Something ain't right after 2½ years with vBSEO

Maybe I let it go too long, I don't know. I worked hard to follow good SEO practices, including installing vBSEO when my site was in its infancy. I saw a time when my Google Toolbar reported my rank on many pages as 3 or 4. Now I can't understand why my forums home page is at 1, my root is at 2. Other main pages, including About, Articles, How-To and Contact, are at PRZERO and only Reviews has managed a 1. All of these pages have seen PRs of 3 and 4 before. Several months ago they dropped when everyone else's PR dropped, but only by 1.

I checked the number of indexed pages and this is what I found:

• thefloorpro.com checked on Google = 15,500
• thefloorpro.com/community checked on Google = 16,100
• thefloorpro.com checked on Yahoo = 7,016
• thefloorpro.com/community checked on Yahoo = 6,477

That seems awfully low, but I do have several private forums with a lot of content. It's a professional forum that also caters to consumers and DIYers, so the pro sections will stay private. I have made it so search engines could see the forums and the titles of threads for key word relevancy, but I do block them from going further with the robots.txt file.

I don't know what I am doing wrong because I have tried hard to do everything right. I would appreciate any guidance here. The link to my domain root is The Floor Pro - sharing information & resources. Below, if it will help, are the contents of my .htaccess and robots.txt files.

.htaccess located in root:

Code:

ErrorDocument 403 http://www.thefloorpro.com/403.php
ErrorDocument 404 http://www.thefloorpro.com/404.php
ErrorDocument 500 http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/includes/database_error_page.html

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.thefloorpro.com/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^tfpcom.enterprisejm.net$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.tfpcom.enterprisejm.net$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.thefloorpro.com [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} "T /index.php"
RewriteRule index\.php$ http://www.thefloorpro.com/ [L,R=301]

#RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} .*jpg$|.*gif$|.*png$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|gif|png) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !afloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !1footinthegrave\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !jmfloorcovering\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !enterprisejm\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.thefloorpro.com/showpic.php?pic=$1 [L]

RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap_).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ community/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !community/
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ community/vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&vbseorelpath=../&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://(www\.)?1millionblogs\.biz [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/403\.html$
RewriteRule .* - [F]

<Files 403.php>
order allow,deny
allow from all
</Files>

deny from 65.39.72.142
deny from forum.18sex18.info
deny from spyfu.com
deny from spycamgirl.info
deny from cheap-24h.com
deny from fillbest.com
deny from infostore.org
deny from dearcomputer.nl
deny from 1mml.biz
deny from voyeurez.tv
deny from buyultramnow.com
deny from turnitin.com
deny from onlinehome-server.com
deny from 68.57.62.139

.htaccess located at root/community

Code:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteBase /community
RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|gif|png) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !enterprisejm\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /showpic.php?pic=community/$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} (chiefcp|staffcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !chat
RewriteRule ^(.*\.php)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.thefloorpro\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/$1 [L,R=301]

robots.txt located in root:

Code:

