7 replies to this topic

[ttw]

I am working with a web development group that is building a client's site (a refresh) using Drupal as the CMS. A while ago, I read negative comments about it's search engine friendliness – and of course I can’t get my hands on those comments now.

Have any of you experienced problems with Drupal as the CMS tool?

Thank you.

Rosemary

[Jill]

I haven't used it, but my understanding is that it's as search engine friendly as you want it to be. You just have to know how to program it in the right way. It's supposedly very customizable which is why people like it.

[K.S. Katz]

I've worked with Drupal in the past and didn't have an issue with it. Like Jill said, it all depends on how the code is implemented.

[ashel]

I haven't used Drupal, but on their features page (drupal.org/features) it lists the use of Apache's mod_rewrite to make customizable URL's.

That allows you to turn:

index.php?option=article_component&catID=29&articleID=38

into:

articles/cars/honda-civic-4-door

Which of course is much more human readable and search engine friendly.

Joomla uses a very similar technique which I am familiar with. It does the same rewrite you can turn it on and off in the admin control panel. Component programmers can decide how their component will handle the url transformations. It should be built in for the core items within Drupal, such as articles.

You should also give Joomla a look if you are constrained to Drupal. They each have their own strengths, I prefer Joomla.

[ScottSalwolke]

So if your switching over to this from cold fusion, you'll need redirects to the new pages as you wouldn't have the cfm extension?

Edited by Copywriter39, 19 March 2009 - 06:37 PM.

[ogormask]

I have used Joomla which is similar. A lot of people think you cant SEO these for some reason. The SE UnF urls were an issue because well they just are an eye sore. If drupal is similar to Joomla with the flick of a switch you can turn on SEF Urls easy and then no more headaches. As far as SEO goes the titles and meta descriptions I think in the past were harder to work with but there is a work around or module for almost anything. Also the built in stuff works well now. In Joomla you can just enter the SEO stuff you want for each article its not clearly laid out I guess as good as it could be but its there if you know where to look. I am guessing that this wasnt so when it first came out.

[Say Yebo]

I read negative comments about it's search engine friendliness...

I recently had a site built in Drupal and found it to be very search engine friendly - after I'd made my SEO needs very clear to the developer. It's all in how it's set up. In the end, he was able to accommodate pretty much all of my needs.

There was a lot of misunderstanding between page titles and browser titles though. Some Drupal developers have not yet figured out how to include a field for custom browser titles, so all my page 'headings' defaulted to browser titles too. But it can be easily fixed. Well, I assume it was easy ;-)

[rjcarr]

I know this is an old topic, but I've been using Drupal 5 for about 1 year now, and it is excellent for SEO. What I mean is, it gives you all the tools to do it right if you know how to do it right. The "Page Title" module takes about 30 seconds to install, and it helps. There is a SEO checklist that tells you all the things you need to do to make the site SEO friendly. My traffic went up 35% after installing Drupal, so I haven't seen anything negative about it. Managing content is super easy, and you can basically revamp your entire site in an afternoon. Very professional code base too. I looked at Joomla too, but Drupal is miles ahead of it IMO.

For those that haven't used it, here are a few things that make your life really easy in Drupal.

1. Let's say you rename a page in drupal. The redirect module automatically creates the redirect for you, if you want.

2. The title of the page can automatically become the file name. It even has a clever config module to adjust how names are created.

3. Need an XML sitemap for the search bots? Install a module (30 seconds) and your sitemap is automatically created on the fly, in XML.

4. Want to submit your site automatically to Google? Another 30 seconds and it can do it automatically, or based on changes, etc.

5. Need a sitemap for your site? Another 30 seconds. You can define what pages show, and a slew of other options.

6. Want to take advantage of CSS aggregation? Another 30 seconds.

7. Need a blog, forum, RSS Feed, etc. etc. etc.? Another 90 seconds.

8. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of modules ready to be used for whatever you can dream up.

Drupal is awesome. It is secure. It has a very clean code base. And it is fast. Even the White House uses it, and you know how much traffic they get. And it does SEO very well. It is also free.

What's not to like?

I couldn't be happier with the results. If you can dream it up, Drupal can do it.