The first time I researched Joomla SEO, I had many questions in my mind. And I saw that not only Joomla newbies but also webmasters had the same troubles as me. So I think it's a good idea to make the list of Joomla FAQs related to SEO. It will help you save a lot of time when doing SEO for a Joomla website. And here are ten of the most common FAQs.

1. Has Joomla already got built-in SEO? What can I do with the SEO functionality?

Yes, Joomla already has some SEO functions:

• SEO settings tab in Global Configuration.
• SEO features in menu item: Page Display options tab and Metadata options tab
• Metadata Options in Article Manager

When newbies first install Joomla, the URL rewrite function is disabled. You must enable it by renaming the file htaccess.txt to .htaccess.

With Joomla version 1.5, SEO functionality is simple. You just control the Meta tags of the website or articles, and re-write the URL. With the menu manager, you can't set Meta tags; the Page Heading is not displayed as an H1 tag. But from version 1.7/2.5, there are four more functions: setting aliases for article titles, include site name in page titles, Metadata options for Menu item and displaying the page heading as an H1 heading (visible to search engine).

Default SEO setting in Global Configuration

Insert H1 tag in Joomla 2.5

When you include site name in page titles you can choose the position to place your site name: after or before page titles. What is the difference? With large brands, they often put the site name before a page title to increase Click-Through Rate (CTR). But for lesser known brands or news websites , it's better to put the site name after a page title for maximum SEO value.

For further functionality, you should use Joomla SEO extensions. We've collected all the most useful tools in the article: "Excellent SEO plug-in for Joomla website".

Google Analytics is a highly recommended tool to check and analyze site traffic statistics. Almost all Joomla newbies know that they should install this tool in their Joomla templates but not all of them know the way to do it. JoomlaShine templates can help you to install the code easily. This article will show you how to do the Google Analytics integration with JoomlaShine templates. Just follow the instructions; you can do it in a few minutes.

Why choose JoomlaShine templates

With the default Joomla, you must edit the template's HTML to add Google Analytics code. It's not easy for you to do it successfully if you are a Joomla newbie and know nothing about the HTML code. Most of you must try it at least twice to make the code work. But JoomlaShine templates have a special feature that allows you to install the code without editing the HTML file. And the code will work correctly as soon as you have added it. Have a look at the Analytics feature, and I will guide you step by step to use it with the instructions below.

Google Analytics integration

We have two parts in this process.

• Create Google analytics account and get the code
• Add the code into JoomlaShine templates

Create Google analytics account

Step 1: You must have a Google mail account. If you don't already have one, sign up for free.

Step 2: Visit Google Analytics website, click the "Sign up now". You will be redirected to a new page to login with your Gmail account.

Overview

There are many ways to make money online with Joomla; one of them is by joining a Joomla affiliate program.

You just need to register an account, promote a Joomla product and the money will roll right in. It sounds attractive, right? I know that some of you might want to be an affiliate to make money online. So now, let's get some behind-the-screen secrets revealed.

Make money online with a Joomla affiliate program

Currently, the number of templates designed for Joomla gallery websites has increased significantly in the market. Considering this fact, I'd like to share with you some experience in building a photo gallery website from scratch based on version 1.5.

The aim of this article is to help you build a Joomla gallery on version 1.5 in the most cost-effective way. Therefore, I prefer free templates and extensions (under GNU/GPL license). The only cost you have to pay is hiring a hosting service and buying a domain name.

By following the steps below, you can build a Joomla gallery website by yourself.

Uxbridge College website http://www.uxbridge.ac.uk/

The Joomla platform is a great choice for education websites since it is easy to use and highly extensible. Its extensions meet the requirements of this type of website - to present staff profiles, to display organization events and so on. However, choosing suitable free Joomla extensions from the many ones out there is not simple at all.

If you build a website for school, I have a secret for you - I have made a list of useful free Joomla extensions for you. I checked many websites, took a note of useful extension types and chose similar ones on Joomla! Extensions Directory (JED). I also tested them on my local host to make sure they run well.

Let's have a look at them below.

Overview

Joomla Template frameworks for developers

Joomla templates satisfy many Joomla! beginners with designs available to create websites quickly. However, Joomla developers prefer Joomla template frameworks. They love the challenge of customization work, to get worthwhile results – their unique websites.

There are just a few template frameworks in the Joomla market. In this article, I will introduce you to 9 of the most popular Joomla template frameworks with the hope that you will get a general view about them easily.

Let’s start with …

What is a Joomla template framework?

