Microsoft Sharepoint 2007

Question about URLs and Effect on SEO

[edrews16]

Hello! I was doing a little bit of research today on Microsoft Sharepoint 2007 today. One of my clients is thinking about using it to develop their new website.

I did read something that you would have to use an "outside URL writer." From what I can find, it seems like the URLs should be ok from an SEO standpoint, but I am not very experienced with the more techinical stuff so I was wondering if anyone has heard different? Or any other opinions on it? Sorry for being so vague. I would really appreciate any opinions - positive or negative.

Thank you so much for your help!

[wardbekker]

At the company I work, they tried to use the current stable version of sharepoint as the fundation of a public website. After some weeks messing around, we started looking to alternatives like Dot Net Nuke, because it is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole as obvious stuff like changing the style of the website can be pretty complex.

[edrews16]

Thank you for your help, Wardbekker!

So from your experience, it is not the friendliest program to work with because you have to adhere to the Sharepoint template to some extent?

[wardbekker]

Let me put it this way; your client should be aware that there are some advantages by using sharepoint, but you pay for it by losing flexibility, for example, the current sharepoint (i do not know about version 7) is not specifically designed for full cross browser functionality and good visibility for search engines (SEO). If you want to make up for that by custom programming the "missing" parts, prepare for some steep learning curve, because sharepoint is complex (overly complex in my humble opinion). I'm not talking about creating custom web-parts, that is not that difficult.

[edrews16]

Okay. Thanks for the heads up!