Article by Orange County SEO Expert Steve Wiideman, author of the SEO Ebook The Four Layers of the SEO Model: How to Rank Higher in the Search Engines. Read below to see how I got lucky.

I thought I really had something going with this Xoops CMS and the Sim Suin simplified_url hack. Until it didn't work with two other sites I had created. Now I'm worried about the affectiveness of SEO as it relates to CMS.

Don't get me wrong, you can still rank high in the search engines though quality link development, but for an organic SEO standpoint, I don't think CMS usage is very affective.

Here are a few of reasons to back this claim:

1. CMS does not allow you to create unique URLs containing the keywords targeted. Filenames end with module_name+some_digit.htm

2. CMS has longer load time and becomes unstable with too many hits

3. The META parses out any words under 4 characters long (thanks Smarty)

Moreover, I used the exact same strategy developed for this site when I designed the identity theft protection site for ID Guard Dogs and the poker player directory Poker Faces USA. If I don't see an improvement in ranking, I think we'll have to go back to static interfaces for both of these websites.

I'm still relatively new to CMS use. Let me know what you think the above. If you're an SEO savvy with Xoops, send me your suggestions and I'll give you a free copy of my ebook.

Thanks,
Steve