SEO
Search Engine Optimisation is a method of re-writing the links in such a way as to improve navigation of your site by search engines.

There are some very specific requirements that must be met if SEO is to work. Additionally there are some manual changes that you may need to apply in certain situations.

The Basics

All these conditions must be met in order for SEO to run.
You must run Apache
To check this go to Joomla administration > System > System Info. Server type should be listed next to Web Server. SEF will not run on IIS.
You must have mod_rewrite enabled
To check this go to Joomla! administration > System > System Info. Click on PHP Information tab. Scroll down until you find Loaded Modules row. mod_rewrite should be listed here. If it's not, ask your web host to activate mod_rewrite.
Your server must allow .htaccess override
To check this delete everything from your .htaccess file and write a simple command, for example:
Code: 
 
Redirect /google.html http://www.google.com
Now point your browser to http://www.yoursite.com/google.html  If it redirects you to google.com then you are OK.
Set $mosConfig_sef= "1" in configuration.php
You can also activate SEF under Site > Global Configuration.
Rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess
This can be done with a FTP program. Note the dot at the beginning!
If Joomla! is not in the root directory
If your Joomla! installation is not in the root directory. For example if it is in www.yoursite.com/yourjoomlasite rather than www.yourjoomlasite.com. Then you may need to add the following line to your .htaccess file.
Code: 
 
RewriteBase /yourjoomlasite
Provided you have met all the conditions and made the required changes as needed you should be able to successfuly activate SEO.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 01 March 2008 )