SEO keywords
SEO keywords
OpenCart allows the use of search engine optimized URLs for product, category, manufacturer and information pages. SEO keywords are defined per product, category, manufacturer and information page, stored in a database table (url_alias), looked up at each page request, and translated into an internal URL.
In order to use SEO keywords, they must be enabled in the store settings page, server tab in the admin interface.
A correctly formatted .htaccess file must be present in the root of the OpenCart installation (beside the admin and catalog folders). The contents of the .htaccess file are shown below:
# 1.To use URL Alias you need to be running apache with mod_rewrite enabled.
# 2. In your opencart directory rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess.
# For any support issues please visit: https://www.opencart.com
Options +FollowSymlinks
# Prevent Directory listing
Options -Indexes
# Prevent Direct Access to files
<FilesMatch "\.(tpl|ini|log)">
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
</FilesMatch>
# SEO URL Settings
RewriteEngine On
# If your opencart installation does not run on the main web folder make sure you folder it does run in ie. / becomes /shop/
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^sitemap.xml$ index.php?route=feed/google_sitemap [L]
RewriteRule ^googlebase.xml$ index.php?route=feed/google_base [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !.*\.(ico|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|js|css)
RewriteRule ^([^?]*) index.php?_route_=$1 [L,QSA]
### Additional Settings that may need to be enabled for some servers
### Uncomment the commands by removing the # sign in front of it.
### If you get an "Internal Server Error 500" after enabling any of the following settings, restore the # as this means your host doesn't allow that.
# 1. If your cart only allows you to add one item at a time, it is possible register_globals is on. This may work to disable it:
# php_flag register_globals off
# 2. If your cart has magic quotes enabled, This may work to disable it:
# php_flag magic_quotes_gpc Off
# 3. Set max upload file size. Most hosts will limit this and not allow it to be overridden but you can try
# php_value upload_max_filesize 999M
# 4. set max post size. uncomment this line if you have a lot of product options or are getting errors where forms are not saving all fields
# php_value post_max_size 999M
# 5. set max time script can take. uncomment this line if you have a lot of product options or are getting errors where forms are not saving all fields
# php_value max_execution_time 200
# 6. set max time for input to be received. Uncomment this line if you have a lot of product options or are getting errors where forms are not saving all fields
# php_value max_input_time 200
# 7. disable open_basedir limitations
# php_admin_value open_basedir none
The .htaccess.txt file should be present in your store's root folder. If not, copy and paste the text above into a text editor and save it as ".htaccess". If the .htaccess.txt file is present, please change its name to ".htaccess". With the .htaccess file changed, you should be able to add unique SEO keywords to individual products, manufacturers, categories, and information pages.
The SEO keywords you add will be displayed in the url of the page, so they must be unique for each product, product category, etc. Let's see what happens when we add the SEO keyword, "nikon-camera", to our Nikon D300 product under the Data tab:
If our store is located at "www.mystore.com", the new URL of the Nikon D300 product page will be located at "www.mystore.com/nikon-camera". Overall, creating SEO keywords will clean up your store page's URL and optimize your page for search engines.