| LED Digest 2388: Tuning Drupal for SEO |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. April 12, 2007 Issue no. 2388 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Tuning Drupal for SEO ==-- ~ Brent Franson "What are Drupal's benefits? What are its flaws in reagrds to seo?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Designing for a Target Audience ==-- ~ Beth Earle "...this is at least a little insight into how the big guys deal with such topics." --== Google Ranking Factors ==-- ~ Ralph Hudson "We have about 3x the number of visitors sans www." ~ Nathan Holley "...you want to redirect the weaker domain to the stronger." ~ Dirk Johnson "Right on. There is way too much 'absolutism' in SEO circles." ========== NEW =================================== <Moderator Comment> I've been wanting to use this post on Drupal and SEO for awhile. Brett originally wrote it for the SEM 2.0 list ( http://groups.google.com/group/SEM2 ) and was kind enough to share it with us. -Adam -------------------- From: Brent Franson Subject: Drupal and Organic SEO Has anyone used Drupal? If so, what has been your experience with it? What worked really well? What did you have trouble with? What are drupal benefits? What are its flaws in reagrds to seo? What tips might you have to offer? I have advised the team on a series of modules that help make Drupal very SEO friendly. These modules are listed below. I have also given them a few tips in general as well. Some of my advice is included below. This information was meant for the development team so keep that in mind as you take a look. This a real quick intiial run through of important features. Am I missing any really important features or points? - Pathauto: http://drupal.org/project/pathauto The pathauto module automatically generates path aliases for various kinds of content (nodes, categories, users) without requiring the user to manually specify the path alias. http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/heavily_processed_food - Nodewords: http://drupal.org/project/nodewords This module allows you to set some meta tags for each node. Most useful for setting unique descriptions as the keywords meta tag is basically useless. - Taxonomy Breadcrumb: http://drupal.org/node/61944 The taxonomy_breadcrumb module generates taxonomy based breadcrumbs on node pages and taxonomy / term pages. E.g. home >> vocabulary >> term >> term These administrator defined "breadcrumb links" for VOCABULARIES and TERMS are controlled from the add / edit vocabulary and add / edit term administrator pages. http://sports.ign.com/articles/760/760031p1.html - Custom Breadcrumb: http://drupal.org/project/custom_breadcrumbs Allows administrators to set up parameterized breadcrumb trails for any node type. Service Links / Social Media (maybe for blog?) http://drupal.org/node/40790 The service links module enables admins to add links to a number of social bookmarking sites, blog search sites etc. Includes sites are del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, ma.gnolia.com, Newsvine, Furl, Google, Yahoo, Technorati and IceRocket. http://www.seobook.com/archives/002104.shtml - Page Title: http://drupal.org/project/page_title This module gives you control over the page title. It gives you the chance to provide templates for how the title should be structured, and on node pages, gives you the chance to specify the page title rather than defaulting to the node title. - Custom Links: http://drupal.org/project/custom_links Allow the placement of links at the end of nodes or teasers, this simple addition can make navigation so simple, like the custom breadcrumb place holders can be used for date and author information, and links can be restricted to specific nodes and or content types. - XML Sitemap: http://drupal.org/project/gsitemap The XML Sitemap module creates a XML sitemap in accordance with the Sitemaps.org specification. Creates sitemap suitable for submitting to Google through webmaster central although not so sure submitting is best way to go about getting indexed. A few other issues to note... - Enable clean URL's - Login to site with Admin User ID - Click on "Administer" - Click on "Settings" - Enable "Clean URLs" - After enabled when you next edit or create a page of content, you should see a field to add the page name. - Enable Referrer Logs - Login to site with Admin User ID - Click on "Administer" - Click on "Modules" - Enable "Statistics" Module - Scroll down and Click "Save Configuration" - 301 Redirects & .htaccess file - Place permanent (301) redirect from http:companysite.com to www.companysite.com or vice versa. - With WWW only - Insert after Line that says RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.example\.com$ [NC] RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L] - Without WWW - Insert after Line that says RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^example\.com$ [NC] RewriteRule (.