If you have non-web developers maintaining your site’s content, update the content more than once a month, manage it from remote locations or run a blog on your site, then a Content Management System (CMS) is a wise decision for your site. When choosing your site’s CMS it is important to make sure that it will be search-engine friendly. Here are some critical key points, addressed in an article on Search Engine Land, to look for when purchasing your next CMS platform:

Title, Header, and Meta Tag Customization

Make sure that you have control over customizing titles, H1 headings and meta descriptions. Not only do you want to access over these basic page elements, but also make sure that you can enable rules for particular sections of the website.

Alt Attributes

It is important to tell search engines what an image is about, so make sure you have the ability to implement the alt attribute within the site’s image tags.

Anchor Text Flexibility

To ensure your site is optimized, as well as search-friendly, make sure you are able to customize the anchor text

Nofollow, Noindex

To avoid duplicate content, it is important that your CMS supports Nofollow, Noindex tags.

Avoid Hidden Text

Many CMS platforms use CSS “display:none” to create expandable webpage elements such as a drop-down menu. Search engines could possibly misinterpret your hidden text as a spammer. Make sure your CMS avoids hidden text issues so you do not lose your page rank.

301-Redirects

For expired content, pages with a new version, or dodging keyword cannibalization issues, 301 redirects are necessary. A critical feature of your CMS is the functionality for redirecting content whenever necessary.

Keyword-Rich URLs & URL structure

To help solve a common SEO issue, your CMS platform should feature custom URL creation to implement static, keyword-rich URLs. Also, be sure your CMS allows customizable URL structure, as your SEO team should manually sculpt the URL structure of your site, not your CMS platform.

There are many crucial elements your CMS should deliver, these are just some of the most influential on-page and site-side SEO factors. From an SEO perspective, review your current CMS as soon as possible. Or, if you’re looking for a new platform remember these critical factors when deciding if your new CMS will be SEO friendly.  The decision to purchase a search-friendly CMS during the development cycle can reduce future customization costs many eTailers run into when trying to execute and manage a results-oriented SEO campaign.

Now, more individuals than ever before, are participating in the blogging community. As social media networks are rising in popularity, retailers must recognize the importance of connecting with these communities. These groups of bloggers help to create the content of these brands, and in a sense contribute to the future of their image. As a retail business, it is necessary to effectively get engaged with the bloggers, by listening to what they have to say. From adult to youth bloggers, many different aspects can be touched about your business than can help you fine-tune and alter your business practices. At the same time, many aspects may be touched about your business that either are not true or you don’t want portrayed to the online community.

It is important to participate in ongoing dialogues, to help generate good content and a trusted image amongst consumers. Through these you can create a larger conversation to extend the content, especially if it is of good quality, or even to steer it in a positive direction. By keeping customers updated on the latest online or in-store promos, special events, or campaigns through your blog, you can really make money off of creating a retail blog. You take that further step in reaching a whole community of bloggers and you really can increase online exposure and build raptor with your customers. Use your blog to discuss retail trends, marketing ideas, merchandising tips, and other facets of your business or industry to help promote and strengthen your brand.

As a retail business, you want to make sure the content is good and effective, so being proactive in the blogging community is a must. What others say about your brand impacts your business more than what you say about your brand; especially in user generated content circles. You want people to promote your business by blogging about you, your products, and your company without the common sales pitch. While, most retail businesses don’t have the time to comment on blogs and write articles you can find new media and social marketing companies that can integrate these techniques into your online retail marketing practices. These tactics will help deliver traffic to your website as your retail blog will serve as a communication engine, pumping out content to receive higher search engine rankings. It isn’t easy enough for the average, non-tech business owner through, or their staff, so it is best to hand this task over to a company who has the tools to help drive online success for your business.

What are your plans for protecting your online business during the current economic slowdown? According to Internet News, many online retailers are putting customer retention at the top of their priorities in hopes to survive the recession. But the question is how exactly are they going to change their business strategies to retain more customers and at the same time use a cost-effective approach? A new study from Shop.org, an online retailing industry group, found that more and more online retailers are turning to social media and other emerging marketing techniques to cut back on costs.

While many retailers are cutting costs, others have found the economic slowdown as an opportunity to increase market share. According to Internet News, almost half of retailers surveyed have no plans to cut back original budgets, while 24 percent will spend more on their online business than planned originally. Companies that plan to spend more will increase investments in areas of search (80%), e-mail marketing (65%) and social media marketing (60%) to help grow their businesses due to the pullback in consumer spending. Four out of five retailers surveyed said that they thought the web is the best suited channel to survive the recession, with one-third claiming the economic downturn has enabled the capture for greater market share.

To help optimize business strategies for retailers, new tools are making their debut in the industry. In order to withstand the recession, online retailers are learning to make smart spending decisions by doing more with less and taking advantage of new, innovative tools and techniques that have made their debut into the industry. New, innovative tools and techniques are launching to help retailers come out of this recession in a positive manner and effectively tap the power of social media, tribes and networks. The current goal for these online retailers right now is to get their hands on these tools to help accelerate sales, better resonate with prospective customers and thrive in a down market.