Need SEO tips from SEO guru regarding migration to Vb4+VBseo from smf

Hi,


Here I need some advice from vBseo experts who are dealing with SEO from long regarding a SMF forum conversion to vbseo+vb4 suit
I have been using SMF and have some sort of experience in SEO and to my level best I did SEO in it and turned out to be successful than any other SMF forum, infact I find that any other forum software which I see in my competition and beating me is VB forum with VBSEO in terms of search engine rankings in my rankings.

So after doing more research, I found out that instead working on SMF to make it better, I should upgrade to VB with VBSeo and save my time with effort.

I am just waiting for VB4 to get GOLD and will install it as will be my first time using VB so don't want to get into hassle of upgrade, so want to start with VB 4 and vbseo 3.5 only GOLD release.

My current doubts are
Dbout No. 1.
Currently my forum uses URL rewriting (SMF), now I am in dilemma how to shift to VB ?
a. Install a fresh forum in subdirectory ie VB4 and import my SMF database while lock the current SMF forum but keep the topics intact so that I won't loose current traffic and also redirect all registration to new VB forum URL . Using 301 redirct, I will only redirect homepage to new sub-directory.. So if people open www.domain.com , they will be taken to www.domain.com/vbfolder/

b. Secondly, if possible, do a fresh install of VB4 in root of site(where SMF is already residing) or install in sub-folder and then move to root of the site (to avoid file conflict issue) and remove complete SMF installation.
Now redirect every topic of old forum to new topic of new VB forum. Can be done as old SMF topic have "TOPIC-ID" in it and redirect to same topic ID on VB4 (if it maintains topic same topic ID) .

Now, you can see I have tried to explain in detail. Please give your views what do you think about Optiona a, though it may lead me to duplicate content problem, but guess what, original content is also mine so if new page get penalized, I am not loosing old page traffic atleast. Meanwhile, I will get full value for new content build on my new VB4 installation.

Also, what are your views about Option B ? For option B, I most probably need some help of developers as I am not developing, if vbseo guys can help in this ie. redirection script for topics then can be great help.


Also, if everything turned out to be good, then I have 3 more forums waiting to be converted to VB+VBSEO because that way I can save even more time (though spending little money at startup).

now ..
Doubt No. 2

In my current forums, there are many internal links to other topics, most probably vbSEO should have something like nofollow for external links or php redirection, is there feature in vBSEO that gives nofollow to external links and dofollow for own site links / internal links within the posts ?


Doubt No. 3

I know vbseo pings up blogsphere thus giving more exposure, but how the services are pings ?
a. When a new topic is created ?
b. Everytime when a new post is there ie. be it topic or comment ?
c. Pings on timely manner ie. 1 hour period
d. Pings on timely manner but only if there is new content / topic ?


Doubt No. 4

What if I allow guest posts on my forum but don't want to allow guests to post Links (as can be SEO issue and encourage spamming). Is this available through vbSEO ? Currently I have done same in SMF as guests can't posts link and I see almost no spam bcs 99% spam is about links.

My post may look lengthy but you may see I am serious about it.. waiting answers !

Hi Jaffery,

Welcome to vBSEO.com

You are making the right choice if you're worried about getting out ranked.

1 a) You don't want to keep 2 instances of your posts. You will end up with duplicate content and possibly search engine penalties because of it. Don't worry, we have tools to keep all your old links working and directing to the new source.
The best thing to do is to figure out how to 301 those SMF friendly urls back to default SMF URL display. It's likely farily simple and we can probably help you get this sorted if necessary. After this is done, Install our 301 impex tool. 404 / 301 Tool After Import Redirect on ImpEx imported forums. This will end up in a double redirect Smf SEO -> SMF -> vb+vBSEO url final destination.

1 b) I would recommend keeping your forums in root if that is where you have been. With the suite, its the best place to install. Move your SMF to a subfolder right before you begin the impex. You will likely have to make a few changes to url/paths/etc in the admin cp and then make the physical move.
Due to the way impex and auto_increment works, if you ever deleted 1 item in any table, the ID's will NOT match up. That is where our 301 tool takes over. After moved and verified working, you should shut down (password protect) the smf directory to keep everything out of that folder. Eventually, you can delete it and the database when you know you won't need it anymore (save a backup locally, just in case).

