This guide is an extension of the first ever published book with the step-by-step, technical details you need to search engine optimize a Drupal website. Originally written by Ben Finklea (Volacci's Fearless Leader) in 2017, it is the first step to digital marketing excellence that will reward you with increased ranking, traffic, customers, and sales.

While these instructions were written for marketers, developers can also benefit. The ability to provide a more easily SEO'd website to a client will always be in demand. Should you wish to partner with Volacci on SEO services for new websites, please feel free to reach out to us.

Bookmark this page! We will keep this section updated with the latest Drupal release instructions, but please be patient -- research and writing takes time.

What this guide is.

If you were sitting at the desk next to us right now and needed help with a Drupal SEO technical problem, we’d just tell you how to solve it, walking you through the necessary steps. That’s what this guide is.

What this guide isn’t.

We won't go into detailed, basic explanations on what SEO is and why it's important. There are many great resources online with full explanations of how SEO works, what Google is looking for, and how to win the online marketing game. We’ll link to some good ones so you can dig deeper when you need to. We’re especially fond of Moz.com, and always send people to their Beginner’s Guide to SEO if they’re just starting out.

We explain how we do the technical SEO on a Drupal website. It’s not the only way, but we’ve found it’s the way that works best for us. If you get through this guide (or get too busy to complete it), and your site is still not ranking, then seek professional help. 

How to read this guide.

It’s best to install the SEO Checklist module, and check the items off as you complete them. This guide details each section of that Checklist.

Throughout this guide, you’ll find various text styles to help make concepts clearer or to draw your attention to important aspects of a task. Here are some examples:

• Italic. Warnings or critical terms.
• Bold. New words or to draw attention.
• Code. URLs or code snippets
• "Quotes". Interface elements you’re interacting with.
   

Sometimes, it can be helpful to know how hard a task is going to be, so we’ve included them to make things clear. Here’s what they mean:

• Easy: Straightforward and quick.
• Normal: A bit more involved, maybe 2 or 3 separate steps but no heavy lifting.
• Hard: It’s going to take some thought and time to do this. Still, most marketers should be able to knock it out with some effort.
• Expert: This task is time-consuming, technical, or difficult. You may need to get some help from a Drupal developer to get it done.