We are intensively involved in search engine optimization (SEO) and using the Joomla CMS to achieve SEO, and we will talk with anyone who will listen about the fine points of good coding for SEO.

But something occurred to me this morning: I can't stress enough that two or three basic features of the Joomla CMS make SEO, especially the ongoing management of SEO, much, much smoother 

than ordinary websites using flat HTML pages.

The first feature is SEF (search engine friendly) URLs - which are native to the most recent version of the Joomla CMS. This tends to be the feature that most people think of and talk about, because it gets rid of the page addresses that are computer gobbledygook (index.php?option= etc etc) and gives you something human readable. The great thing about Joomla is that non-technical staff can make adjustments to those SEF page addresses easily using the administrative backend.

The second feature is that staff can also use the administrative backend to create and update descriptions and keywords for each page on the site. It seems like such a little thing -- and yet SEO is all about fine-tuning, and so ease-of-use can make the difference between the fine-tuning happening and not happening!

And the third feature -- how's this for obvious? -- is the ease of editing the page content itself. Anyone who has done SEO knows that it's not a one-time fix -- it's an ongoing process. When the going gets tough -- the 17th time you go back in to tweak your page content -- you'll be really glad that you have a system that's a joy to work with!

Aren't some or all of these features available in other content management systems as well? Sure, to some extent. The real proof is in test-driving a CMS and seeing for yourself how easy it is to use. So find the CMS that's right for you and get to work SEOing your web content today!

There are lots more blog posts on the Joomla Chicago website about Joomla and SEO.

And here are some blog posts about the whole array of Joomla features.