Book Image

Drupal 6 Search Engine Optimization

By : Ben Finklea
Book Image

Drupal 6 Search Engine Optimization

By: Ben Finklea

Overview of this book

The earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. Despite several advantages, many Drupal sites suffer with poor search engine standings. Perhaps you are aware of the importance of SEO for increasing traffic to your site, but do you know how to apply it to your Drupal site? Here comes the first book about search engine optimization for Drupal sites. This practical, step-by-step guide takes the mystery out of Drupal search engine optimization (SEO) by showing you the tricks of today's top marketing pros to achieve top ranking in the search engines. This isn't a book of Drupal SEO theory ñ it's a practical guide showing you which modules to install, which settings to use, and dozens of the most closely guarded "tricks of the trade" to get your web site optimized, higher in the search engines, and more profitable. With this book and basic Drupal 6 knowledge ñ how to log in, create content, and install modules ñ you can build a perfectly search engine optimized web site. Each chapter uses easy, step-by-step instructions to walk you through the Drupal SEO modules, configurations, and content you will need to increase traffic on your web site. You start by reviewing the modules and tools that you should use to optimize your site, how to set up your analytics, and so on. Each subsequent chapter gives detailed instructions on implementing these features in Drupal. Later chapters cover topics like site organization, A/B testing, and automatic content tagging to maximize SEO and increase the conversion rate of your web site. When you have completed the book, you will have implemented the changes to your site required to rank well in the search engines. If you want to maximize the return on investment of your Drupal 6 web site and gain a significant advantage over competitors who are not using Drupal, then this book is for you. Imagine how great you'll feel when your site is optimized to increase the number of visitors and convert them into paying customers.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Drupal 6 Search Engine Optimization
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
Preface
Drupal SEO Case Study for Acquia Product Launch

Mastering the .htaccess file


There is a server configuration file at the root level of your Drupal 6 site called the .htaccess file. This file is a list of instructions to your web server software, usually Apache. These instructions are very helpful for cleaning up some redirects and otherwise making your site function a bit better for the search engines. In Chapter 1, The Tools You'll Need, we told Google Webmaster Tools that we wanted our site to show up in Google with or without the www in the URL. The .htaccess file allows you to do the same thing directly on your web site. Why are both necessary? In Google's tool, you're only telling Google how you want them to display your URLs; you're not actually changing the URLs on your web site. With the .htaccess file, you're actually affecting how the files are served. This will change how your site is displayed in all search engines.

Note

Hey, why can't I can't see the .htaccess file?

In Unix/Linux Operating Systems, any file that begins with...