Having a website is crucial in today’s digital age, but a website is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Your website serves as the first impression your audience will have of your business or brand, but if you are using the wrong content management system (CMS) this impression can be a negative one.Â
You should choose your content management system carefully, especially when it comes to SEO (search engine optimisation). This might sound like a sentence full of technical jargon, but a CMS is a simple concept to understand. A CMS can be understood as an application or software that allows users to create, edit, and organise the content on a website.
WordPress is one of the most popular CMSes on the market today thanks ot its user-friendly interface and operating methods. However, before you make any rash decisions about your content marketing system, read our tips below for choosing an SEO-friendly CMS system.
What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?
One of the major factors you need to consider when choosing a CMS is the purpose of your website. You might want to create an e-commerce website, or you might want to build a forum or image gallery for like-minded people. The purpose of your website will help you to choose the right CMS platform.Â
It is important to note that your SEO strategy will be influenced by the type of website you wish to build. An e-commerce website will need a CMS with less-advanced SEO plugins than a content-focused one. This is because the focus of an online store is on driving sales and it will not need advanced SEO but instead will benefit from simple meta-descriptions, title-tags and alt-text descriptions.Â
Up Your URL Game
An important factor in SEO rankings is having correct URL structures. You will need to ensure that your CMS system does not produce URL structures that are too long, and that it does not produce multiple URLs for one page. This can impact your search engine results and may cause you to experience a drop in rankings.Â
Many CMS systems allow you to edit what the URL will look like on Google or other search engines, but some do not have this built-in SEO capability. You will need to look for online reviews or try a demo in order to see what the URL structure will look like for your website pages. It might sound like a simple aspect to consider, but your URL structure is an important ranking factor.Â
Your Technical Skills
Now, you are likely not a professional website designer by trade, but using a content management system does require laymen to have some online abilities. You will need to be able to upload, edit, and manage content yourself, especially if you are going to be writing and sharing blog posts on your website.Â
How does this relate to SEO? You also need an understanding of how to write attention-grabbing meta-descriptions that use the right keywords, the ability to write alt-text descriptions for images, and you should know how to insert keywords into content. If you are unsure of any of these, choosing an easy-to-use and intuitive CMS like WordPress. A complicated CMS system will make it difficult for those who are not technically inclined.Â
Always Opt For 301 Redirects
A sign of a good content management system is that it automatically creates a 301 redirect if there are any changes or issues with your website. Not having 301 redirects can negatively affect your SEO ranking as Google will better be able to show the correct page and can index the page correctly for search results.Â
Without a 301 redirect, your content will be lost and your audience will not be able to find it. This can have a significant impact on your visibility and may even cause a loss of leads and consumers. The CMS system that you choose should have this feature built-in and if it does not, you may need to ask your website development agency for help in adding these redirects. Having too many 301 redirects could also impact your SEO.Â
All About Those Breadcrumbs
Firstly, when we say breadcrumbs we are not speaking about actual breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs, in terms of website development-speak, are a way to show users their location on your site and how they got there (similar to that old story Hansel and Gretel). It is a great way to help your internal linking, which can be an SEO ranking factor.Â
Having accurate and intuitive website navigation will improve the functioning of your website, which Google considers an important SEO ranking factor. Consumers also prefer this intuitive menu style and this will help to increase your website traffic, boosting your authority in the eyes of search engines.Â
It is important to always look for a CMS that allows for on-page optimisation management, as this is the best way to improve your search engine rankings. If you would like a professionally-designed website with built-in SEO optimisation, contact NetMechanic today for more information.Â
