How to optimize ExpressionEngine for SEO?

@domenico.weimann 

Optimizing ExpressionEngine for SEO involves several steps to ensure that your content is search-engine friendly. Here are some key strategies you can implement:

1. SEO-Friendly URLs: Use ExpressionEngine’s URL structure capabilities to create clean, descriptive, and keyword-rich URLs. Ensure that your URLs are concise and relevant to the content of the page.
2. Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: Customize your title tags and meta descriptions for every page using the ‘SEO Lite’ or ‘SEEO’ add-ons. Ensure your titles and descriptions contain relevant keywords and are compelling enough to improve click-through rates.
3. Heading Tags: Make use of heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) to structure your content and emphasize important sections. Only use one H1 tag per page.
4. Content Optimization: Write high-quality, original content that provides value to your audience. Naturally integrate keywords without keyword stuffing. Use image alt text to describe images meaningfully and include relevant keywords when appropriate.
5. Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure that your ExpressionEngine site is fully responsive to mobile devices. Use responsive design templates to provide a seamless experience across all devices.
6. Page Speed: Optimize your site’s loading times as speed is a critical ranking factor. Utilize caching mechanisms and consider a content delivery network (CDN) to improve performance. Compress images, minimize CSS and JavaScript files, and leverage browser caching.
7. XML Sitemaps: Use an XML sitemap to help search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently. Add-ons like ‘SEO Lite’ or other sitemap-generating tools can help automate this process.
8. 301 Redirects: Implement 301 redirects for any old or broken URLs to preserve link equity and guide users and search engines to the correct pages.
9. Internal Linking: Enhance your internal linking structure to spread link equity throughout the site and help search engines understand the hierarchy and context of your pages.
10. Schema Markup: Use structured data (schema markup) to help search engines better understand the content on your pages and potentially improve how your pages are displayed in search results.
11. Social Media Integration: Integrate social media sharing buttons to encourage users to share your content, which can indirectly benefit SEO through increased exposure and links.
12. Regular Audits and Monitoring: Conduct regular SEO audits to identify issues and opportunities for improvement. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor traffic, search queries, and any crawl errors.

By following these guidelines, you can enhance the SEO of your ExpressionEngine-based site and improve its visibility on search engines.