Hello

Hello. I am a researcher who studies knowledge management and social media, including group interactions on web message boards. I also run a group blog (currently, on Wordpress) and am investigating switching it over to forum software.

Overall, I'm happy with the group blog except for one major issue--how hard it is for new users to sign up as authors (not just commenters). That would be the major advantage of a web message board.

We're still trying to decide if it would be worth the hassle of a major transition (and the additional cost). If we do switch, I'm interested in something like vBSEO because I believe in the power of name-not-number URLs for SEO.

Welcome to vBSEO Steven

Welcome to vBSEO.com

Hi Steven,

A blog is a 1 to MANY transaction, with you as the publisher (1) with the possibility of many readers with highly restricted 2-way communication. I.e. as you noted, blog comments.

A forum on the other hand completely opens up the communication to a MANY to MANY communication channel, with everyone capable of playing the dual role of both publisher and reader, under the guidance of the moderating/admin team.

Since you're interested in social media, I'm sure are probably already aware of the pros and cons of each type of system.

Our software is designed solely for vBulletin forums; however, it's true power comes in a many to many communication environment (such as forums provide), taking advantage of the mass user generated content, and causing a sitewide optimization effect that can create dramatic search engine results improvement.

In this sense, the benefits you get have greater implications that just the beautification of the URLs, although I agree that it looks much more presentable.

Here is more on link consensus:
Pin the Tail on the SEO Donkey (with Link Consensus)!

Here is discussion on the search long tail. We hope to have a more formal article on this topic soon:
the long tail

If you are interested in the role SEO plays, either for your own site, or simply in the context of knowledge management, you've come to the right place.

Welcome aboard.