User-agent: GoogleBot
Disallow: /website_map.php
Disallow: /403.html
Disallow: /404.html
Disallow: /errordocument.html
Disallow: /showpic.php
Disallow: /community/the-business-end-of-floorcovering-business/*
Disallow: /community/carpet-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/sheet-vinyl-rubber-and-vct-sales-installations/*
Disallow: /community/hardwood-and-laminate-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/ceramic-and-stone-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/flooring-inspection-services/*
Disallow: /community/cleaning-and-restoration-services/*
Disallow: /community/industry-training-and-organizations/*
Disallow: /community/cfi/*
Disallow: /community/fits-certified/*
Disallow: /community/building-bridges/*
Disallow: /community/computer-related-discussion/*
Disallow: /community/serious-discussion-about-nothing-important/
Disallow: /community/a-floor-pro-comedy-tour/
Disallow: /community/test-forum/
Disallow: /community/archive/
Disallow: /community/chiefcp/
Disallow: /community/announcement.php
Disallow: /community/attachment.php
Disallow: /community/calendar.php?do=add
Disallow: /community/cron.php
Disallow: /community/editpost.php
Disallow: /community/joinrequests.php
Disallow: /community/login.php
Disallow: /community/memberlist.php
Disallow: /community/misc.php
Disallow: /community/staffcp/
Disallow: /community/moderator.php
Disallow: /community/newreply.php
Disallow: /community/newthread.php
Disallow: /community/online.php
Disallow: /community/payments.php
Disallow: /community/poll.php
Disallow: /community/postings.php
Disallow: /community/printthread.php
Disallow: /community/private.php
Disallow: /community/profile.php
Disallow: /community/register.php
Disallow: /community/report.php
Disallow: /community/reputation.php
Disallow: /community/sendtofriend.php
Disallow: /community/search.php
Disallow: /community/sendmessage.php
Disallow: /community/showgroups.php
Disallow: /community/showpost.php
Disallow: /community/subscription.php
Disallow: /community/subscriptions.php
Disallow: /community/threadrate.php
Disallow: /community/usercp.php

User-agent: GoogleBot-Image
Disallow: /website_map.php
Disallow: /403.html
Disallow: /404.html
Disallow: /errordocument.html
Disallow: /showpic.php
Disallow: /community/the-business-end-of-floorcovering-business/*
Disallow: /community/carpet-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/sheet-vinyl-rubber-and-vct-sales-installations/*
Disallow: /community/hardwood-and-laminate-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/ceramic-and-stone-sales-and-installations/*
Disallow: /community/flooring-inspection-services/*
Disallow: /community/cleaning-and-restoration-services/*
Disallow: /community/industry-training-and-organizations/*
Disallow: /community/cfi/*
Disallow: /community/fits-certified/*
Disallow: /community/building-bridges/*
Disallow: /community/computer-related-discussion/*
Disallow: /community/serious-discussion-about-nothing-important/
Disallow: /community/a-floor-pro-comedy-tour/
Disallow: /community/test-forum/
Disallow: /community/archive/
Disallow: /community/chiefcp/
Disallow: /community/announcement.php
Disallow: /community/attachment.php
Disallow: /community/calendar.php?do=add
Disallow: /community/cron.php
Disallow: /community/editpost.php
Disallow: /community/joinrequests.php
Disallow: /community/login.php
Disallow: /community/memberlist.php
Disallow: /community/misc.php
Disallow: /community/staffcp/
Disallow: /community/moderator.php
Disallow: /community/newreply.php
Disallow: /community/newthread.php
Disallow: /community/online.php
Disallow: /community/payments.php
Disallow: /community/poll.php
Disallow: /community/postings.php
Disallow: /community/printthread.php
Disallow: /community/private.php
Disallow: /community/profile.php
Disallow: /community/register.php
Disallow: /community/report.php
Disallow: /community/reputation.php
Disallow: /community/sendtofriend.php
Disallow: /community/search.php
Disallow: /community/sendmessage.php
Disallow: /community/showgroups.php
Disallow: /community/showpost.php
Disallow: /community/subscription.php
Disallow: /community/subscriptions.php
Disallow: /community/threadrate.php
Disallow: /community/usercp.php

