In website operation, the URL is not only the address of the page content, but also an important part of search engine understanding, user recognition, and brand building.A clear and meaningful URL structure, also known as 'pseudo-static' or 'staticized' URL, is crucial for improving the SEO performance and user experience of a website.AnQiCMS as an SEO-friendly content management system, provides flexible and diverse static URL configuration functions to help us better optimize the display path of content.

Why choose pseudo-static URLs?

Dynamic URLs usually contain question marks, equals signs, and various parameters, such asexample.com/article.php?id=123&category=news.This kind of URL can accurately point to content, but it may not be 'friendly' enough for search engine crawlers to effectively identify the theme of the page; for users, it also lacks intuitiveness, making it difficult to remember and share.

Compared to this, pseudo-static URLs usually appear in a clear directory hierarchy, contain keywords, and do not have redundant parameters, such asexample.com/news/anqicms-seo-guide.html. The benefits of this form are obvious:

  1. SEO friendlinessEnglish: Search engines prefer URLs that are hierarchically structured and contain keywords.This helps search engines understand the content of the page, improve crawling efficiency, and may result in better rankings in search results.
  2. Enhancing user experience：Users can quickly obtain the approximate information of the page content from the URL, enhancing trust. At the same time, a concise URL is also easier to remember, bookmark, and share on social media.
  3. Improve click-through rateIn search results, a clear, descriptive URL is more likely to attract user clicks.

AnQiCMS knows these advantages, therefore, it has taken pseudo-static as one of the core highlights from the very beginning of system design.

Overview of pseudo-static in AnQiCMS

The pseudo-static rule configuration of AnQiCMS is located in the "Function Management" module of the background.Enter and you will see the option "fake static rule".Built-in rulesandCustom rulesTo meet the needs of different users. Whether you are a beginner operator or a senior user who needs fine-grained control over URL structures, you can find a suitable solution here.

Two modes: built-in rules and custom rules

1. Built-in rules: quick start, convenient and fast

AnQiCMS has preset four commonly used pseudo-static rules for us, which greatly reduces the threshold for configuration. You can choose the most suitable one according to the type and content characteristics of your website:

  • Number PatternThis pattern of URL uses the content ID as an identifier, for example/article/123.html. It is concise and clear, usually suitable for Chinese sites, or scenarios with low requirements for URL keywords.
  • Model naming patternIf your website is mainly in English content, or you want the URL to include the content model (such as articles, products), this mode is very suitable. For example/article/anqicms-feature.html. Among them/articleThis may be the alias of the model,anqicms-featurewhich is the alias of the content.
  • Category Naming Pattern 1The pattern combines the classification information in the URL, for example/news/anqicms-seo-guide.htmlIf your content categories are clear, and the category names are meaningful to users and SEO, you can choose this mode, which is often used on Chinese websites.
  • Classification naming pattern 2English classification names and content names are combined, for example/category-name/article-title.html. This can better reflect the classification level and content theme for English sites.

Choosing the built-in rule is very simple, just select the corresponding mode in the background and save.System will automatically generate corresponding static URLs for all content that matches the pattern (articles, categories, single pages, tags, etc.).

2. Custom rules: fine control, endless possibilities

When you have more personalized needs for built-in rules, or need to construct more complex URL structures, the custom rule mode of AnQiCMS can come in handy.Custom mode allows you to set independent URL rules for different types of content (such as document details, category lists, model home pages, single pages, tag lists, and tag details).

Custom rules are composed in the form of 'rule name===rule value'. AnQiCMS provides six configurable rule names:

  • archive: corresponds to the URL rule of the document detail page.
  • category：Corresponds to the URL rule of the document classification list page.
  • archiveIndex：Corresponds to the URL rule of the model homepage (e.g.)/news/or/products/).
  • page：对应单页面详情页的URL规则（例如“About Us”页面）。
  • tagIndex：对应所有标签列表页的URL规则。
  • tag：Corresponds to the URL rule of the document list page for a specific tag.

