Magic SEO URL vs Ultimate SEO URL vs SEO_G

[kuroi]

How about me doing some SHAMELESS self advertising

I think that doing shameless self-advertising of this nature is scandalous. So let me do it for you ...

I've used Magic SEO URLs for a client, tried unsuccessful to use Ultimate SEO URL for another and have tested Simple SEO, though have yet to use it in anger. But if asked by a client which I would recommend, I'd say Simple SEO.

Ultimate SEO URLs is well-constructed but was released as a Beta and the author hasn't been supporting it or moving it to a stable release for quite some time.

Magic SEO URLs has a nice installation, and good installation support, but if it just doesn't quite do what you were expecting or think it should, you may find yourself on your own, and it's closed source, so it's take it or leave it.

Simple SEO is well structured code that doesn't interfere with core code (only one file over-written), does what it says on the can (at least on the Linux boxes that are all we use), is under active development and is so open that the author allows you to peer into his repository, so that you can get the very latest fixes. I'm looking forward to having a live project upon which I give it a run out.

[fergusmacdonald]

OK...so a few fans of Simple SEO - i will check it out. As i've never had problems with Ultimate SEO - are their actually benefits of switching to Simple SEO?

Does Simple SEO take into account the problems of duplicate content that Ultimate SEO has?

Also, does anyone know if these actually improve their search rankings?

Thanks.

[Mike_Dean]

Also, does anyone know if these actually improve their search rankings?

Thanks.

That to me.. is probably the most important question..

Is there any quantified data that suggests that any of these packages actually contribute to better rankings..

(Forgive the links, these are definately not meant to be self promotion, merely an example.

I have a number of products that have organically made it to page 1 on Google

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...cr%3DcountryAU

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...cr%3DcountryAU

Admitted, there aren't that many pages, but page 1 is still very impressive.

Yet other products are buried down in page "who gives hoot".
Yes these products are more popular so they will obviously be harder to rank higher, but even this one,
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=sa...&start=40&sa=N

Yes, who goes to Page 5 ??? no one.. but its still position 46 out of 35,700

So again the question, do any of these SEO mods actually produce higher page listings ?

As a side bar to this, I have PHP Version 5.2.4 with MySQL 5.0.45.

I understand some of these SEO mods have issues with PHP5, is that no longer the case, or is it still a case of patch this, add that and re-write the other to get any of them to work ?

[jeking]

Also, does anyone know if these actually improve their search rankings?

There isn't any way to know. There are too many variables in the ranking equation. If the only thing you change is your url structure, there are still many other variables affecting your ranking that are changing too. If your ranking goes up or down, yuo can't say for certain what caused it.

I do think these help but that's my gut feeling, not a fact based arguement.

[BlessIsaacola]

This is just one of many things that can contribute to better ranking. ZC pages without SEO ranks pretty well and actually does a better job of passing links to other pages because of the way the pages are constructed.

We use SEO url mod for other reasons as well like making the urls user friendly. When people see keywords in the url on search result page (it gives them a good idea what they are going to find on that page). ZC also generates duplicate urls (a product can have multiple url depending on how you get to it) which is not good from an seo perspective.

It might be better to take a look at http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52 where a lot of discussions already exists with regards to SEO.

[Mike_Dean]

There isn't any way to know. There are too many variables in the ranking equation. If the only thing you change is your url structure, there are still many other variables affecting your ranking that are changing too. If your ranking goes up or down, yuo can't say for certain what caused it.

I do think these help but that's my gut feeling, not a fact based arguement.

Yes, I understand that SEO is just one piece of a Jigsaw that makes up the big picture, and its the big picture that Google sees.


Thanks,
Mike

[Mike_Dean]

This is just one of many things that can contribute to better ranking. ZC pages without SEO ranks pretty well and actually does a better job of passing links to other pages because of the way the pages are constructed.

We use SEO url mod for other reasons as well like making the urls user friendly. When people see keywords in the url on search result page (it gives them a good idea what they are going to find on that page). ZC also generates duplicate urls (a product can have multiple url depending on how you get to it) which is not good from an seo perspective.

It might be better to take a look at http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52 where a lot of discussions already exists with regards to SEO.

I've read through a few of the threads and the one thing that everyone agrees on, is that no one can agree what works and what doesn't..!! I shall read on.

What I still can't find is the answer as to whether any of the SEO Mods will work on PHP5 with MySQL 5.0.45, as that may put the brakes on my investigations..

[yellow1912]

All should work just fine.

[wtashby]

If I may interject here;

I have been using simple seo for a few months now on my site and have recently achieved a PR of 3. Some people may argue that PR or pagerank doesn't have much to do with search results, but "oh contrair mon frair"! PageRank along with other factors is VERY important, because PageRank tells googles spiders whether or not your site is even worth looking at (anytime in the next century or so). You achieve higher PR by getting other sites with good PR that have similar or relevant content to link to your site (while at the same time avoiding link farms like the plague).

Simple SEO creates urls that are much more user friendly and are actually more search engine friendly as well. They work much faster with GoogleBase and Yahoo Submit, and if your site is fairly new, duplicate url's won't be a big problem. They will simply, fade away. For older sites, it may take longer, but duplicate urls, when changing from a dynamic system to a more static looking, or natural looking system is an unavoidable nuisance, but one that will eventually fade away as well.

Now, with all that said, the MOST important thing is, CONTENT, CONTENT, AND MORE RELEVENT CONTENT! A very hard task to master for retail/wholesale sites that carry general merchandise, but should be a snap for specialty stores.

Here is a link to a page at Google that will help to explain SEO much better than I ever could.

Handy Dandy Link to Google

I hope I've been able to help at least one person. If so, then I feel good.

[Mike_Dean]

If I may interject here;

I have been using simple seo for a few months now on my site and have recently achieved a PR of 3. Some people may argue that PR or pagerank doesn't have much to do with search results, but "oh contrair mon frair"! PageRank along with other factors is VERY important, because PageRank tells googles spiders whether or not your site is even worth looking at (anytime in the next century or so). You achieve higher PR by getting other sites with good PR that have similar or relevant content to link to your site (while at the same time avoiding link farms like the plague).

Simple SEO creates urls that are much more user friendly and are actually more search engine friendly as well. They work much faster with GoogleBase and Yahoo Submit, and if your site is fairly new, duplicate url's won't be a big problem. They will simply, fade away. For older sites, it may take longer, but duplicate urls, when changing from a dynamic system to a more static looking, or natural looking system is an unavoidable nuisance, but one that will eventually fade away as well.

Now, with all that said, the MOST important thing is, CONTENT, CONTENT, AND MORE RELEVENT CONTENT! A very hard task to master for retail/wholesale sites that carry general merchandise, but should be a snap for specialty stores.

Here is a link to a page at Google that will help to explain SEO much better than I ever could.

Handy Dandy Link to Google

I hope I've been able to help at least one person. If so, then I feel good.

Thanks for the link, quite informative.

I can't seem to find a current download link for Simple SEO, anyone have one ?


Thanks,
Mike