It is a base skeleton template to build Joomla templates with. It means a clean, blank HTML/CSS skeleton with no colors, no gradients, no borders; just dimensions, margins, menu system styling and so on. Yes, all possible elements to express your coding knowledge and design talent.

Now, you can explore available Joomla template frameworks.

Joomla Newbie, I’m sure you are going to ask “What the hell is SaaS? Why is it a good start for me?” And I assure that you will be interested in the things I’m about to say, just as many of my clients were before.

SaaS is short for Software as a Service, sometimes referred to as “on-demand software”. That means the software is distributed as a service by some vendor or company over the Internet. To put it simply, service providers will create and maintain the software for you when you hire them.

So what is Joomla SaaS?

Joomla - proudly known as an award-winning content management system - is a kind of software used to build websites. We call it Joomla SaaS.

There are Joomla service providers willing to take care of your Joomla! based websites from A to Z. For instance: Cloudaccess.net and SimplWeb.com. These two providers are well-known in the Joomla service market. Apart from CloudAccess and SimplWeb, you can find some other Joomla SaaS providers on the Internet such as 040hosting.eu.

Let me clarify a little bit about them for you.

CloudAccess

CloudAccess is the official host of the Joomla! Demo site. Users can take the opportunity to experience Joomla on their network with free hosting provided by CloudAccess for 30 days. If you want to test your new website or simply learn more about Joomla, get access to the Joomla! Demo site and make use of CloudAccess's benefits.

I have bumped into many problems while getting acquainted with Joomla so I have collected these 10 most popular Joomla FAQs with the hope that you - Joomla newbies - will learn it faster and easier.

Here they are:

1. What is the difference between a template and an extension? 2. Should I use Joomla 1.5/1.7 to build my website? 3. If I switch to use another Joomla template, will the current information be lost? 4. How to edit Joomla templates? 5. How to place an internal link into an article? 6. How to remove article directories? 7. How to get videos to play on my Joomla website? 8. How to remove or change the "Welcome to the FrontPage" title? 9. Where to get Joomla templates and Joomla extensions? 10. Which books do I need to learn more about Joomla?

If you are interested in them, let's get more details:

If you use Joomla to build websites, the question “Which Joomla extensions should all websites not be without?” must come to mind, at least once. That is the reason why there are plenty of articles with the key phrase “Must-have Joomla extensions” on the Internet.

Each article has its own list of essential extensions based on the author’s experience and here you are going to see another list that helps you build solid websites.

One of the things I love about Joomla! is that it has a vibrant community all over the world. Members of a Joomla community, regardless of whether they are experts or amateurs, are ready to help us solve any Joomla-related issues and build a joyful, constructive environment for Joomla! users to get involved in.

In this article, I will show you some of the most well-known Joomla Community Websites and Joomla User Groups in different countries. If you are a Joomla! newbie, these groups will be the fastest way to get advice and gain frequently updated knowledge about Joomla.

The following are selected Joomla! Community Websites that you should know:

“What is Joomla?” , “Learning Joomla, is it hard?”, “Mastering Joomla, how long does it take?” – They seem to be FAQs of all Joomla users, at whatever stage – Beginners, beginner plus or advanced users. How do you get them answered?

Hootsuite Dashboard of Joomlashine screenshot

"TweetDeck, CoTweet, Seesmic… - Which Social Media Dashboard should I choose?" If you are a Twitter user and want to manage your account efficiently, this question might not seem strange to you. Even though, it can not be answered easily since each software has its own advantages. We did a research on popular Social Media Dashboards, finally choosing HootSuite because of its rich, easy–to–use yet powerful managing features. Let's see how the software with a cute owl mascot can surprise you, too:

You might not know about Joomla! Days although you have used the CMS for long time. It is a pity if you miss such a cool event of the Joomla! world.

This article will give you information about Joomla! Days in 2011. Probably you will join the events this year and see something different.

First of all, you'd better know what Joomla! Day is, so...

Here comes Joomla 1.6 then 1.7

After three years in development, the next generation of Joomla – Joomla 1.7 has been released. As it has a short lifespan (6 months) before the release of version 1.8, there are many arguments for and against it Whatever group you are in, it is undeniable that Joomla 1.7 has some big improvements - wihich come from community inspiration.

Even though you are using Reddit, Technorati or Facebook to keep informed of Joomla! news, there’s still a lot lacking if you don’t use Twitter – A extremely popular social networking space that always allows you to update  the latest news fastest in the shortest time.