You’ve probably heard the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a lot—and how it helps your content reach more people online. But if you’re not exactly sure what terms like meta tags, XML sitemaps, or SEO titles actually mean, you’re not alone.
Let's break down these essential SEO terms and concepts into clear, understandable language—so you can confidently optimize your site content and drive more visitors to your site.
By the end of this tutorial, you should have a solid understanding of SEO fundamentals that will enable you to make informed decisions when setting up or using SEO-related tools in Drupal CMS—such as Real-time SEO, SEO Checklist, or the Metatag module.
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Learn about key SEO concepts and terminology so you can confidently set up and use SEO-related features in Drupal CMS.
Back to topWhat exactly is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It means adjusting your website content and structure so your pages show up more prominently when people search on platforms like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo.
Good SEO helps your website to:
- Increase visibility – so more people discover your website.
- Reach the right audience – attract visitors who are genuinely interested.
- Enhance brand credibility – appearing prominently in searches gives your brand authority.
Here’s an overview of some key SEO terms you’ll encounter when working with Drupal CMS.
Back to topMeta tags
Meta tags are special HTML tags that describe the content of a web page. Meta tags help search engines understand and categorize your content, ensuring it reaches the right audience. Search engines use metadata – information about a page or site – contained in meta tags to categorize and rank content in their result displays. People encounter meta data such as a title or short description as shown in a search result or social media post.
Here are some examples of meta tags:
- The SEO Title, a clickable headline shown in search results, is contained in the title meta tag. For example:
<title>Explore Premier Oregon Wine Tours | Oregon Wine Tours</title>
- The SEO Description, a short, engaging summary that appears under the SEO title on search results pages, is contained in the meta description tag. For example:
<meta name="description" content="Join our curated Oregon wine tours and savor the finest local vintages. Experience intimate tastings, vineyard strolls, and learn about wine-making from passionate experts.">
- Social Media Tags define which images or descriptions social platforms should use when people share your page. Open Graph (prefixed with
og:) and Twitter (prefixed withtwitter:) meta tags are used by social media platforms to display previews of links shared on social media. For example:<meta property="og:site_name" content="Oregon Wine Tours">
In Drupal CMS, meta tags are added to the pages of your site when you create or edit content. No coding skills required.
Back to topKeywords
Keywords are the words or phrases people type into search engines when looking for content. The good news is that you no longer need to worry about stuffing keywords into meta tags—a practice that was once common, but is now outdated and discouraged.
Drupal CMS helps you focus on something far more important: creating engaging, well-structured content that naturally includes the topic and words that your visitors actually use when searching.
With Drupal CMS, the Real-time SEO add-on provides an SEO analysis section on content editing pages. This includes a field called Focus keyword. This field isn't for adding hidden keywords—it's a tool that lets you instantly check how well your current content matches the words or phrases your audience might search for.
Learn more about Real-time SEO analysis in this tutorial.
Back to topSitemap
A sitemap is an outline of important pages on your site with links. Sitemaps help users and search engines find and index your content. The HTML Sitemap and Simple XML Sitemap settings in Drupal CMS enables you to configure how your sitemaps are generated and updated.
Learn more about installing SEO Tools in this tutorial.
Back to topSchema.org and Schema Metatag module
Schema.org provides a shared vocabulary that search engines use to understand your content better. By adding Schema.org markup—also called structured data—to your website, you help search engines display rich results, like star ratings, event dates, or recipe details, directly in search listings. This can improve visibility and click-through rates.
The Schema Metatag module works alongside the Metatag module to add structured data to your site using JSON-LD, a format recommended by search engines. This structured data helps search engines understand your content type—like articles, events, products, or organizations—so they can display it as rich results in search listings.
You’ll encounter references to Schema.org and the Schema Metatag module in the SEO Checklist, installed by the SEO Tools add-on. You can add structured data that is compliant with Schema.org recommendations through the SEO Checklist.
Learn more about using SEO Checklist in this tutorial.
Back to topURL aliases (clean URLs)
URL aliases, also known as clean URLs, are web addresses that contain keywords that describe the content of the page. They're friendlier to both users and search engines because they contain keywords that potentially match words people use to find content. If the URL alias of content is updated, a redirect is created for the old alias to the current alias.
- 👍 SEO-friendly URL: yoursite.com/easy-vegan-recipes
- 👎 Generic URL: yoursite.com/node/14258
Drupal CMS automatically creates clean URLs for you based on the title of your content—so you don't have to worry about it.
Back to topWhy good SEO matters for your site
Optimizing your site using SEO might sound daunting at first—but it's one of the best ways to grow your audience. Good SEO helps your content get seen by more people, improves your site's authority, and increases the likelihood of reaching your goals—whether that's selling products, gaining subscribers, or simply increasing readership.
Drupal CMS's SEO Tools recommended add-on provides additional tools to help you evaluate and enhance your site's search engine optimization.
Back to topNext
Now that we've explained the essentials of SEO, learn how to use Drupal CMS's SEO features.
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