User-agent: Slurp
Disallow: /website_map.php
Disallow: /403.html
Disallow: /404.html
Disallow: /errordocument.html
Disallow: /showpic.php
Disallow: /community/the-business-end-of-floorcovering-business/
Disallow: /community/carpet-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/sheet-vinyl-rubber-and-vct-sales-installations/
Disallow: /community/hardwood-and-laminate-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/ceramic-and-stone-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/flooring-inspection-services/
Disallow: /community/cleaning-and-restoration-services/
Disallow: /community/industry-training-and-organizations/
Disallow: /community/cfi/
Disallow: /community/fits-certified/
Disallow: /community/building-bridges/
Disallow: /community/computer-related-discussion/
Disallow: /community/serious-discussion-about-nothing-important/
Disallow: /community/a-floor-pro-comedy-tour/
Disallow: /community/test-forum/
Disallow: /community/archive/
Disallow: /community/chiefcp/
Disallow: /community/announcement.php
Disallow: /community/attachment.php
Disallow: /community/calendar.php?do=add
Disallow: /community/cron.php
Disallow: /community/editpost.php
Disallow: /community/joinrequests.php
Disallow: /community/login.php
Disallow: /community/memberlist.php
Disallow: /community/misc.php
Disallow: /community/staffcp/
Disallow: /community/moderator.php
Disallow: /community/newreply.php
Disallow: /community/newthread.php
Disallow: /community/online.php
Disallow: /community/payments.php
Disallow: /community/poll.php
Disallow: /community/postings.php
Disallow: /community/printthread.php
Disallow: /community/private.php
Disallow: /community/profile.php
Disallow: /community/register.php
Disallow: /community/report.php
Disallow: /community/reputation.php
Disallow: /community/sendtofriend.php
Disallow: /community/search.php
Disallow: /community/sendmessage.php
Disallow: /community/showgroups.php
Disallow: /community/showpost.php
Disallow: /community/subscription.php
Disallow: /community/subscriptions.php
Disallow: /community/threadrate.php
Disallow: /community/usercp.php

User-agent: *
Disallow: /403.html
Disallow: /404.html
Disallow: /errordocument.html
Disallow: /showpic.php
Disallow: /community/the-business-end-of-floorcovering-business/
Disallow: /community/carpet-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/sheet-vinyl-rubber-and-vct-sales-installations/
Disallow: /community/hardwood-and-laminate-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/ceramic-and-stone-sales-and-installations/
Disallow: /community/flooring-inspection-services/
Disallow: /community/cleaning-and-restoration-services/
Disallow: /community/industry-training-and-organizations/
Disallow: /community/cfi/
Disallow: /community/fits-certified/
Disallow: /community/building-bridges/
Disallow: /community/computer-related-discussion/
Disallow: /community/serious-discussion-about-nothing-important/
Disallow: /community/a-floor-pro-comedy-tour/
Disallow: /community/test-forum/
Disallow: /community/archive/
Disallow: /community/chiefcp/
Disallow: /community/announcement.php
Disallow: /community/attachment.php
Disallow: /community/calendar.php?do=add
Disallow: /community/cron.php
Disallow: /community/editpost.php
Disallow: /community/joinrequests.php
Disallow: /community/login.php
Disallow: /community/memberlist.php
Disallow: /community/misc.php
Disallow: /community/staffcp/
Disallow: /community/moderator.php
Disallow: /community/newreply.php
Disallow: /community/newthread.php
Disallow: /community/online.php
Disallow: /community/payments.php
Disallow: /community/poll.php
Disallow: /community/postings.php
Disallow: /community/printthread.php
Disallow: /community/private.php
Disallow: /community/profile.php
Disallow: /community/register.php
Disallow: /community/report.php
Disallow: /community/reputation.php
Disallow: /community/sendtofriend.php
Disallow: /community/search.php
Disallow: /community/sendmessage.php
Disallow: /community/showgroups.php
Disallow: /community/showpost.php
Disallow: /community/subscription.php
Disallow: /community/subscriptions.php
Disallow: /community/threadrate.php
Disallow: /community/usercp.php

If any vBSEO staff needs special access, just let me know.

