Change URL structure on established forum?

[jca]

So I know the long standing advice is to never change the url (structure, rewrite, etc.) on an established forum:

Changing URL rewrite rules on established sites is a huge mistake and we always suggest not to do it

Is this still the case? I also see threads here mentioning how SEO titles in urls aren't as much a factor anymore with Google as long as it sees the content, you eliminate duplicates, etc.

We are updating our established forum and taking a look at options related to vBulletin again, including using vbSEO. We've never used vbSEO, and we've never implemented any of vBulletin 4's built-in "friendly url" settings -- we are still using the standard showthread.php?t=8675309 default vB link structure as we always have.

What results (good or bad) can we expect if we change our url structure (say, to a SEO title based via vbSEO) on all those existing thread links? Is it really not worth the risk? Would like to update all those link urls to get the thread title in the url, but if it's only cosmetic with no real benefit and/or does short term or long term harm, we obviously wouldn't do it. We'd also like to work to eliminate any unnecessary pages from indexing, etc. which is why we're looking at vbSEO. What do you think?

Appreciate any help/info/suggestions.

[Rafael Benard]

So I know the long standing advice is to never change the url (structure, rewrite, etc.) on an established forum:



Is this still the case? I also see threads here mentioning how SEO titles in urls aren't as much a factor anymore with Google as long as it sees the content, you eliminate duplicates, etc.

We are updating our established forum and taking a look at options related to vBulletin again, including using vbSEO. We've never used vbSEO, and we've never implemented any of vBulletin 4's built-in "friendly url" settings -- we are still using the standard showthread.php?t=8675309 default vB link structure as we always have.

What results (good or bad) can we expect if we change our url structure (say, to a SEO title based via vbSEO) on all those existing thread links? Is it really not worth the risk? Would like to update all those link urls to get the thread title in the url, but if it's only cosmetic with no real benefit and/or does short term or long term harm, we obviously wouldn't do it. We'd also like to work to eliminate any unnecessary pages from indexing, etc. which is why we're looking at vbSEO. What do you think?

Appreciate any help/info/suggestions.

Well, the main problem is with the duplicates, if you change your current url scheme or you change it too often, you can get a duplicated URL problem with google (just to mention one) and that alone it's very bad.

Now, since you've never used vBSEO or the friendly url's of vB you'll not have any problem switching your current URL scheme over vBSEO, that's because with vBSEO you'll do a clean 301 permanent redirection to the new URLs, so that means that when Google goes to your url will see the new vBSEO'ed url's and will know that it's the same link but with a new and enhanced structure.

For the users the benefit it's just a cosmethic one, as they'll see the titles at the urls, etc., but for the webmaster it's an almost instant benefit and also, a very good investment for the long term.

Recommendation: Use vBSEO, the sooner the better here, as you can enjoy and see the results of using it, and you will not have any problem with google, all the opposite, google will crawl the site a lot better.

Rafael

[ploph1x]

What's the difference between changing the URL structure of showthread.php?t=[thread_id]
and changing the URL structure of any current set up URL structure? (for example: f[forum_id]/[thread_title]-[thread_id])

I am sorry but I just don't get it.
Why changing current ruleset will break my indexed pages while setting it up first time will not break it?

[Rafael Benard]

What's the difference between changing the URL structure of showthread.php?t=[thread_id]
and changing the URL structure of any current set up URL structure? (for example: f[forum_id]/[thread_title]-[thread_id])

Well, the main change here is that the dynamic urls, apart from a lot of things don’t, contain relevant keywords, also they’re more prone to creating duplicate content because of their bad structure and most important they tend to be less user-friendly (lower click-through).

The URL of a web document should ideally be as descriptive and brief as possible. If, for example, a site's structure has several levels of files and navigation, the URL should reflect this with folders and subfolders. Individual pages' URLs should also be descriptive without being overly lengthy, so that a visitor who sees only the URL could have a good idea of what to expect on the page. The main benefits are from the semantic, the anchor text possibility with Google and the relevancy that they may have.

I am sorry but I just don't get it.
Why changing current ruleset will break my indexed pages while setting it up first time will not break it?

Well, that isn't 100% a rule, let me explain, when you setup a vB forum the urls are the normal vB ones, like showthread.php, etc., which parses the main script, so when you install vBSEO, the .htaccess file as well as the vBSEO script contain rules that the Crawlers, such as google, will identify as permanent redirections, so when they go to the showthread urls they'll see the new urls and they'll save it overwriting the old one without any damage in the SEO.

Now, if you do that again, you can create your own permanent redirections, however, you could get sandboxed if you do that too often, and also, that isn't a recommendation because creating multiple redirections it's harmfull for any website, specially for forums.

Being said that, you can always change your vBSEO urls as many times as you want, however, you'll have to create new redirections from the old urls structures to the new ones, and also, you'll have to expect how much that can harm the SEO of the website. Because of that, we don't recommend or support that procedure.

Rafael

[ploph1x]

So you mean the problem here is adding an additional redirection which can be harmful to SEO.
OK, I got you.

Let me ask you a question:

I am running the following URL structure for years on my showthread pages:
f[forum_id]/t[thread_id]/

All I want is to add [thread_title] so the URL structure will be:
f[forum_id]/[thread_title]-t[thread_id]/


I don't have any inurl:showthread.php indexed. All my indexed URL are rewritten.

What do you recommend me to do? Give up on having [thread_title] on my URL structure?

[Rafael Benard]

So you mean the problem here is adding an additional redirection which can be harmful to SEO.
OK, I got you.

Let me ask you a question:

I am running the following URL structure for years on my showthread pages:
f[forum_id]/t[thread_id]/

All I want is to add [thread_title] so the URL structure will be:
f[forum_id]/[thread_title]-t[thread_id]/


I don't have any inurl:showthread.php indexed. All my indexed URL are rewritten.

What do you recommend me to do? Give up on having [thread_title] on my URL structure?

In this particular case, you could add it since there's no title's data in the URL apart from the ID, we've some recommended rules at the vBSEO rewrite rules which we've found, over years of research, testing and development of SEO that are the best ones for most of the forums.

In any case, I would preffer to stick with the current URL, as changing that would break the SEO value of the indexing that's in over the time, assuming that the forum have years, but in any case, you can try the change and test the performance, however, changing the URL constantly may cause the sandboxing sandbox with Google.

Also, please check the ticket for another update.

Rafael

[ploph1x]

If I have to change the domain name of my website, is it ok to change the URL structure too?

[Brandon Sheley]

You don't want to every change your URL's if you can help it, so if you are going to change them now then make sure it's going to be only time you'll change them. You can build a new sitemap and link it to google, you can setup 301 redirects for all old links, this will help you get reindexed but you will take a hit for a few months after changing your setup.