Can I SEO forum links, and is it worth risking my 615k pages in Google?

[buro9]

So I have two questions, first one is:

I want to optimise my forum links too, so that the names of the forums are not f11, etc but /belle-and-sebastian/, etc.

Is this possible? I noticed that it's not done on this site.

Second question:

I already have a Google Sitemap hack in place which has enabled me to go from 200k pages in Google to 615k pages in Google:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3Awww.bowlie.com

Is vBSEO worth risking that? And does vBSEO also generate a Google Sitemap and Yahoo link file?

Answers appreciated

[buro9]

Another question... I run my one site on 10 domains... take a look:
http://www.indiebabes.com/
http://www.bowlie.com/
http://www.bowlie.co.uk/
http://www.bowlie.org/

etc

As well as running secure versions of my domains:
https://www.bowlie.com/

Basically just parked domains sitting on my primary domain with a small hack in VB to keep things on a domain.

Does one site license fit all? One vb license does because it's the same installation. But what about vBSEO?

[Michael]

I think one license of vB SEO grants you to one installation. And since you are infact only installing it once there shouldnt be an issue with this.

[Juan Muriente]

Hello & welcome to the boards,

Yes, there's no problem with this kind of setup. However, I would strongly suggest against displaying the same data in multiple sites as this might be tagged as duplicate content by search engines.

I already have a Google Sitemap hack in place which has enabled me to go from 200k pages in Google to 615k pages in Google:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3Awww.bowlie.com

Expect a drop in the # of serps as your archives will be gone (http://www.google.com/search?hl=enl&...F+&btnG=Search) - However, by increasing link consensus towards your core threads, I'd expect higher relevancy/positioning for these pages.

[buro9]

Well, because of other licensing problems (things like Google Maps API keys, Google Analytics keys, etc)... I've changed my other domains to all be 301 redirects to the main domain, and am consolidating everything within that domain.

If I can work out how to force bowlie.com requests to www.bowlie.com I'll also do that.

The only thing that will remain is a SSL version of the site at the same URL... but the SSL thing shouldn't be flagged as duplicate at all if the rest of the URL is identical.

[Juan Muriente]

If I can work out how to force bowlie.com requests to www.bowlie.com I'll also do that.

vBSEO takes care of that ... make sure you are using 'www' in your (admincp) vBhome field and enable the following option via config_vbseo.php (at the very bottom)

define('VBSEO_CHECK_WWWDOMAIN', 0);

[Keith Cohen]

I didn't know that option was in there! Thanks for the info!

(I had manually added code to my root .htaccess to do the same thing.)

[Juan Muriente]

yes... it's still a beta function (we've found some issues specifically with non www sites), that's why we haven't incorporated it to the panel

[MMAFan]

Hello & welcome to the boards,

Yes, there's no problem with this kind of setup. However, I would strongly suggest against displaying the same data in multiple sites as this might be tagged as duplicate content by search engines.

So, Juan, you would recommend not to use several Domains pointing to one forum?

I'm using for example:
www.kampfkunst-board.info
www.kampfkunstforum.info
www.kampfsport-board.de

for my sites, pointing all to my forum and some others, pointing to special sub-sites around my forum.

What would you suggest in this case?

Sorry for posting in this thread, but I think it belongs to the topic.

[Pasali TJ]

First of all, I am really really amazed by this great hack..But, I have kind a same fear..My site is Tukforum.net..
Before I ask my silly questions, let me give you info about my site.. (I hope, I'm not being rude posting in pre-sales questiond as reply)

Page Ranking: 5
Google: 481.000 (members not included)
Yahoo: 78.800
Threads: 85,060, Posts: 1,355,215, Members: 144,429
Unique Visitors: +50.000 ( It was +90.000 with same indexed pages in google,I dont know how come it dropped like this)

And also, I am using special plug-in in order to direct robots not heavy style..You guys can see it from google caches..
---------

I am not about the money..If it gives me what I want,I will donate some or buy another one for my other forums but I want to clearify my mind before purchasing..(I will also request a pro who can install and setup in best way of this hack..)

1.When it is installed, can I use "my robots directing plug-in" again? (plug-in enables me to direct robots to specific style)
2.When it is installed, can I use advanced warning system hack?
3.When it is installed, am I going have problem while merging topics? (thare is going to be no tread id,I think)
4.When it is installed, is it going effect PR value?
5.When it is installed, how long estimatedly would it take to set up itself in best way for a PR 5 site? (so silly, i know )

[rob]

Pascali....

First of all, I would be careful and pay partcular attention to *how different* the pages a user sees and google sees. If they differ too much then you will likely be raising a few alarms and fall under the cloaking category.

You have a decent amount of content on your website and as such this will definitly improve your SEO by cutting out nearly all duplicate pages and improving your link structure. This should in turn channel Page Rank (PR) around your site more effectively.

To answer your questions:-

1.When it is installed, can I use "my robots directing plug-in" again? (plug-in enables me to direct robots to specific style)
2.When it is installed, can I use advanced warning system hack?
3.When it is installed, am I going have problem while merging topics? (thare is going to be no tread id,I think)
4.When it is installed, is it going effect Page Ranking value?
5.When it is installed, how long estimatedly would it take to set up itself in best way for a PR 5 site? (so silly, i know )

1. Probabally not, but why would you want it? You definitly dont need it with vBseo
2. I would think so.
3. No
4. It's a suprise Lets just say it wont go down... but it may notch you up a point.
5. I set mine up in 30 minutes..... you can do it in far less, but I like to test things to ensure nothing gets broken and in addition on my site I set-up vBseo far removed from the defaults, so I had to change a lot of settings.

I can see why you are concerned about your site and current rankings....

After all, you have a lot of pages, a lot of members and have put in lots of time.
With careful planning and implementation of this Mod, you have absolutly nothing to fear and everything to get excited about.

If you need any further advice or information to aid your purchase decision of vBseo then why not ask members here (like me) who have implemented this product who are at the end of the day unbiased and impartial.

Hope this helps you.

Rob
SEO Specialist

[dutchbb]

yeah I wouldn't use the cloaking, SE have to see what your human visitors see, not something totaly different. I used it for a while and noticed a pr drop at that time

You can however make guests see more keywords that you wouldn't be showing to members for instance, so SE see them too.

advanced warning system works with vbseo (I don't know any hacks that don't work with vbseo, and I use alot, even custom made ones)

[buro9]

I don't know any hacks that don't work with vbseo, and I use alot, even custom made ones

Apparently my hack for friendster style profile fields doesn't work with vbSEO.

It's why I don't SEO my members

This got reported to me way before I knew what vbSEO was, and I still have no idea what I would need to do to modify my hack to make it vbSEO friendly.

[rob]

You can however make guests see more keywords that you wouldn't be showing to members for instance, so SE see them too.

Since search engines will never be able to log-in, thats a good idea.... as long as you keep within the realms of usability and readability.

[Pasali TJ]

Thank you guys for helping

First of all, I would be careful and pay partcular attention to *how different* the pages a user sees and google sees. If they differ too much then you will likely be raising a few alarms and fall under the cloaking category.

I don't think it is a cloaking system because I give my users this option to choose that style..Or is it still cloaking? (i am not a expert)

1. Probabally not, but why would you want it? You definitly dont need it with vBseo

I am not sure on this because my default style is 354 KB (+350kb with images). How will vbseo decrease dizayn weight? As you guys can see, I have lots of forums..And, it is cousing the robots not to index/cache all main page. As I said, I am not expert but I want to be sure before taking further steps..