Thanks,

Jim

Some starter questions:

• What has been your traffic pattern from the start? How has it been for the last 6 months?
• Did you make any changes that you recall 1-3 months before the drop in PR you noticed occurred?
• Did you see a reduction in links to your site? Have you been purchasing links, or building links in any non-relevant websites?
• Why are you blocking some of your forum categories in robots.txt?
• Have you experienced any downtime in the last year of more than 1 hour?
• How is your long tail today versus 1 year ago?
• Did you make any changes to your style in the last year?

your root htaccess file has some issues.
You should only have "rewriteengine on" ONCE per file, and i'd re-organize some things and combine some rules for your other domains from one bye one into "Not the main domain"


try this:

Code:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /

ErrorDocument 403 http://www.thefloorpro.com/403.php
ErrorDocument 404 http://www.thefloorpro.com/404.php
ErrorDocument 500 http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/includes/database_error_page.html

<Files 403.php>
order allow,deny
allow from all
</Files>

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://(www\.)?1millionblogs\.biz [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/403\.html$
RewriteRule .* - [F]

deny from 65.39.72.142
deny from forum.18sex18.info
deny from spyfu.com
deny from spycamgirl.info
deny from cheap-24h.com
deny from fillbest.com
deny from infostore.org
deny from dearcomputer.nl
deny from 1mml.biz
deny from voyeurez.tv
deny from buyultramnow.com
deny from turnitin.com
deny from onlinehome-server.com
deny from 68.57.62.139


RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.thefloorpro.com/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} "T /index.php"
RewriteRule index\.php$ http://www.thefloorpro.com/ [L,R=301]

#RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} .*jpg$|.*gif$|.*png$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|gif|png) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !afloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !1footinthegrave\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !jmfloorcovering\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !enterprisejm\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.thefloorpro.com/showpic.php?pic=$1 [L]

RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap_).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ community/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !community/
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ community/vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&vbseorelpath=../&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

and i'd also do 1 more swap in your community htaccess, putting the domain directive at the top (no sense in processing it if its an add-on/parked domain )

(note, i XXXXXed out your CP's. you might want to do the same above, and in your robots file. NEVER 'block' a secuirity/admin directory via robots, as you just told would-be hackers where it is.)

Code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /community


RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.thefloorpro\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/$1 [L,R=301]



RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|gif|png) [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !thefloorpro\.net [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !enterprisejm\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /showpic.php?pic=community/$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} (XXXXXcp|XXXXcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !chat
RewriteRule ^(.*\.php)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1&%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

That said, none of that really has anything to do with PR.

PR is all about links-in. If a lot of your good content is hidden, it's probably not getting linked to.

Further, I would NEVER judge a site by PR. It's the most over-rated figure in all web statistics ever. It borderlines on useless.

I have several threads that have over 100,000 views, 1000 linkbacks that i never approved, and are PR 0 or 1.

Originally Posted by Joe Ward

• What has been your traffic pattern from the start? How has it been for the last 6 months?

Hard to say about "from the start". The site is 2 yrs, 5 mos old (almost) and I believe I installed vBSEO after the first month. My host at that time was 1&1.com and the reports I got from them I think were highly inflated (showing up to 1,000 uniques a day, etc.). Here is a cropped screen capture from our new server's AWStats report moments ago. I have been on this new server, hosted in a VPS environment by KnownHost, since the middle of April:

• Did you make any changes that you recall 1-3 months before the drop in PR you noticed occurred?

Nothing significant. I may have added a couple of forums in the private section.

• Did you see a reduction in links to your site? Have you been purchasing links, or building links in any non-relevant websites?

Google shows only 24 links to my site, but there are a number of my members who link to my site from theirs - none of those links show in the Google results though. I have checked the links my members put in their sites and they all work. I also have several websites I have built and always include links to TFP in them - none of them show in the Google results either.

I do not purchase links. I can't afford it, even if it were beneficial. There are, among the google results, a number of links to TFP from other websites, such as vBSEO, that I have included a link to TFP in my signature, but that's a relatively small handful of support forums.

• Why are you blocking some of your forum categories in robots.txt?

I am only blocking access to forums that are private and for professionals only. I do not block access to the categories or the forum list or the thread titles in the forums, only the content within the threads. Those forums are for professionals only. If I do not allow unregistered visitors to see them, then pros checking the site out will not have incentive to join.

• Have you experienced any downtime in the last year of more than 1 hour?

No, except for the period of time it took to switch servers. Many of my members were able to log in within a couple of hours, some not for about a day.

