Today many sites are using Content Management Systems (CMS) in order to make it easy to do site updates and add new content, but one should not forget that many of these CMS activities can actually harm and even destroy a site’s rankings, if the CMS is not installed and used properly.

Once you decide to switch to a CMS make sure that the old URLs are redirected, using 301 permanent redirection to the newer URLs. If possible, retain the existing URL paths.

Choose your CMS carefully, as there are many Content Management Systems that create a site structure with very unfriendly URLs and that contain a number of special characters.

Devote some time to find a system that will offer clean simple URL strings with minimal extra characters. This will help in retaining the current rankings of the site.

The ideal CMS should be one that allows editing of all aspects of a given page like Meta Tags, Alt tags, Footer etc.

A good, search-engine-friendly CMS is money well spent, especially if you are interested in maintaining and improving your existing rankings.