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TYPO3 SEO: Visibility Anchored in the System

A large part of what goes by the name SEO is, in TYPO3, a question of configuration. URL structure, canonical addresses, language links and structured data all come out of the system rather than out of a tool bolted on afterwards.

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In TYPO3, SEO is largely configuration

Much of what other systems solve with add-on tools is, in TYPO3, a matter of the right setting. The site configuration determines how URLs are built. The language configuration determines which hreflang entries appear. The sitepackage determines what markup goes out.

That is good news, because once these things are right they keep working. It also means a mistake in one of those places affects the whole site rather than a single subpage.

One page, one search intent

The most common editorial mistake is not too little text but two pages chasing the same goal. They then compete with each other, split the signals, and both rank worse than one good page would.

So when we build a structure we check every planned page against the ones that exist: does it answer a question no other page answers? If not, merging is the better route.

Structured data has to match the page

Markup annotations help search engines classify content. They may only describe what actually appears on the page. A question-and-answer block in the markup whose questions are missing from the visible text breaks the guidelines and can cost you the rich result.

So we always generate annotations from the same source as the visible content. Two separately maintained lists will drift apart sooner or later.

Where we start

URL structure and routing

Readable, durable addresses via the routing configuration, with renames handled properly instead of turning into dead links.

Canonical addresses

One valid form per piece of content. Duplicate URLs spread the signals across several addresses and cost crawl budget.

Metadata in the backend

Title and description as fields editors can maintain, with sensible defaults instead of empty boxes.

Several languages

hreflang entries only where the translation really exists. Wrong links do more damage than missing ones.

Structured data

Markup that matches the visible content. What the page does not say must not be claimed in the markup.

Internal linking

Which page points at which, and which one hangs in the tree with no way in. Links from body text weigh more than another line in the menu.

Common questions

Is the SEO functionality in the TYPO3 core enough?

What ships with the core covers the basics: metadata per page, canonical addresses, an XML sitemap and robots settings. For many sites that is the right foundation.

What it does not take off your hands are the decisions: which page targets which search intent, how the structure is laid out, and whether two pages are chasing the same goal. Visibility hangs on that far more than on individual fields.

What do we need to watch out for with several languages?

Above all, that hreflang entries only appear where the translation actually exists. A page pointing at a language version that is not there is worse than no entry at all.

Then there is the question of whether languages run in directories or on separate domains, and whether content that has not been translated is hidden in the second language or shown in the source language. Both have consequences for indexing.

Our URLs have changed. What now?

Every old address needs a permanent redirect to its new target, mapped individually and without intermediate hops. TYPO3 comes with a manager for this that also records redirects created automatically when a page is renamed.

What matters is reviewing that list from time to time. Otherwise chains build up over the years, where one address travels through several stops.

How do load time and visibility relate?

Load time is one factor among many and rarely the decisive one. It does work twice over, though: as a signal, and through the behaviour of visitors, who are quicker to leave a slow page.

In TYPO3 the causes sit at the same three places almost every time, and the largest of them is the page cache. We treat it separately under page speed optimisation, because it needs its own approach and its own measurement.

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Visibility has stalled?

We will look at the installation and tell you whether this is a technical question or an editorial one. Both can be fixed, but not with the same means.

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