Are you about to design a website and expecting it to create a massive impact, from the moment it embarks on the market? Well, it is not that easy. Yes, creating a website is not just about designing it so that it can attract the potential consumers. The search engine needs to crawl and index your website too. At the same time, the URL must let the users know what the website is all about even before they click on it. Such a URL can contribute to increase click-through rates. Ever since the version 1.5 Joomla came into existence, it could create and parse URLs in any format, including SEF URLs. The SEF URLs are known for following a fixed pattern every time. This pattern helps the user to define the short descriptive text for every segment of the URL.

The local part of the search engine friendly (SEF) URL, or the one that just comes after the domain name is called route. So, if you are creating and processing SEF URL, then it will be called routing.

For example, we can use the “Welcome to Joomla” subject in the sample data.

Without turning on the SEF URLs mode, the URL is http://www.example.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:welcome-to-joomla&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

With SEF URLs on and mod_rewrite off, it’s http://www.example.com/index.php/the-­news/1-­latest­-news/1­-welcome­-to­-Joomla

With both Search Engine Friendly URLs and mod_rewrite on, it’s http://www.example.com/the-­news/1­-latest-­news/1-­welcome-­to­-joomla

Now, let’s talk about the questions that frequently come to your mind when you think about developing a website with a SEF URL on Joomla. Take a look at the following FAQs.

What Does the Number in the URL Stand For?

To understand this, let’s compare the old URL with the new one, http://www.example.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:welcome-to-joomla&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

And,

http://www.example.com/the-­news/1­-latest-­news/1-­welcome-­to­-joomla

The numbers in the URLs are the parameters that let Joomla get the internal URL, and show you the page that you are looking for. If you see the examples, then you will understand that the first numeral is for category and the second one is for the article.

Can I delete a File Now, When There is No Index.php?

No, you cannot. Though the URL doesn’t contain the index.PHP, yet, internally the mod_rewrite will redirect you to the original page that you are looking for without showing the path anymore.

What is Alias Value and How to Create It?

Alias is the path that is listed just under the Title Field in Articles, Categories, Section and Menu Items. Joomla will automatically create the Alias value for you. It starts with a title in lower case. The special characters will change into dashes in the URL automatically.

How to Specify Own Value for Alias?

If you don’t really like the Alias that Joomla is creating for you, do it yourself. Often, according to many experts, the well-researched keywords in the URL helps in search engine optimization. Hence, you can easily use the keywords in the title to specify your own value for Alias in Joomla.

How Does Alias Get Used in the URL?

Joomla uses the Alias as the URL slug. For example, while creating SEF URL you can create a menu called product. The URL will be example.com/product. Using the primary key value of details within the URL, Joomla helps the router to land on the correct page. Let’s continue with the earlier example for better understanding. If your menu was for a Category Blog/Article, then the URL for the Read More or the Article Title would have 3 parts:

• The menu item URL – example.com/products;
• Plus, the primary key for the Category and the Category alias – 32-color;
• Plus, the primary key for the Article and the Article alias – 1-white;

The complete URL is: http://example.com/products/32-fruit/1-white

How to Get Rid of the Number from the SEF URL?

Initially, the numbers in the URL will guide the Joomla router to get the traffic to the site. Once the router logic gets stabilized, simple third-party system plugin can be developed to augment the router‘s capabilities by allowing more choices. That will remove the numbers form the URL.

So, now as you know about these FAQs, you can start working on the SEF URL. If you face any difficulties or want to hire a professional, then come to us at www.brainiuminfotech.com | www.hireoutsourcingteam.com or drop us a mail at sales@brainiuminfotech.com | info@brainiuminfotech.com and be rest assured, your website development is in safe hands.