SEO Guide for Laravel Websites and Applications

Search Engine Optimization, popularly known as SEO, is definitely not dependent on the framework on which your website is built.

However, the right choice of a development framework can make your website SEO-friendly. For instance, a website based on Laravel PHP will help you generate SEO-friendly URLs easily.

SEO agencies having worked with Laravel or any seasoned digital marketer will appreciate the amount of SEO effort that can be saved by optimizing the old dynamic URL structures as given in the following example,

An application built on Laravel can be structured to have its profile URL like https://yourdomain.tld/user/profile

But if you’re not using a framework, you might end up with:
https://yourdomain.tld/components/profile.php

The structure of URLs is known to have a profound impact on any website’s user experience, rankings, and link sharing. You may refer to this blog from Moz to fully understand in detail the impact of website URL structure on SEO.

Now, having established the context of performing SEO on a PHP-based website, let’s open this blog for discussion on:

  • SEO tools for Laravel websites,
  • Useful tips for Laravel developers to build faster web applications,
  • Digital Agency partnerships for SEO maintenance.

Laravel SEO Tools – overview, advantages

How many of us are familiar with Yoast SEO and its inevitable integration with WordPress websites?

We’re pretty sure that you all are.

Yoast SEO offers easy, seamless controls for SEO on WordPress CMS even for non-programmers. On the other hand, performing SEO on a website built on a PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) framework like Laravel is to be done from scratch. Since it is just a website development framework, its Client or Webmaster is devoid of control over Meta title and description, unlike WordPress Yoast.

To solve this problem, we’ve listed down some popular community-sponsored SEO tools that work very well with Laravel development.

  • Digital Dreams is available as a Laravel SEO package. It is great for Content writers/admin/webmasters who do not know to program but want to edit/update SEO tags from the dashboard.
  • Here is a package named Laravel Meta Manager. It is an SEO tool that can add recommended meta tags to your application. It comes with recommended meta tags like Standard SEO, Dublin Core, Facebook OpenGraph, Twitter Card.
  • You may follow this link to implement this SEO package in your Laravel application.
  • The most popular SEO plug-in for Laravel 5.8+ and Lumen is artesaos/seotools. Refer to the video tutorial below to set up artesaos/seotools on Laravel applications.

Further, click on this link to explore 20+ open-source tools authored by remote Laravel developers for SEO on your websites built on Laravel.

A popular comment on Quora about SEO for Laravel websites read,

“More than On-Page, Off-Page SEO works better for the Laravel website. I started seeing the result when I started submitting the website on the high domain authority websites even when I regularly update meta tags to each page of the website.”

Use the Google Search Console tool regularly to see whether you are getting the accurate output.

For the core PHP website, you can start with the design and development of the website and then initiate SEO work. Typically in SEO, you can start with the following activities:

Keyword Research & Analysis

Competition Analysis

Error 404-page optimization & Broken Links

Content Optimization & Schema Markup

URL Structure Changes

Title tag, Description tag,
Alt tags (LSI Based)

Additionally, follow our checklist on local SEO services.

You will also find our detailed guide on website redesign most useful.

New Laravel Features for SEO & Digital Marketing

Laravel isn’t the only PHP framework available in the market. You may use CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Zend Framework, etc. However, Google Trends suggests that Laravel is the only PHP framework whose popularity has shot up in the last 5 years.

New age businesses are increasingly adopting the Laravel framework for website development. In our experience with Laravel development and SEO on websites built on it, we have come to find that Laravel websites offer:

  • High-end security with authentication and authorization code
  • Authentication of system creation
  • Web applications run faster
  • Simple method of URL Routing
  • Automation testing for website

All the above factors are known to improve Technical SEO, off-page SEO elements more.

One particular case in point is SEO for eCommerce websites built on the Laravel framework.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) combined with Laravel’s dynamic framework can make a powerful eCommerce website. Not only it enhances the page speed and lowers the bounce rates, but it is also great for a better user experience. It will have a direct impact on SERP from an SEO point of view as well.

Further, multiple language support, customizable themes, SEO-ready tools, and a unique cache system help build a responsive user website on the Laravel framework.

For example, AliExpress has seen an astounding 104% increase in their conversion rates for users visiting via their progressive app.

We have found one useful resource on Quora that we think might help digital marketers optimize for SEO better on a PHP website. Check it out!

