UGLY to Google, Bing or Yahoo. For example: for example, http://www.yourdomain.com/index.php?pageid=1234567 rather than http://www.yourdomain.com/about/. Most CMS allow you to change the structure of the URL to make it clean and sparkly for search engines, but be sure it’s simple to do.
* Individual Meta Tags. Be sure that you can alter meta tags on EACH and every page rather than on just one section or page. The more control you have over the meta tags, the better.
* XML Sitemap Generators. It would be ideal to have a CMS that would automatically update an XML sitemap upon creation of new content. This sitemap keeps the search engines clued in when you have a new page and content to be crawled and hopefully indexed.
* RSS Feed. RSS feeds are like crack rock to search engines. Many content management systems do offer this, but just be certain that yours includes it.
* Plugins. I love plugins, for example, WordPress has a ton of them just for search engine optimization purposes. Do a little homework and be sure that the CMS you are investigating has options to grow and expand. You always want to be sure that you can keep up with the latest and the greatest as it comes out.
* Social Media hookups. See if the CMS you are checking out makes it easy for you to hook your content into your Twitter or Facebook account. It will save you a ton of ‘social media time’ by alerting your followers automatically each time you post or update content.
Hope this is helpful! If you do find yourself seeking a robust CMS that is SEO friendly, be sure to give me a call. With CMS, there is not really a One Size Fits All, it has to fit your company’s specific needs. Call me in Orlando at 407-830-4550 or Nationwide: 866-998-6886.
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