In website operation, we all hope that our content can be better discovered by search engines and presented to users in a clear and friendly manner.An important aspect is to optimize the URL structure, making it convey the page theme and convenient for search engines to understand and crawl.The pseudo-static feature of AnQiCMS (AnQiCMS) is the key tool that helps us achieve this goal.

Why is the static URL so important for a website?

Imagine two types of URLs: one is/article.php?id=123&category_id=45, and the other is/news/anqicms-optimizes-url.html. It is evident that the latter is much better in readability. This looks like a static HTML file, but it is actually generated dynamically by the backend program, and we call it a "pseudo-static URL".

The importance of static URL mainly lies in the following aspects:

  1. Improve search engine friendliness:Search engines tend to prefer to crawl URLs that are structured clearly and contain keywords.Static URL can help search engine spiders better understand the page content, improve crawling efficiency, and may have a positive impact on keyword rankings.
  2. Improve user experience:Users can remember, understand, and share concise and meaningful URLs more easily. This increases users' trust in the website and facilitates word-of-mouth promotion.
  3. Increase keyword relevance:If a URL contains keywords from the page content, it can further strengthen the theme of the page, improve the relevance between keywords and content, and thus help search engines determine the value of the page.

The Anqi CMS took SEO-friendliness into full consideration from the beginning, and its built-in static management feature is one of its major highlights, allowing us to easily optimize the URL structure of the website.

Secure CMS Static Function Overview

AnQi CMS provides flexible pseudo-static rule configuration, whether you want to quickly apply standard rules or need a highly customized URL structure, it can be easily realized.The system has built-in several common modes, and also supports advanced custom rules to meet various complex needs.

Built-in Static Rule: Quick Start Optimization

For most users, the four built-in pseudo-static rules provided by Anqi CMS are sufficient to meet daily needs. They have different focuses and can be selected according to the type of website and optimization strategy.

  • Numeric mode:This is the simplest URL structure, usually containing the ID of the content. For example, the URL of an article might be/article/123.htmlThis pattern is suitable for sites that do not have high requirements for URL content description or place more emphasis on URL length.
  • Model naming pattern:In this mode, the URL will include the alias of the content model and the custom link name of the content. For example, the URL of the article under the news model may be displayed as/news/anqicms-features.htmlThis structure includes the content type and directly reflects the theme of the article through the filename, which is particularly beneficial for SEO optimization on English sites.
  • Category naming pattern 1:This type of URL will contain the category ID and the content ID. For example,/category/45/article/123.html. It distinguishes the content by category ID, with a clear structure.
  • Category naming pattern 2:This pattern is more focused on using custom category and content link names. For example,/category/latest-news/anqicms-update.html. It integrates the category and the theme of the article into the URL, which is very helpful for Chinese websites that pursue keywords in the URL.

After selecting the appropriate built-in rule, it is usually just a matter of checking and saving the pseudo-static settings in the background, and the website's URL will automatically generate according to the new rule, saving the complex server configuration.

Custom static rules: Fine-grained control of your URL

If the built-in rules cannot fully meet your refined SEO strategy, Anqi CMS also provides powerful custom static rule functions.This allows you to assemble URL elements freely like building blocks, based on the type of website content (document details, list, single page, tags, etc.)

The configuration of custom rules uses the form "rule name===rule value", where the left side is the different content types of the website, and the right side is the style you want the URL of the content type to display. Anqi CMS provides a wealth of variables for use:

  • {id}This is the unique numeric ID of the content.
  • {filename}: The custom link name of the content, usually automatically generated from the title in pinyin, can also be manually modified to English keywords, which is the key to implementing keyword URLs.
  • {catname}Custom link name for the category, similar to{filename}But used for categories.
  • {catid}Unique number ID for the category.
  • {module}The model alias of the content (such as "article", "product").
  • {page}：The page number for pagination.

Actual application example:

  1. Article detail page:
    • If you want the article URL to include the model name and keyworded link name, it can be set to:archive===/{module}/{filename}.htmlThis will generate something similar/news/anqicms-best-practices.htmlURL.
  2. Category list page:
    • If you want the URL of the category page to also include the model name and keyworded link name, and support pagination, you can set it like this:category===/{module}/{catname}(-{page}).htmlThis will generate something similar/news/industry-insights.html(First page) or/news/industry-insights-2.html(Page 2) URL. Note(-{page})The pagination part is optional. When there is no pagination, the page number will not appear in the URL.
  3. Single page:
    • For single pages such as "About Us", "Contact Us", etc., you can set a concise keyword-based URL:page===/{filename}.htmlThis will generate something similar/about-us.htmlURL.

By combining these variables flexibly, you can almost design any URL structure you want.

Operational recommendations and precautions

When configuring and optimizing pseudo-static rules, there are some practical suggestions that can help you ensure the effect and avoid potential problems:

  • Planning comes first:Be sure to plan ahead before changing the URL structure. A clear URL structure should match the hierarchy of your website content and SEO strategy.
  • Make good use of custom URL aliases:The Anqi CMS provides a 'Custom URL' or 'Custom Link Name' field when adding documents, creating categories, and single pages (corresponding{filename}and{catname}Variable). Make full use of these fields and fill in highly relevant English keywords, which will greatly enhance the SEO value of the URL.For example, if the article title is “AnQiCMS Static Function Details”, you can set the custom URL alias asanqicms-pseudo-static-details.
  • Stability first, modify cautiously:Once the website goes live and is indexed by search engines, avoid frequent URL changes.Each URL change can lead to search engines re-crawling and evaluating the page, which may affect rankings in the short term.
  • Combine 301 redirect:If you inevitably need to modify the URL of a page that has already been indexed, please be sure to set it in the '301 Redirect Management' feature of the Anqi CMS backend.