SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of getting free Web traffic through organic or natural listings on search engines. There has always been a debate about which content publishing platform is better for SEO . For example, is WordPress better than Joomla? Well, the article you are about to read will attempt to answer this question based on facts and realities rather biased opinions.
Joomla SEO
For new comers Joomla can be a problem when it comes to performing proper on-site optimization. Users often have to use components to do the mass of their SEO work for them. Therefore, the optimization functionality in Joomla can be sometimes confusing. In general, Joomla allows URL rewriting and also enables users to choose between enabling URL suffixes or not. Furthermore, Joomla users can also choose to no index and/or no follow a specific menu item. However, if one is willing to go beyond basic optimization for a Joomla website it is advised that they should be wary of bugs.
WordPress SEO
WordPress SEO is quite easy to use. For example, it is pretty straightforward to characterize a user’s permalinks for specific posts and enable SEF URLs at the same time. Unlike Joomla, using WordPress does not depend on extensions to generate tags for posts. Indeed, users can directly optimize their permalink structure and set appropriate meta data for pages and posts from WordPress. Furthermore, there are some marvelous and highly user-friendly plugins that are available for WordPress which makes it the real hero.
The following compares different aspect of search engine optimization in Joomla and WordPress:
Page Speed
According to regular users, page speed in WordPress and Joomla are very similar. Both platforms have access to plugins and extensions that can assist their respective page speeds for example, by magnifying CSS, JavaScript, and Gzip compression.
Link Structure
URL link structure is good only when the URL is precise. By defining permalinks within a post WordPress makes this less uncomplicated. On the other hand Joomla creates links by using catalogues.
Image Optimization
WordPress is the winner in this category. However, the newer version (2.5x) of Joomla makes it more competitive. Images can be added comfortably as well as alt tags and image titles in both WordPress and Joomla. However, just shades it. By using the SEO-Friendly Images plugin all the aforementioned features can be executed automatically in WordPress.
Internal Linking
According to experts the success of SEO is attached to linking structures. Again WordPress is the winner here because it is easy to make internal links with it and this ease is increased by the use of plugins. In Joomla, a relative link is required by the user for each page.
Custom 404 Pages
Joomla creates a problem here as it is very hard to redirect to a custom 404 page using Joomla. Conversely it is feasible with WordPress with a little bit of code modification.
Below are a few of my favorite SEO plugins and extensions:
Examples of some splendid WordPress Plugins:
- WordPress SEO by Yoast
- All-in-One SEO
- SEO Friendly Images
- 404 Simple Redirect
Examples of some equally splendid Joomla Extensions:
- SH404SEF
- SEO Boss
- One interface
- Xmap