Customized meta 'title' for viewlisting

[frommarcq +]

Hi
I'd like to display in the <title> tag the following infos :
title of the listing (name of the category from title of the website).
I think it would be better for the SEO, instead of 'title of the website >> title of the listing, and the add of the category name will help...
What do I have to change in viewlisting.php ?
Thanks
Pascal

[seymourjames +]

You will get the idea here.

A sample from my site which I place in the header of the layout.tpl file along with tests for every type of page for that matter. I use the category in the description but you could eqaully put it in the title. I assign new variables because Ialso use them in the body of a page sometimes.

{if $SCRIPT_NAME == "/viewlisting.php"}
{foreach name=outer item=contact from=$breadcrumb}
{foreach item=item from=$contact}
{assign var=category value=$item|strip_tags}
{/foreach}
{/foreach}
{assign var=newtitle value="$title"}
{assign var=desc value="A wonderful French property - $newtitle for sale"}
<meta name="Keywords" content="{$category},house,property,france,french, for sale" />
<title>{$newtitle}</title>
<meta name="Description" content="{$desc}" />

see also http://www.68classifieds.com/forums/...meta-tags.html

You might like to consider our SEO services for doing a whole site.

[rembrandt +]

Originally Posted by seymourjames

You will get the idea here.

A sample from my site which I place in the header of the layout.tpl file along with tests for every type of page for that matter. I use the category in the description but you could eqaully put it in the title. I assign new variables because Ialso use them in the body of a page sometimes.

{if $SCRIPT_NAME == "/viewlisting.php"}
{foreach name=outer item=contact from=$breadcrumb}
{foreach item=item from=$contact}
{assign var=category value=$item|strip_tags}
{/foreach}
{/foreach}
{assign var=newtitle value="$title"}
{assign var=desc value="A wonderful French property - $newtitle for sale"}
<meta name="Keywords" content="{$category},house,property,france,french, for sale" />
<title>{$newtitle}</title>
<meta name="Description" content="{$desc}" />

Thanks for this. I managed to get this working on the view listings but now wondering how I can do the same thing to the category lists.

[seymourjames +]

Well done. If you got the viewlisting working you should be able to do this.

You will have to modify for your liking. Note I test for page 1. If you go to my site and click on a subcategory you will see why. I use the newtitle and desc variables for the title and meta description later on in the script (makes the logoc easier). I do it like this so I can use them in the body of the text as well. You could assign them directly. I make $pagetitle to trim the spaces which are in $category variable or the formatting is not so nice. Hope this helps.

{if $SCRIPT_NAME == "/category.php"}
{if empty($breadcrumb)}
{assign var=newtitle value="French Properties For Sale"}
{assign var=desc value="Property in France including French properties in South France, South West France, West France, East France, North France, Central France and Corsica"}
<meta name="Keywords" content="property south france,property south west france,property west france,property east france,property north france,property central france,property corsica,french,property,france" />
{else}
{foreach name=outer item=contact from=$breadcrumb}
{foreach item=item from=$contact}
{assign var=category value=$item|strip_tags}
{/foreach}
{/foreach}
{assign var=pagetitle value=$category|trim}
{if $pageNum == 1}
{assign var=newtitle value=$pagetitle}
{assign var=desc value="$sitedescription"}
{else}
{assign var=newtitle value="$pagetitle $pageNum"}
{assign var=desc value="$sitedescription $pageNum"}
{/if}
<meta name="Keywords" content="{$sitekeywords}" />

.
.
.

<title>{$newtitle}</title>
<meta name="Description" content="{$desc}" />




Notice also that I have modified the showlistings pagination (look at a live page) to make it simpler. It avoids duplicate problems. You may like to go back to your viewlistings and use the trim operator with newtitle, desc etc. You have more control that way over the formatting (avoids spurious spaces - you can see these if you look at the source code generated with my viewlistings code which I have now modified).

[rembrandt +]

seymourjames... your a legend. That was exactly what I was looking for and worked a treat. Fixing the titles on the site pages is definitely going to make a difference in the number of indexed pages on my site. I really appreciate your help.

[seymourjames +]

No problem. Glad to help. Hope you used the idea of assigning new variables. It makes the logic simpler as you just assign your title and metatags once, right at the end of a block of if-else statements and secondly you can easily use those variables in the body of the page as well - a good SEO practice. The important thing is to also make sure that internal links to pages use appropriate titles in the a href as well. This can be tricky but it is possible to do - it places a few restrictions on what you can assign (depends upon which variables are available to which script). If you would like the full logic for all the usual types of pages, then PM me with your email and I will send it to you. It is possible to do for the login page, categories, search, etc, etc.

[frommarcq +]

David,
Sorry for my late answer, but my life is a real race !!!
I've tested your suggestion yesterday : it works great !!!
I think it will help in the SEO...
Thanks a lot !
Pascal

[jj30 +]

Hi

I am trying to follow this code, but dont seem to find it anywhere and which file it does it go in.

Viewed code on your home page, dont seem to see it.

Could you put me out of my misery, and give me a clue.

Thanks

[seymourjames +]

It is my code and does not exist anywhere in the standard script. It does say where to place it in the thread.

You place the code in the head portion of your layout.tpl file. Do not forget to take care in getting the right opening and closing if-statements - just dumping this code in as it is may not work for you.

[seymourjames +]

Many thanks Marq for your kind words.