Without customizing the open source CMS powerhouse Joomla is a powerful and customizable application that you can use for just about any web project you have. The core code of Joomla and easy to use administration infrastructure allows you to build together complex websites without having to really dive into any PHP code. This is why Joomla has become one of the most popular open source content management systems in the entire world.

But one thing it lacks out of the box is it’s ability to be fully SEO optimal. Thanks to the Open Source community around Joomla, there are several plugins that are also open source that you can install to give your Joomla powered website the SEO abilities it needs. If you host Joomla on Bluehost then you will have no problem installing and configuring the plugins necessary for SEO. Here are the 5 most effective SEO plugins for the Joomla CMS.

1. SEOSimple
Simply put, this extension auto generates meta tags for each page on your Joomla website. It also gives you the ability to manually customize your meta tags on each specific page within your site so that you can get the most from your page title and meta descriptions. Since the page title is on of the more important elements of SEO, this plugin is a must as is the ability to customize these page titles throughout your site.
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/4102/details

2. Joomap
Ever heard of an XML Sitemap? I’m sure you have. It’s what search engines, mainly Google need in order to comprehend the entire structure of your website and to be able to crawl through all of your content. The Joomap plugin for Joomla auto creates these sitemaps for you on a regular basis so you don’t have to create them yourself. This way you can save time and ensure that all of your content is being crawled and indexed.
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/202/details

3. Joomla SEF Component
By default Joomla does not create search engine friendly URL’s. So a typical Joomla install may give you a URL like yourwebsite.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=3&Itemid=41. See the issue with this? This plugin will allow you to change this URL to something like yourwebsite.com/about-us or something of your choosing. This is a critical element to SEO and this plugin takes care of it for you.
http://www.artio.net/en/joomla-extensions/joomla-seo-sef-component-artio-joomsef

4. J!Redirect 301
This extension very easily gives you the functionality for managing all of your 301 redirects from the Joomla admin screen. So if you have old pages that you have deleted, or other domains that you want to point to your website, this plugin will help you manage all of that. This is specifically helpful to those who are not comfortable editing a .htacess file on their own.
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/structure-&-navigation/url-redirection/7996/details

There you have it. Use these plugins and you will be able to get your Joomla website up to the top of the organic search rankings along with the great content your are producing. If you are still in need of hosting for your Joomla project, check out this Bluehost review resource for information on how Bluehost is best suited for Joomla powered websites.

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Tags: joomla

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 7:46 pm and is filed under SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.