More Fields (Important SEO Items)
An important part of the customization of the CMS involves the use of items related to search engine optimization. Here are important, valuable SEO tips. They are to be used on each page of the website.
Permalink/URL Name (The Name of Each Webpage)
A permalink is the name of each webpage. It is the way the web address of the unique page you are working on looks within your website's structure.
For example: The "contact-us" portion in www.yourwebsite.com/contact-us
Notes
- Use up to 3 words in your permalink (you can use more from time to time but don't over do it)
- Try to be minimalist in your approach. Don't stick in lots of extra words for no reason.
- Avoid repeating your web address in the permalink
(e.g., do not do this: www.bestwebsite.com/best-website-contact-us)
- Use all lower case letters (by default, the system should do this).
- Whenever possible, ignore the use of irrelevant words such as: and, of, the, or, ...
For example, don't write the keyword so that it appears like this: www.yourwebsite.com/the-keyword/
- Once you choose a permalink and the webpage has been up for some time, Google will eventually find it. It is very highly recommended that you do not change it.
For example, www.website.com/fishing/ should stay that way and not become www.website.com/fishing-adventures/
Custom Permalink: You may have the feature that says "Custom Permalink." You should use this if you have a multilingual website (NOT 2 websites, one language per site) or if you have drop down menus. Ideally you would have the exact name of the page.
For example, rather than www.yourwebsite.com/sidemenu/pagename/ use the custom permalink menu to create a page called www.yourwebsite.com/pagename/
To do so, in the form field under the label "Custom Permalink" add the exact page name ONLY.
For example, add "pagename/" (with the slash).
HTML Title
This is what goes into your <title> tag which is the what you can read at the very top of your website browser. If you are using Internet Explorer to surf the net, it's the white words in the blue bar across the very top of the page. Here are some tips:
- This is very important for SEO.
- Add up to a maximum of 6-8 keywords
- You do not have to use 6 words. I repeat, you do not have to use all of the words. You can limit it to one word if you want (e.g., About; Contact; Testimonials: These are non-content pages and there's no need to fill them in with anything other "About Us" Contact Us or "Testimonials & Reviews")
- Try to avoid repeating keywords in this form field from page to page (keep it targeted to the page).
For example, if you use "Fishing" for the fishing page, don't stick the word in on the diving page by writing "Scuba Diving Fishing." Just use the word fishing on pages that relate to fishing.
META Description
This helps keep your site search engine friendly. Write a 10-25 word description of the content of the page.
Header Tag ("H-tag")
The most important type of header tag is the Header 1 tag (known as H1). The system was customized to make it easy for you to insert. When writing a page, you will need a heading (the few words at the top of the page, above the first paragraph). For example, on a page about scuba diving, your H1 will most likely be "Scuba Diving" and it will appear right on top of the first paragraph.
To add the header text, write it in the form field on the right side of the main text box area.
Footer Text
Some systems will have this field as well. We use this field to add a few extra keywords in that may be relevant but that do not necessarily fit in well in other places on the page or in the code behind the page. You will almost never have to use this box. If you're unsure what to do with it, leave it blank.