Optimising Silverstripe CMS for SEO – Best Practices to Improve Search Rankings

Silverstripe CMS is known for its flexibility and performance, but to maximise visibility on search engines, it’s essential to implement SEO best practices.

From technical optimisations to content strategies, let’s explore how you can enhance your Silverstripe-powered website for better search rankings.

Optimise Site Structure & URL Handling

A well-organised site structure improves both user experience and search engine indexing.

Silverstripe automatically creates clean, readable URLs for all pages and lets a developer implement controllers that avoid query strings and excessive parameters.

Silverstripe also takes care of automatic redirects when page URLs change.

If you use filters on paginated lists of items, make sure that you add canonical tags to the filtered result pages to prevent duplicate content issues.

Improve Metadata & On-Page SEO

Silverstripe makes it easy to customise meta tags, which influence search rankings. Best practices include:

• Writing compelling title tags (under 60 characters).
• Crafting engaging meta descriptions (150-160 characters).
• Using structured headings ( to ) to improve readability and SEO relevance.
• Implementing Open Graph & Twitter Cards for better social sharing previews.

Leverage Silverstripe SEO Modules

Several Silverstripe modules simplify SEO implementation. Some top recommendations include:

• wilr/silverstripe-googlesitemaps - Generates XML sitemaps automatically.
• innoweb/silverstripe-robots - Adds a Robots.txt file that is configurable in the CMS and injects robots meta tag into all pages.
• hubertusanton/silverstripe-seo – Provides an SEO checklist inside the CMS.

Enhance Site Speed & Performance

Page speed is a major ranking factor. Silverstripe offers several ways to boost performance:

• Enable caching (PartialCaching & StaticPublisher) to reduce load times.
• Optimise images with responsive formats and compression tools.
• Minimise unnecessary database queries using profiling tools.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve global performance.

For a deeper dive into Silverstripe performance optimization, check out my previous posts:

• How to Make Your Silverstripe Website Lightning Fast
• Silverstripe: Need for Speed

Implement Schema Markup for Rich Results

Adding structured data (Schema.org markup) helps search engines better understand your content and enhances search results with rich snippets. Consider:

• Article & BlogPost Schema for structured content.
• Product Schema for eCommerce.
• FAQ & How-To Schema for guides and tutorials.
• Breadcrumbs schema for the breadcrumb navigation.

The innoweb/silverstripe-social-metadata module gives a base line for adding schema markup to a site and adds metadata like OpenGraph, X (Twitter) and JSON-LD to all pages.

Build High-Quality Content & Internal Links

SEO isn’t just about technical fixes—it thrives on high-quality content and effective internal linking.

• Develop valuable, keyword-optimised content that matches user intent.
• Maintain a strong internal linking strategy to improve site structure and engagement.

Monitor & Maintain SEO Health

Finally, optimising Silverstripe CMS for SEO is an ongoing process. Stay on top of your rankings with:

• Google Search Console to monitor indexing and errors.
• Google Analytics for tracking organic search traffic.

The hubertusanton/silverstripe-seo module to automate audits and recommendations.

Next Steps for your High-Ranking Silverstripe Website

Silverstripe CMS provides a powerful foundation for SEO success when paired with best practices like site optimisation, metadata improvements, caching, schema markup, and quality content strategies.

Looking to take your Silverstripe website to the next level? Get in touch—let’s optimise your site for maximum visibility and ranking success!