Search Engine Optimization
Drupal is a search engine friendly content management system. I install basic SEO modules like pathauto (clean URLs), and Global redirect with all my websites. I also configure Drupal to be search engine friendly. Here are some additional things that can be done to improve your rankings above your competition.
Update Drupal core and contributed modules
Running the latest Drupal modules is like having a car that just received a tune up. For a website like the one you have once a year is fine. Search engines favor websites running the most recent modules.
Google Webmaster tools
This lets you know how Google indexes your website. Where you rank for keyword searches, what keywords are used most in your website, and how your XML site map is indexed. This can be added on to your current Gmail account or I can create you a new one.
Fore more information go to: www.google.com/webmasters
Google Analytics
This tracks visitors on your website, what pages they viewed, how they got there, and so much more. This can be added on to your current Gmail account or I can create you a new one.
For more information: www.google.com/analytics/
XML sitemap generator module
Creates XML sitemaps of your website and sends them to search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask.com. The XML site map is dynamic in a way when you add new post (blog, product, event, whatever) to your website the sitemap is updated. That new entry then resubmitted and indexed my search engines. For how little time it takes to install and configure this module it does a lot of work.
Site verify module
This module allows you to set up a verification with individual search engines. The better your relationship is with search engines and directories are the better you will rank. Site verify jumps through the hoops set out like verifying that you are who you say you are. Works with Google, Bing (MSN) , Yahoo,Ask.com, and more.
Page title module
This gives you control over your page titles that are displayed at the top of your web browser. The default page name scheme for your website pages are: “page-name | site-name”.
For example your packages page would have a page title of: Packages | Chile - Patagonia. View image below.
The Page Title module adds functionality to enable you to customize it so it’s something like:
“Fly fishing packages, Mobile Camp Adventure, Exploratory adventure | Rio Palena, Chile - Patagonia”
Search engines value keywords differently depending on the tag they are in. The Page Title tag is the most important tag in your website telling search engines about your website‘s page that was indexed.
Sitemap module
Dynamically creates your website site map. The difference between this module and XML sitemap generator is that the XML sitemap generator generates sitemaps in a machine readable format for search engines and directories. Sitemap module generates sitemaps for human readers. The Sitemap module is also dynamic in whenever you add content to your website the module adds the content to your site map.
Node words module
Lets you add meta tags to content in your website. Meta tags talk to search engines telling them information about your website. * note Google doesn’t use meta tags, but other search engines like Yahoo, Bing (MSN), and so on do read meta tags.
