VBSEO Friendly Template or Skin

I've seen a couple of other posts and suggestions on the forum here, but...

My question is; is there any VBSEO friendly templates/skins that will require minimum modification to work with VBSEO. I've read where VBSEO doesn't actually change any existing vbulletin or skin templates, but will there be any additional work required if I install a new template?

I've also got a few mods installed like ultimate side columns and private message mod, will a skin mess with those mods?

Thanks in advance...

vBSEO will work with mostly every style. It just might not look correct if it is too custom of a style. You can see here to change the positioning on a few things: Replacement Variables used in vBSEO

I have seen Brian infer some templates are "not SEO friendly". Just what is SEO friendly anyway, Brian?

SEO-friendly generally encompasses:

• lightweight/fast load times / low filesize
• text replacement on important graphics like logos
• proper structure and semantic elements
• works when both css and js is off, albiet a 'less cool' version of working.
• validates to w3 standards
• use of headings on correct elements

Thanks for that Brian.

I would go as far to say that 99% of vBulletin styles out there will struggle to conform to that list and I doubt even vBulletins own default style hits that mark. I understand 4.0 will have more of a CSS based style which will be welcome.

While not wanting to hijack this thread, who can tell us which areas we should be looking at to improve conformability and I am talking specifics like headers, navbar, menus, etc...?

Cheers
Bruce

to be perfectly honest with you, i wouldn't waste your time until 4.0 comes out.

with updates every other month from vb lately, it's just not worth the time.

Funnily enough I need to eat my words! I put vbulletin.com/forum through the W3C validator and it passed with flying colors whereas my current forum style failed with a zillion errors.

I think you may be right Brian, it will be interesting to see what vB comes up with on the 4.0 style. I know a while ago there was a challenge to convert 3.x to a CSS based layout and no-one took it up....

Cheers
Bruce

i did it.
and 2 days later, vb put out a new version requiring 213421321 template reverts, so i said screw it and took down the project.

vbstandard.com was the place.
nothing left. i threw it all away.

Originally Posted by briansol

i did it.
and 2 days later, vb put out a new version requiring 213421321 template reverts, so i said screw it and took down the project.

vbstandard.com was the place.
nothing left. i threw it all away.

Lovely! That was nice of them.... I would've like to have seen that....

I have my own opinion how vB templates should be structured to make it easier for us plebs to enhance the look of our site. The current implementation is from way back in the vB 2.x days (and probably before) and holds on to old browser compatibility...

Cheers
Bruce