Steve’s Blog

Interview with Yannick Gaultier from sh404SEF

sh404SEFThose of you who read this blog regularly know how highly I think of sh404SEF.

Those of you who don’t … its a great SEO tool, one of the most actively developed Joomla components available, costs $0, and has great support from its developer.

I’m delighted then to have the chance to talk with Yannick Gaultier whos runs the sh404SEF project.

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SEO Comparison of Joomla 1.0 and 1.5

After the big chart earlier this week comparing the Search Engine Friendly URL Components for Joomla, I wanted to take a similar approach and compare the SEO features of Joomla 1.0 and 1.5.

What’s On the Chart? 

On the chart is a rundown of all the key on-page SEO factors. We can’t help you when it comes to building links or writing articles people want to read, but we can advise on the technical stuff.

Who May Find This Useful

Hopefully this chart will help people who:

  • are thinking about upgrading to 1.5
  • want an easy reference chart for SEO improvements in 1.0 or 1.5

The Small Print

  • The factors are heavily based on SEOMoz’s Google Search Engine Ranking Factors because it does a good job of combining the wisdom of many experts.
  • The list is more-or-less in the order of importance given by the SEOMoz team. Page titles are much important than duplicate content for example.
  • The Joomla 1.0 codebase has been around for at least 3/4 years, whereas 1.5 is still Release Candidate. Of course it has less available extensions.
  • Some important on-page SEO factors have been left out, notable keywords in body text, bold print and h2 or h3 titles. This is because they can just be done with any WYSIWYG editor.
  • I’m sure that plugins will emerge to cover all the current holes in 1.5. Give it time. However, if SEO is really important to you and thinking that you should wait before using 1.5 … you’re right.

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New SEO Component Coming for Joomla 1.5

Joomlatwork New SEF ComponentJoomla 1.5 is definitely going to bring some SEO benefits in the core, including better URLs and no-follow on some key links such as PDFs.

However, the mantra of the Joomla core for 1.5 is simplicity. Those of you who have been testing the Release Candidates have seen that fewer options are available and in a much clearer, easier-to-understand layout.

This means that for more complex SEO efforts we’ll still be relying on extra components. The first one out of the block is likely to be from Richard of Joomlatwork.com, who developed the SEF Patch and who used to be on the OpenSEF team.

In the fine tradition of OpenSEF, Richard has revealed that the component won’t simply produce Search Engine Friendly URLs, but will be a multi-purpose SEO machine:

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Complete SEF URL Extension Comparison

SEF URL Extension ComparisonWe’ve long talked about how important it is to use a Search Engine Friendly URL component with Joomla. The best ones don’t just create human-readable addresses but also help your site in many other areas of SEO.

Trouble is, the wealth of different components means that its easy to get confused. Which one should I use? Should I pay? Should I use a free component?

Hopefully, these two charts will provide a complete comparison guide for the main five SEF URL components.

  • Chart 1: What features does the component have?
  • Chart 2: What other extensions does the component work with?

Please note:

  • all five are being actively developed and there may be some mistakes / omissions. Please post any that you find in the comments below
  • Open SEF and Remosef are not included because they are not actively supported
  • More features does not always equal better. For some people, simpler may well be better
  • Performance can be an issue. Some components run more quickly than others, especially on large sites. However, because of the difficulty of providing a fair comparison, it is not included as a factor here.

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Joomla SEO Club

 

important

Important news: the Joomla SEO Club has closed.

Why? The short version is that we started a spin-off at the OSTraining.com and that site has grown much larger than Alledia.com. The long version is available in this blog post.

What does this mean if I’m a member? We’re aim to make the move more than worth your while. All Joomla SEO Club will get access to OSTraining.com. At OSTraining.com you will find the same people and the same information but much more of both. To claim your access, simply login to this site and follow the instructions.

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Our New Joomla SEO Club Launches!

SEO isn’t affordable for most people.

Most Joomla users don’t have deep pockets and spending $1000 or more for a complete site overhaul often isn’t justified. Sure, you’d like your small business or hobby site to rank better but are you going to make that much money back?

What if SEO was available for the same price as a template or a component? What if someone delivered Joomla SEO with same high-quality, low-price attitude that people love to find in Joomla template clubs and extension developers?

We’re delighted to announce that affordable, professional SEO advice is here: the Joomla SEO Club.

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