Optimizing your Drupal site for increased visibility on search engines is a matter of great concern and should not be ignored by any means. Of all the CMS, Drupal is one that has been proving its worth time and again. Drupal-based applications offer higher functionality and incomparable scalability. It is, however, the SEO-friendly aspects of Drupal that make it a favored choice. This blog takes you into the insights for optimizing your Drupal website for fulfilling the SEO requirements.
Step- 1 Enabling fresh and clean URL
By default, Drupal assigns all of its URLs an ID instead of a readable URL. This clean URL, when enabled, takes the page title and turns it as readable for helping users in easy search and allowing them to return back to your site.
Step- 2 Incorporating the use of modules
The Drupal Module Tool integrates seamlessly with an all-in-one suite of Search Engine Reporting and for the optimization of tools for your website. Following are some important SEO modules you must have in your Drupal site.
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XML SiteMap
The XML SiteMap module is used for Drupal which automatically generates the sitemap for you and strikes the major search engines to notify them with a new content. It configures Drupal and adds a tracker link and also configures sitemap auto-discovery for your website.
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Redirect
This module works as a supporter which ensures that all the variants of the URL are redirected to a single authoritative URL. It is needed where Drupal is lackadaisical about the URL’s and duplicate content.
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Path auto
This module enables the clean URLs of the website to move further systematically and automatically; thereby, it allows you to rename that each page with an appropriate URL that reflects the content on that page. Using this module, you can place the page title in URL and allow making a web page appear appealing on search engines and associating the content with better keywords.
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Metatag
This module ensures that tags are relevant to the content on the site. It allows you to control the individual meta descriptions for an individual page. Extremely user- friendly, this module can be used to customize the tags through the node words page in Control Panel.
Apart from the ones stated above, there are many more you can use but these ones are relevant to help in optimizing the site performance on search engines for increased visibility.
Step-3 Defining Your Keywords
The next step takes you to the process where you can define a set of keywords. A list of tools given below will definitely help you plan your keyword strategy. How about giving them a look?
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Google Trends
This tool helps in digging out search statistics on a number of terms that are associated with your website. It is helpful in focusing on countries since the volume of searches seems high on countries, cities or specific areas. Users can enter up to 5 keyword phrases and Google will return a line chart showing the comparative volume trend over last few years.
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WordTracker
Depending on what the user is looking for, he/she will type some keywords in search bars. Based on those searches, Google will display the result on the most relevant keyword search term. Using this tool, you can key in your primary keywords and tool will give you a list of suggested keywords. The best part is, there is an estimated search volume beside each suggested keyword. That way, you get to know which keywords will bring the most traffic.
Using these techniques will speed up your Drupal website and might improve your ranking with Google. These techniques work very well with anonymous traffic but for authenticated users. Most of them apply to Drupal 6 and Drupal 7 versions. Google always comes up with the latest algorithm updates; therefore, site owners need to ensure installing modules that keep an eye on keyword trends and organic traffic. Believe me, these techniques will definitely turn your Drupal website into a fully-optimized store.