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.