• How is your long tail today versus 1 year ago?

Sorry, I am sure I should know what that means, but I don't. I s'pose I am your average non-seo savvy webmaster that has maybe relied too much on the abilities of vBSEO to manage that. I have made many attempts to improve my SEO, but these are hit and miss, I'm sure. The terminology, "long tail", is unfamiliar to me.

• Did you make any changes to your style in the last year?

None, but I am working on a new style that I hope will be lighter in file sizes and code bloat. It's a long way from ready for prime time though. I had planned to roll it out for 3.7.x, but my life has many obstacles.

I hope those answers help you help me.

Jim

Originally Posted by briansol

your root htaccess file has some issues.
You should only have "rewriteengine on" ONCE per file, and i'd re-organize some things and combine some rules for your other domains from one bye one into "Not the main domain"

and i'd also do 1 more swap in your community htaccess, putting the domain directive at the top (no sense in processing it if its an add-on/parked domain )

(note, i XXXXXed out your CP's. you might want to do the same above, and in your robots file. NEVER 'block' a secuirity/admin directory via robots, as you just told would-be hackers where it is.)

That said, none of that really has anything to do with PR.

PR is all about links-in. If a lot of your good content is hidden, it's probably not getting linked to.

Further, I would NEVER judge a site by PR. It's the most over-rated figure in all web statistics ever. It borderlines on useless.

I have several threads that have over 100,000 views, 1000 linkbacks that i never approved, and are PR 0 or 1.

Thank you for the guidance. I have made the changes you recommended.

I have approved quite a few linkbacks and my pro members have linked to information in the private forums on other pro forums, which have members who are also my members. The error message unregistered or not logged in members will get has information about the private forums and a link to log in or register. I still don't understand how I can have so many links on member websites that aren't shown in Google - these links are to either the TFP root or the forums home page (I try to get them to link only to the root, but people don't always do what you ask them to).

I'm sure you understand that many webmasters do place some importance on PR, even if we've been told a hundred times it's not a good indicator. The thing is, it is a visual indication that we're doing something that has value. It's measured in numbers from 0 - 10 and we all wanna be a 10. It's a natural instinct and no amount of prodding and warnings will completely remove our furtive glances to that meter.

Thanks for the help and I hope more is coming that will help me improve on the success of TFP. One measure of that success has been the increase in income from Adsense. I am now averaging $140.00 per month, which has increased from just a few months ago when the average was 2 - 3 months to get a check that size. It's still pretty tiny, but I don't do a lot of ad placements on the site. That will change with the new design.

Jim

spend a few min on this thread on the links out from it.
Is Page Rank Important - SEO Chat

it may change your mind a little bit

You won't ever be a 10. i think only google.com itself is a 10.
yahoo is a 9
msn is an 8
the largest forum on vbulletin (According to big-boards.com Offtopic.com )is a PR4.

I was being facetious, Brian. It's like wanting to be the most handsome man in the universe. First, it's an unattainable goal, second, looks ain't that important. But I still like it when girls tell me I look good or I catch them checkin' me out when they think I ain't lookin'. 'Course, it's been a long time since any of that has happened, but I still wanna be a 10. WINK, WINK! (in case you didn't notice my little wink smilie before)

heh, i'm happy with being a 5 lol

Understanding Google PageRank Versus Pure "Link Value" - vBulletin SEO Forums

You're not using Google Analytics?

Here's some info about the long tail. It's really just "how many different keywords are you getting hits from":
What is the Search Long Tail? - vBulletin SEO Forums

Here is how to measure it:
Measuring Your Long Tail - vBulletin SEO Forums

Just to be sure, you might want to ask your host if they block any search crawlers like Googlebot. I do not think that is the problem; however your server move could have had some sort of impact.
Highly Traffic Drop

Have you lost any traffic?

Originally Posted by briansol

Further, I would NEVER judge a site by PR. It's the most over-rated figure in all web statistics ever. It borderlines on useless.