Exclusive Tips For Laravel Developers – plan for SEO optimization while developing & production

Laravel is being preferred by companies for their large and medium-sized backend development. On the other hand, SEO forms a major strategy of any frontend development. However, here are some tips that you can follow to make Laravel websites faster and therefore, optimize efforts for SEO.

SEO doesn’t change for any backend framework that you have used. You have to only make sure that all the on-page optimization is in place and your code is clean, responsive, optimized.

1. Use Caching in Production: You must note that every time you boot your Laravel app, your app determines the middleware, resolves aliases, route groups, and identifies controller action and parameter inputs for every single route entry.

It is a redundant process that could impact the speed of your application. Make use of the following tips:

  • You may bypass the route processing by caching all routes running this code: //php artisan route:cache
  • You may bypass the configuration file and .env files, use the following code: //php artisan config:cache
  • Use config() to access .env variables and avoid using env(). Because you have already cached your configuration files. Using the env function will simply nullify the purpose of caching.
  • Cache your blade template views using: //php artisan view:cache
  • To cache a manifest of all of your app’s events and listeners run: //php artisan view:clear

2. Remove Dev dependencies from Composer: You may be using some Dev packages to track queries or other development things. However, this must be limited to the development stage and not be moved to the production stage.

Just run a single command in the production: //composer install –prefer-dist –no-dev -o

3. Use Redis, Memcached, or dynamoDB Driver: Choosing the right cache, queue, and drivers can make a difference to application performance.

  • In production, use in-memory cache drivers.
  • For queue jobs like sending emails, connecting with third-party APIs, uploading large files, updating for the search index, use Redis, SQS, or Beanstalkd drivers. Database driver is not suitable for production.
  • For sessions use Database, Redis, Memcached, or DynamoDB drivers.

4. Remove unused Services: All unused services in your product go to config/app.php
Thus, comment on these services during development and do not use them in the production stage.

5. Use Laravel ORM over raw query: Laravel comes with Eager loading (ORM) so use it, avoid writing your own raw query.

6. Minifying and Bundling Assets: Laravel compiles all your CSS and provides a single app.css file, thus reducing multiple HTTP requests to single. Further, remove all unused CSS from your project by using the laravel-mix-purge CSS package.

Choose ColorWhistle For Efficient Results – 360* Website Redesign & SEO Maintenance

We generally recommend WordPress for revamping business websites. However, every project that we undertake is unique. We thoroughly analyze the project’s size, need and recommend any other suitable framework as per the demands.

For businesses looking to develop bigger and better web applications, Laravel is known to offer:

  • Custom, Flexible Applications Support: Laravel’s extensive pre-installed authorization libraries have the ability to create and support a variety of websites ranging from eCommerce to simple professional websites. This has also boosted the demand for developing custom third-party applications which can be further utilized to add features to the Laravel website.
  • Simple Website Maintenance: Thanks to Laravel’s standout features, like clean code, MVC architecture (which separates logic and presentation), and OOP principles, maintaining a Laravel site over time is simple.
  • Low-cost Websites: The cost of hiring a good Laravel developer to build your site will always be factored in. However, the total cost is significantly offset by reduced development costs.
  • Scalable Solution: A website built in Laravel can handle website requests much faster than most other frameworks, thanks to its unique message queue system.
  • SEO-friendly: Laravel supports caching for your website out-of-the-box which is great for boosting site speed. This makes Laravel an excellent choice for SEO purposes.

However, using Laravel will not simply make your website searchable or recognizable on search engines. You’ll have to add your website from the Webmaster tool, upload sitemap, use meta tags, and do everything else that is usually needed for good SEO.

ColorWhistle takes pride in offering graphic design, SEO implementation as well as maintenance services. We stress a lot on SEO maintenance because search algorithms change over time and thus your website needs to be aligned with it for better results. You may also seek out our assistance in white-label partnerships for Laravel projects.

Looking for SEO Services?

Seize and experience the transformative impact of SEO Services & Solutions with ColorWhistle.

To schedule a business call or request a quote for website redesign & SEO, write to us here or comment down below. We’re also available at +91 944-278-9110 to answer your business queries.

Sankarnarayan. R
About the Author - Sankarnarayan. R

The founder and mastermind behind ColorWhistle is Sankarnarayan, a professional with over fourteen years of experience and a passion for website design services and digital marketing services. At ColorWhistle, our team has a wide range of skills and expertise and we always put our clients’ satisfaction first. This is what sets us apart from the competition – an eye for detail and the best website development services from the start to the completion of your project.

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