*) http://example.com/$1 [R=301,L] Brent Franson www.ebizmark.com ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Beth Ann Earle Subject: Targeted design > I'm starting to do research on how to select the proper > web colors, font, size etc., to match specific target audiences... > I'm really having difficulty finding good solid information. - Liz Ross, LED Digest 2386 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1789/55/ There's an article on CNN today about American Airlines unveiling a new portion of their web site specifically targeting women: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/04/10/amr.women.reut/index.html The article itself may not provide much info on the topic, but this is at least a little insight into how the big guys deal with such topics. Regards, Beth Earle www.pilotfishseo.com P.S. One quote out of the article was a bit amusing ... "We obviously have a vast interest in women." ... hmmmmm ... ============ Sponsor Message =========== Will the real King please stand up? Sit down Content, you're no King. You're pictures, logos, imagery ... all kinds of stuff Google and the other SEs totally ignore. You, copy! Stand up! You're the Real King! You're words. You're the only page elements SE bots even look at. For the best search-engine-optimized website text in cyberspace, see the Copy Kings at www.GetWebContent.com/LED ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Ralph Hudson Subject: Ranking factors > I'd also add making the non-www url resolve to the www. - Michael Linehan, LED Digest 2387 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1790/55/ We have about 3x the number of visitors sans www. Just how important is this factor and what are the implications of leaving pages / links as-is? If very important, should we change to the www or go with the majority visit count without the www? Ralph Hudson www.americanbuilders.com aka americanbuilders.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Nathan Holley Subject: Ranking factors & canonicalization > I'd also add making the non-www url resolve to the www. - Michael Linehan, LED Digest 2387 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1790/55/ Not exactly - you want to redirect the weaker domain to the stronger. Google's gotten better about handling duplicate content issues, and if you're signed on with Webmaster Tools you can choose a preference, but I still use htaccess for this. I always research the domains and find the stronger one, with more pages indexed and other factors as indicators. Then redirect the weaker. Nathan Holley -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dirk Johnson Subject: Ranking factors I certainly enjoyed Eric Ward's comments that "It depends" [ http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1790/55/ ]. Right on. There is way too much "absolutism" in SEO circles. Having read that entire piece on "ranking factors", and the individual notes to the questions, I came away with one glaring conclusion: There is no consensus among these people. And no proof. Opinions are rampant. Wholly unfounded, absolutist statements abound. Pure conjecture was often presented as some kind of insider information. With much of it, I had to ask to myself, time and again, "based on what?" My own experience here refutes a lot of what was said by many of the panelists. Is my own considerable experience not valid because I was not selected to be on some "expert" panel? I prefer to rely on my own conclusions than those of people with whom I know nothing about their experience or background, while they make statements that seem preposterous to me. It's no surprise that consensus does not exist. Some of the SEO consultants on that survey panel are people that I truly respect. Some of the others are notorious self-promoters selling over-priced SEO voodoo and presenting themselves as knowledgeable, to a fault. But instead of bashing away at the latter, let's take this discussion in another direction. It may help anyone who is looking to hire an SEO consultant. Everyone must first ask this question... Whatever happened to common sense? SEO work is a marketing function. It must fit within that context. It does not exist on it's own island. A good SEO consultant will act accordingly. Follow my logic, for a moment. A site should present content to the public that explains what their business does, the products they sell, useful tips to product users, etc. If they can create a community of users around that product, that's even better. That's called "great content" in the SEO world. It's a no brainer, and it's still a valid marketing concept outside of the SEO realm. Great content is not the same as generating bogus content, then throwing against the wall, to see if someone, somewhere will link to it. Sure, that can work. It can also be a complete waste of time. So, if some SEO guru wants to send you down that path (and many do), then it's raw SEO gaming, and not proper marketing. Second, that content should be well-planned and properly optimized for the search terms that relate to the business. Good HTML coding practice is advised. Keyword stuffing, babble content, and other optimization games might work. Do you want to pay someone for that? Again, is it good, fundamental marketing, or SEO gaming? Finally, linking matters. As a business owner, your site exists within a realm of interest (maybe several distinct ones). Basic marketing, in the context of the World Wide Web, means that you should establish your site in as many places as you can within those realms of interest. Treat it as if the search engines did not exist, and you needed all the relevant links you could get to survive. There are many ways to do that. There are forums. There are industry