Please Critique - iConvo.com

I've done a lot of the things suggested on vBSEO. I think it's time I went ahead and had a critique done.

Thanks, folks.

iConvo - Intelligent Conversations

Please and thanks!

A critique in exchange for a nice cyber pat on the back. Come on... you know you want it.

Hello,

Sorry For the delayed respond, I was so sick and thanks to GOD I am so much better now.

well, I reviewed your forum and here is my suggestions :

• Try to Validate all of your style pages (Forumhome ,Forumdisplay , Showthread etc ) : [Invalid] Markup Validation of http://iconvo.com/forum.php - W3C Markup Validator
• Try to use a CDN service (like MaxCDN.com) using vbseo CDN feature.
• Try to remove Calendar and FAQ only for guests (and any other section which is not important for guests and search engine robots)
• Try to use a forum url structure either with www or non-www (I suggest you to use non-WWW coz WWW is deprecated) >[How to] Setup www.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com (www vs. non-www) - With .htaccess 301 redirects
• Try to use a Robot.txt file . (Here is an example : robots.txt - 1 KB )
• Try to include only Showthread / forumdisplay / blog pages into vBSEO sitemap
• Try to submit your website in Directories like DMOZ.
• Have you disabled the vBulletin Archive ?

And you can also check your website here : WebPagetest - Website Performance and Optimization Test to test your pageload performance, google loves fast websites so always try to improve your forum's speed.

Goodluck

Regards,
Ali Chakery.

No problem on the delay. Glad you're feeling better!

• Try to Validate all of your style pages (Forumhome ,Forumdisplay , Showthread etc ) : [Invalid] Markup Validation of http://iconvo.com/forum.php - W3C Markup Validator Got it! I had already done it quite a few times but little things always creep back in. Amazon affiliate links seem to cause issues too... lots of them. Forum home is valid now!
• Try to use a CDN service (like MaxCDN.com) using vbseo CDN feature. I still don't know if this one is for me. I'm no techy and really couldn't predict what the monthly cost would end up being for me.
• Try to remove Calendar and FAQ only for guests (and any other section which is not important for guests and search engine robots) I've already done this for the most part. I do still need to hit FAQ and Calendar, though.
• Try to use a forum url structure either with www or non-www (I suggest you to use non-WWW coz WWW is deprecated) >[How to] Setup www.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com (www vs. non-www) - With .htaccess 301 redirects I'll tackle this later today.
• Try to use a Robot.txt file . (Here is an example : robots.txt - 1 KB ) I'll tackle this later today.
• Try to include only Showthread / forumdisplay / blog pages into vBSEO sitemap I did that already! Originally, I hadn't done it. But I found a thread on here showing ideal settings and I followed it. The only additional thing showing besides the three you mention are the CMS pages. Should I remove them? And what about the additional pages that were being shown when I first set up the sitemap? Do I have to do something to go in and remove them now that I don't include them anymore?
• Try to submit your website in Directories like DMOZ. I did that a couple of weeks ago. Still waiting to be shown, I guess.
• Have you disabled the vBulletin Archive ? Sure did! I followed almost all of the vBSEO stickies and that was one of them.

And you can also check your website here : WebPagetest - Website Performance and Optimization Testto test your pageload performance, google loves fast websites so always try to improve your forum's speed. I've ran this test before and I remember being confused on what was good and what was bad. Is there something I can compare my results to?

Thanks for all of the help!!!

Glad you're feeling better!

Thanks...

Forum home is valid now!

To be honest Forumhome is not enough cause the main content on your website is forums and threads, so try to validate them too.

I still don't know if this one is for me. I'm no techy and really couldn't predict what the monthly cost would end up being for me.

There is tow ways of installing a CDN service :
1.vBSEO plugin which is over easy.
2.Replacement Variables which is not hard.

I suggest you to take a look a MAXCDN.com , their prices are great regarding their support, the will charge you 39$ for 1TB of bandwidth / year. which is a affordable offer. (and the next year it will be 90$ which is still great)

I did that already! Originally, I hadn't done it. But I found a thread on here showing ideal settings and I followed it. The only additional thing showing besides the three you mention are the CMS pages. Should I remove them? And what about the additional pages that were being shown when I first set up the sitemap? Do I have to do something to go in and remove them now that I don't include them anymore?

No, Try to include CMS pages too cause they are important part of your website too.

I've ran this test before and I remember being confused on what was good and what was bad. Is there something I can compare my results to?

Well after the test try to click on the Grades on top of the page , then it will give you some information about what is done and what shuld be done,

Some of them are Server side and some of them are related to vBulletin .

for example your score is 75 based on below test (try to perform multiple tests to make sure of the results)
WebPagetest Test Result - Dulles : iconvo.com/ - 09/10/11 20:21:59

and here is my friend's Forum (Marvin.H. => Laptop GPS World) which has the best results I have ever seen :
WebPagetest Test Result - Dulles : laptopgpsworld.com - 09/10/11 20:25:17

you can compare your results with his forum's results.


Regards,
Ali Chakery.

Alright, good deal. Thanks a lot for your critique! I didn't mean that I only validated the forumhome. It's all I did today because the link brought up 4 errors that weren't there last time I did my own validation. But yes, of course, other pages need it too. Somewhere around vBSEO, there is a thread about it. I've followed it and will do so again to make periodic checks!

Thanks for the information on running the tests. That should definitely help me understand where I stand. I'm going to look deeper into the CDN services. Last time I went to the suggested site, I was confused about long term pricing and just left the site. I'll look closer and consider it this time.

Thanks again!

Its my pleasure helping you

And dont forget to use OFF-Browser Caching too, for example try to vboptimize product (at least the Free version which you can find it on vb.org) and also there a great caching option in MAXCDN.com CDN service which will help you so much.

Also try to search for a Javascript/CSS compressing and combining product on vb.org, none of my vbulletin forums are powered by vb4 so I dont know if such thing exists or not.

Good luck.


Regards,
Ali Chakery.