Using a component that creates better and more search engine friendly URLs is one of the best things you can do to improve your site to get better rankings in the search engines.
We will be looking at the following in this chapter:
- Why you need an SEF component
- What SEF components are available
- What makes sh404SEF a good choice
- How to install sh404SEF and its basic configuration
- Choosing the best URL options for your site
- Using the best options for metadata
- How to implement Search Engine Optimization on Non-SEF components
- Solving and preventing possible problems
Now this may seem like it is a lot to handle, and it really is, but this is one of the best and biggest improvements you can use for your Joomla! site.
First of all you need to be clear about what kind of URLs will provide you with the best results in the search engine rankings.
If you look at the search engine results page (SERP) you will find that the best performing URLs are the clean ones—the ones without a lot of parameters. If you look at a Joomla! URL that is created without any SEO options active on the site, you will see a URL similar to the following:
But with all the default SEO options set, along with an SEF component, the URL will become similar to the following:
http://cblandscapegardening.com/garden-design/a-quick-guide-to-landscape-gardening.html.
Not only is it a shorter URL, but is also in a better shape for people to remember. Another thing you should notice is also the category in which the article is placed is "keyword rich" now and is placed before the article title.
In the first example the Joomla! article ID, category ID, and item ID were in the URL. With both standard SEO options and an SEF component these numbers are gone. Now search for the keywords you are targeting in Google and look at the URLs of the top ranking web sites. In my case it would be the term landscape gardening.
As you can see, all the top performers have clean URLs and their lengths range from short to very short! So, what we are aiming for is a short, keyword-rich, easy-to-remember URL. The best way to accomplish this for your Joomla! site is by using the standard SEO functions, enhanced with a SEF component that is able to deliver to you the best possible options.