As with any web application, search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial to ensure that your Drupal website ranks well in search engine results pages (SERPs) and drives traffic to your site. In this article, we will explore some of the best SEO practices you should follow when building a web application using Drupal.
Use SEO-Friendly URLs
In addition to clean URLs, it is important to use SEO-friendly URLs that contain keywords related to the content of the page. Drupal allows you to customise URLs for your web pages, so be sure to use descriptive URLs that are easy to read and understand. You can use pathauto module to auto generate SEO-Friendly URLs for the content based on defined patterns.
Optimise Your Content
Content is king when it comes to SEO, and Drupal makes it easy to create and optimise content for your website. Use keywords related to your business or industry in your content, and make sure that your content is informative, engaging, and easy to read. Effective use of taxonomies not just help in organising the content but also makes in SEO-Friendly.
Use Meta Tags
Meta tags provide information about your web pages to search engines and social media platforms. Drupal allows you to add meta tags to your web pages, including meta titles, meta descriptions, and meta keywords using metatag module. Be sure to use descriptive and accurate meta tags that accurately reflect the content of your web pages.
Use Alt Tags for Images
Images can significantly impact the performance of your web pages, and they are also an important aspect of SEO. Drupal allows you to add alt tags to images, which provide descriptions of the image to search engines. Be sure to use descriptive alt tags that accurately reflect the content of the image.
Use XML Sitemaps
XML sitemaps provide search engines with a map of your website, including all of the pages, images, and other content on your site. Drupal allows you to create XML sitemaps for your website, which can help search engines crawl and index your site more effectively.
Use Canonical URLs
Canonical URLs are URLs that are used to identify the preferred version of a web page when multiple versions of the same page exist. Drupal allows you to specify canonical URLs for your web pages, which can help prevent duplicate content issues and improve your SEO.
Optimise Your Page Speed
Page speed is an important ranking factor for search engines, and it is also important for user experience. Drupal allows you to optimise your page speed by using caching, compressing files, and minimising HTTP requests. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas where you can improve your page speed.
Use Social Sharing Buttons
Social media can be a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website and improving your SEO. Drupal allows you to add social sharing buttons to your web pages, which can make it easy for users to share your content on social media platforms.
Monitor Your Analytics
Finally, it is important to monitor your website analytics to track your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement. Drupal allows you to integrate with analytics tools like Google Analytics, which can provide valuable insights into your website’s traffic, engagement, and performance.