Every day I read and hear a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEF (Search Engine Friendly) urls.

For me the number one question is "are the urls HEF (Human Ear Friendly)?"

What does that mean and why should you care?

Google have several excellent recommendations for your urls and although they come close to explaining HEF they don't go all the way.

When I am on the telephone, in a crowded bar or at a Joomla!Day I want, no I need, to be able to tell you exactly which page to go to on my web site.

Can you really imagine this conversation having a positive outcome

1. Q. When is the next meeting?
2. A. Sorry I don't remember
3. Q. Is it on the web site?
4. A. Oh yes, so it is, you can go to www.example.com/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&view=calendar&Itemid=87

Wouldn't it be so better if the conversation was

1. Q. Is it on the web site?
2. A. Yes you can go to www.example.com/meetings

Don't believe me? Just try it for yourself.

Pick up your cell and "phone a friend" and see which url they remember.

HEF urls really are the most important thing for me and that is why I always use sh404sef on my sites.

By default the sh404sef created urls satisfy all the advice that google gave and when I want to really tweak a url to give it maximum HEF then I can do that in a few clicks.

I've been banging on about making your urls HEF for a few years now and although the acronym hasn't taken off the principle has become commonplace.

When you need to download Joomla you don't have to remember http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomla/frs/ - instead all you have to remember is www.joomla.org/download.html.

The first link does satisfy google's advice for URL structure but I challenge you to remember that url and even if you can remember it do you think you can tell it to a friend.

So the next time you build a web site think about making your urls HEF.

Of course he does. If he still has time to use the net then it's a fairly safe bet that at some point he will visit a joomla powered web site.

With Joomla being used by the UN, National Governments, leading NPO's and US Senators and Governors he surely must.

But that isn't what this blog post is really all about or why there is a photo of lion accompanying this blog post.

The power of the headline

Many years ago I used to teach a course on propaganda and it's role in the press. Since then tabloid journalism and bloggers have raised the art of writing a headline to new levels.

With the advent of RSS readers, twitter and google alerts your headline is often the only opportunity that you have to grab the readers attention and get them to read on. Without that snappy headline it really doesn't matter what else that you write as no one will see them.

A good headline must grab the attention of the reader without telling them the whole story.

1. "Portsmouth wins the FA cup"
2. "Portsmouth face last minute nerves in FA Cup"

See the difference?

Let's take another more extreme example of how a headline can be used.

A man visiting New York Zoo see a lion grab a little girl through the railings. He runs up to the lion and punches it hard on the nose and the lion let's go. The parents run up to the man and offer their thanks. Whilst thanking him they started chatting about the patches on his leather jacket.

The next day the NY press headline read

"Gang member assaults African immigrant and steals his lunch"

On a more joomla related note last month I wrote a blog post titled "Joomla warez and downloads", which now ranks very highly on google, about my experience in Thailand in 2001.

But the more observant amongst you may have recognised the article as one that had appeared previously on the blog under a different headline entitled "Copyright, theft and encryption".

I'll leave it to you to decide which of these two blog posts has been read the most.