Using Content Management Systems
Not very long ago, if you said content management system (CMS) and SEO in the same sentence,
you’d probably draw an audible gasp from the SEO experts in the audience. That’s because, in the
past, content management systems had a way of demolishing all of the advantages of SEO.Most of the problem was that content management systems created pages that contained long URLs
with multiple variables that blocked search crawlers from crawling the pages. That’s not the case
today. CMS providers have fixed that problem and increased the usability of those systems for the
express purpose of improving or maintaining SEO.Content is the backbone of the Internet. The Internet was created as a way to share information, so
it only makes sense that content is an integral part of the structure of the Web. Using a content man-
agement system can help you remain an active part of the Web, because it will help you to generate
the content that you need to attract the customers you would like to have.Content management systems are usually used in a situation where your content is coming from
many different sources. For example, if you run a web site that contains a blog to which several
people contribute, then adding a content management system can help you maintain control over
that group of content providers. It can also help strengthen your web-site structure by automati-
cally structuring your links and providing the templates on which your content will appear.One more redefined capability of CMS is the application’s ability to improve your content in terms
of SEO. The latest CMS systems can create keyword-rich content and include SEO-appropriate titles,
meta tags, and anchor text.Including a CMS system in your SEO efforts is not a bad idea these days. If you have a site that gen-
erates a lot of content by a lot of people, a CMS system might be the application that helps make the
content side of your SEO efforts successful.SEO Problems and Solutions
There is no doubt that no matter how smoothly your SEO implementation goes, eventually you’ll
run into problems. Most of them won’t be major. They’ll be problems like having out-of-date key-
words or meta tags. But you can also have a few major problems with your SEO implementation.You’ve been banned!
Probably the most worrisome of issues you could encounter is being banned from a search engine,
Google specifically. If you depend on your search ranking to keep you in customers and sales, being
banned from a search engine is a frightening prospect. Even a single day without search engine visi-
bility can cost your company big, not only monetarily but also in terms of customer loyalty.268
Part IV Maintaining SEO
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