groups. There are portals. There are advertising opportunities. There is basic reciprocation. Article submission. Press releases. There are vendors, distributors, dealers, and affiliates that might link to you. Charities. Social networking. There are many ways to get links. As a business owner, shouldn't you pursue all of them, in some way? Of course. It's called wrapping your arms around your entire realm of interest, and becoming as active a player as possible. Again, it's basic marketing and branding, not SEO gaming. A good SEO consultant recognizes ALL of the possible methods, and can devise responsible methods to help you achieve the goal of ESTABLISHING YOUR SITE within your realm of interest. Some linking methods cost more than others, or take more time, or are more or less effective than others. That is where return-on-investment comes into play. A true SEO pro will examine your situation, your budget, and your competition, and then advise what is readily accessible, and then assign priorities. It seems to me that a lot of these SEO gurus do not approach their work that way at all. They have pre-conceived notions and canned solutions that they want to sell. Or they are so wrapped up in gaming the engines that they lose sight of the whole picture, which should be to establish their client's brand as thoroughly as possible. At it's worst, many of them will actually advise that you deny yourself valid and relevant linking opportunities, because the links don't meet some imaginary threshold of "quality" that they have devised, based on unproven concepts and conjecture. At that point, you are probably not taking advice from a marketing partner that has your best interest at heart. You are more likely taking advice from a crackpot that is far more interested in promoting their cooked-up SEO theories than in your overall business success. There are a lot of them out there. That's why my recent post here in LED took many of these SEO experts to task for their business backgrounds and acumen. Devising SEO games is not the same as having real business perspective. Running away from readily accessible, valid branding / linking opportunities, especially when your competitors are benefiting from them succesfully, is just fundamentally horrible business advice. There is no other way to describe it. It's probably not even good SEO advice. Yet many "big name" SEO advisors seem to do this all the time. They're lost in some dogmatic fog of their own creation. They send their clients into the battle with one hand tied behind their back, while selling them a much more expensive solution to boot. Good luck, is all I have to say. As a business owner, forget SEO games, and think in terms of thoroughly ESTABLISHING YOUR BRAND within your realms of interest. If you do that, many other benefits will come to you, in the form of links that you never imagined that you'd get, direct traffic from other sites, happy customers, and other organic, natural benefits. It's just common sense. From that effort, it is very likely that good search engine results will be a secondary, but significant benefit. Search engines want to reward established, viable, useful sites. They really don't want to reward sites that simply do the best job of gaming them. Splitting hairs over SEO minutiae is largely a waste of time. That's not where it's at. Tens of thousands of sites rank well that have NEVER wasted their time on such hand-wringing. That's why Eric Ward rightfully says, "It depends". The sites that best establish their brand throughout their entire realm of interest are the ones ranking at the top, consistently. As a site owner, you can help that process along, but you really can't fake it. Attempts to fake it are rampant in many SEO circles, even among the so-called "experts". Social network link gaming is just the most recent gambit. It's now packaged as an authentic SEO "product" in some corners. If you feel that's the way to go, then go there. There are no rules in this business. If it works, ride it, I suppose. But it might also be a very expensive journey that ends in a dead end. Let's just be very careful when assigning "expert" status to any of these people. Celebrity SEO status implies nothing more than their own talent at becoming one, as they hang out at the right places and say the right things to like-minded people, who themselves might be confused. Some of these people have very convoluted concepts about overall marketing and branding, because they look at EVERYTHING as an SEO issue. It's not. At the same time, there are some SEO consultants that have their feet on the ground. You have to examine these folks on a person-by-person basis. Again, forget name recognition and their speaking resume. What matters is what they do, and how they do it. Remember this. It's not their money at stake when you hire them. It's yours. If what they are advising that you do with your money does not pass the smell test, either in terms of the cost of doing it, or in terms of the overall marketing and branding for your site, run away. Best regards, Dirk Johnson, Partner - Operations DomainDrivers LLC www.domaindrivers.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. Free no-obligation proposal: http://GetWebContent.com/LED The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people." - Alexis Carrel |
