Feedback on site please

I have been working for a while on modifying the vBSEO Style 1.0 template so that it is even more SEO friendly. Some may argue that I have gone a little bit overboard (a tendency that I freely admit), but I think the forum is still usable for guests.

The functionality changes quite a bit when you register, as there was no real reason to remove excess functionality for SEO reasons.

As always if you think something sucks, please provide an alternative suggestion.

The site URL is spacedrecall.com

I think you should work on developing your own distinct color theme, and get a professional logo made.

That is in the works at the moment Joe, but I don't think it will have any SEO effect. Besides the colour scheme and logo, could you give me some feedback on the changes I have made for guests please?

Yes - I was just commenting on aesthetics, although that does impact your conversions from incoming search traffic.

Using the vBSEO style already gives you an advantage, since it is reduced in complexity, or "cleaner" as we often refer to it.

Check out this:
Your Site Review - Stuff to Do First

Joe, I have been through the entire list with the exception of slugs and having the new logo and look done.

Even with the clean vBSEO 1.0 Style, I felt that there were still a lot of distractions for primarily the bots but also for guests. So I have pretty much taken out everything that I didn't think was essential. Maybe a little bit overboard, but it will be interesting to see how it works.

I see. Personally, I'm also an advocate of the "stripped down" school of thought.

It's harder to test the impact of these optimizations on a new forum since it does not have an existing high traffic source or active user base that can be measured.

Note: On the homepage, you could really stand to get rid of the thread and post count columns as well.

Thanks for the suggestion Joe, I'll have a play with the FORUMHOME template.