In the rule value, you can use the variables provided by AnQiCMS to combine the URL structure you want. These variables are like placeholders, and the system will automatically fill in the actual content:

  • {id}The ID of the content.
  • {filename}The custom URL alias of the content (can be set in document, single page, and tag editing).
  • {catname}：Categorized custom URL alias (can be set during category editing).
  • {catid}: ID of the category.
  • {module}：Content model URL alias (can be set during model management).
  • {page}：Page number (should be enclosed in parentheses, such as(-{page})，indicating it is optional).

Example of using custom rules:

Assuming you want the URL structure of the article detail page to be/module-alias/article-custom-url.htmlThen you can configure it like this:archive===/{module}/{filename}.html

If you want the URL of the category list page to be/category-custom-url/p{page}.htmlThe pagination is optional, then you can configure it like this:category===/{catname}/p{page}.html

Special reminder：Custom rule function is powerful, but be careful when configuring.The incorrect rule may cause the page to be inaccessible.AnQiCMS provides rule examples in the background, which can be used as references for modification.Suggest to perform thorough testing in the test environment before applying it to the production environment.

Configuration steps

Configure the pseudo-static URL rules of AnQiCMS is very intuitive:

  1. Log in to the admin panel: Log in to the AnQiCMS admin panel with the administrator account.
  2. Navigate to the function management：Find "Function Management" in the left navigation bar and click to enter.
  3. Select the URL Rewrite Rule：Find and click "URL Rewrite Rule" in the Function Management list.
  4. Select or customize:
    • If you choose the built-in rules, just click the corresponding tab and save.
    • If you choose to customize the rules, switch to the "Custom Mode" tab, and then enter the URL rules you design in the corresponding input box according to the above variables and rule names.
  5. Save and Test：Configuration completed, click Save. Subsequently, be sure to perform access tests on multiple pages in the foreground (such as article details, category lists, single pages, etc.) to ensure that all links are working properly.

SEO Friendliness**Practice

Just configuring pseudo static is not enough, in order to maximize the SEO benefits, it is also necessary to combine the strategy of content operation:

  1. Keywords included in the URLWhen designing URL rules, try to include keywords highly relevant to the page content in the URL. For example, if the page is about "AnQiCMS pseudo-static configuration", the URL can includeanqicms-rewrite-rules.
  2. Keep the URL concise and meaningfulAvoid overly long, keyword-stuffed, or redundant information in URLs. A concise URL that conveys the core content of the page is favored by both search engines and users.
  3. Using the "Custom URL" fieldIn AnQiCMS backend when editing documents, categories, or tags, you will see a "Custom URL" field. This field is used to fill in the custom rules.{filename}or{catname}Variables. Be sure to enter meaningful English or pinyin aliases here, and ensure their uniqueness across the entire site to enhance the readability and SEO value of URLs.
  4. Uniformity and stabilityOnce the pseudo-static rules are determined, they should be maintained as stable as possible. Frequent changes to the URL structure will cause search engines to need to re-crawl and index, affecting the website's weight.
  5. Use 301 redirect wiselyIf indeed you need to change the old URL structure, AnQiCMS provides a 301 redirect management feature.By configuring 301 redirect, you can smoothly transfer the weight of old URLs to new URLs, avoiding traffic loss and SEO negative impact.This also has the corresponding option in "Feature Management".

Through these detailed configurations and operational strategies, AnQiCMS can help build a URL system that is both aesthetically pleasing and conforms to search engine optimization standards, laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of your website.

Common Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Why do some pages access abnormally or show a 404 error after configuring the rewrite rule?A1：This is usually due to an incorrect configuration of pseudo-static rules.Please carefully check the custom rules you have set, ensure that the variable spelling is correct, and that the rule values meet the requirements of AnQiCMS.In addition, make sure that the URL rewrite configuration is properly set up if your server environment (such as Nginx or Apache) also requires additional URL rewrite settings.In AnQiCMS backend, if the built-in rules are selected, such issues usually do not occur; if custom rules are used, it is recommended to debug in the test environment first, and then immediately access multiple types of pages for verification after modification.

Q2：I have published a lot of content, and now I want to modify the static URL rules. Will it affect the website SEO? How can I reduce this impact?A2：Changing the existing URL structure can indeed have a short-term impact on SEO, as search engines need to re-crawl and understand the new URL. To minimize this impact, it is essential to use AnQiCMS in combination.