Only second to Alexa rankings!

Originally Posted by Joe Ward

You're not using Google Analytics?

Yes, I am. Was there specific information you wanted from it?

Here's some info about the long tail.

Thanks for the info. I have a lot to learn.

Just to be sure, you might want to ask your host if they block any search crawlers like Googlebot. I do not think that is the problem; however your server move could have had some sort of impact.

KnownHost doesn't block any crawlers unless I ask them to. I am on a VPS and it is managed when I ask them to help, otherwise, they stay away.

Have you lost any traffic?

Well, according to the statistics I showed above, not much. I checked the posting stats on my forums for member activity comparisons:

JAN 2007 av 50 - JAN 2008 av 60
MAY 2007 av 50 - MAY 2008 av 66
AUG 2007 av 53 - AUG 2008 av 59
SEP 2007 av 51 - SEP 2008 av 47

Activity seems to have reduced the last couple of months. However, registrations are increasing. I averaged 57 per month the first year, 65 the second and in the last 5 months, the average registrations are 74 per month. That is far less than I had hoped for, but it is a niche site and growth is positive. I try to compare my activity levels to a few other flooring forums and we are doing much, much better than them (all have been in operation for more than 5 years - one of them since 1999). But I have a couple of members who say there are other flooring forums, even more specific than mine (only ceramic, only hardwood, etc.) that are a lot more active than mine.

So, maybe I am just being a little depressed because I listen to the crap on TV while I am working on my sites (I have several blogs too), but I think my flooring forum should be doing better. Lots better.

Thanks,

Jim

I prefer Google Analytics. I mentioned it since you posted a shot of your AWStats.

Glad to see that thinks seem to be stable for you, although I understand you would like to see more growth.

Has hits from search engines dropped at all, as noted in Analytics?

I think you're at a critical point where you need to weigh and consider your content/search traffic VS a closed community to professionals only.


Opening your site up WILL get you a significant traffic bump in short time, which will only exponentially increase your posts/regis.

But, does it come at a risk to your community/sense of privacy?

Originally Posted by Joe Ward

Has hits from search engines dropped at all, as noted in Analytics?

No, in fact, they have generally improved over time.

• May 2007: 2,027 (31%) | 2008: 10,541 (57%)
• Jun 2007: 2,593 (34%) | 2008: 9,550 (60%)
• Jul 2007: 4,045 (42%) | 2008: 13,111 (64%)
• Aug 2007: 4,002 (44%) | 2008: 12,729 (61%)
• Sep 2007: 4,998 (46%) | 2008: 13,274 (62%)

So, it appears I was just being a little worried for nothing?

Originally Posted by briansol

I think you're at a critical point where you need to weigh and consider your content/search traffic VS a closed community to professionals only.


Opening your site up WILL get you a significant traffic bump in short time, which will only exponentially increase your posts/regis.

But, does it come at a risk to your community/sense of privacy?

It is primarily a support forum for professionals. There is a good selection of forums and features available to the consumer/DIYer, but the majority of focus is on the pro. It's unique and most of the original members voted to have private forums for pros only. Very few people have asked for open forums - usually only those who don't like that we have taken a lot of traffic away from other pro oriented forums that have no privacy.

The privacy aspect is important. Opening it up would be similar to advertising in the local paper that the staff meetings at the near-by flooring store are now open to the public, including talks about how to deal with difficult customers, how prices for products and services are determined and other sensitive and confidential information.

What I really want is to have a popular site for pros, easy to use, get more traffic from consumers and earn more income from Google (and other sources). I am working on a new site design that I think will have a positive effect. I'm looking for more areas of improvement too.

Thanks for the help here. I appreciate it.

Jim

If your traffic keeps moving up and your concerns are only related to visible toolbar PageRank, then you don't have anything to worry about.

From what you describe, it sounds like it's just more general marketing that you need to do some brainstorming in now. Listen to Brian particularly when it comes to how to turn that traffic you are getting into greater revenue sources.