2) The same thing will happen. the 301 tool will auto-direct to the new desitnation. NONE of your links will break--- either posted on your site, or linked-in from other websites.

3) Pings run on a cron (vbseo_serviceupdate) and runs every 15 min for new threads.

4) vBSEO doesn't control this because vB does. The easiest thing to do is to use the VB usergroup permission manager and simply set the Not Logged In group to not have access to BBCode. They then won't be able to post any links (that actually link), embed images, or bold stuff in 72pt fonts


Hopefully this answers your questions The solution I think is easier than you might have thought it to be with the aid of our impex 301 tool.

I should also point out that as of this writing, Impex has not been updated for vb4 yet. So, keep that in mind before you jump the gun. You might be better off installed 3.8.4, doing impex, upgrading to vb4, installed vbseo, installed the 301 impex tool, and setting your htaccess redirects for SMF. Lots of steps, but worth it in the end

Only recommendation which can be made is as follows:
1. Upgrade to vbulletin latest 3.x series first (vbseo supports this)
2. Once vbulletin 4.x final is released, upgrade your forums to same.
(note that vbseo i guess wont be updated till final/gold 4.x is released)

For how/what about from smf to vbulletin read rest of threads on this forum, if further you require some help.
kindly reply back/

Hello,

It may look weird but almost after 1 year I am going to do the transformation. I delayed all this because VB 4 was all mess but now I think I can move forward safely. I have every thing up and ready, converted with vbulletin in subfolder ie.

Code:

domain.com/vb/

, my old forum resides in root of domain.

Now I am supposed to move vbulletin installation to root of the site (after removing whole SMF forum) and do 301 redirects using 404 / 301 Tool After Import Redirect on ImpEx imported forums tool . However, I have little problem, my site already uses mod_rewrite, so I am not sure if 301 redirect tool should be used with any modification ?
My forum topic url looks like this :

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/mobile_phonehandset_news_reviews/nokia_n_900-t8066.0.html

And board url looks like this:

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/mobile_phonehandset_news_reviews-b103.0/

So, do we require any changes in given .htaccess code after impex ?

Code:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} board=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=forum&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} topic=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=thread&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} .msg([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=post&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=profile;u=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=user&oldid=%1 [L]

I guess this tool now works for VB4 too ?
Kindly enlighten me for exact procedure to continue !!

Hello Jaffery,

vBSEO 404/301 redirect tool works with any vBulletin version .

Regarding the old friendly URLs, you may apply these .htaccess rules:

Code:

# TOPICS
RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t([0-9]+)\.0\.html$ vbseo301.php?action=thread&oldid=$1 [L]

# BOARDS
RewriteRule ^.+-b([0-9]+)\.0/$ vbseo301.php?action=forum&oldid=$1 [L]

And your 404/301 redirect tool will works like a charm.

Please let us know if you faces further issues.

Thanks for the answer.

However I have following for profile link :

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/profile.html;u=13601

and following for individual msg link :

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/international_television_movie_discussion/who_is_the_best_bollywood_actor_as_u_like_to_represent_india_in_hollywood-t3788.0.html;msg10581#msg10581

So two more rules will be required .. !

And I guess after that I will be good to go!!

Originally Posted by Jaffery

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/profile.html;u=13601

You may use:

Code:

RewriteRule ^profile\.html;u=([0-9]+) vbseo301.php?action=user&oldid=$1 [L]

Originally Posted by Jaffery

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/international_television_movie_discussion/who_is_the_best_bollywood_actor_as_u_like_to_represent_india_in_hollywood-t3788.0.html;msg10581#msg10581

Please try to apply:

Code:

RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t[0-9]+\.0\.html;msg([0-9]+)(.*)$ vbseo301.php?action=post&oldid=$1 [L]

Thank you very much for your answer. Today I am going to apply all this however, I have one doubt.. do you think after impex , will it maintain same topic ID .

Because I just checked, for example a topic of my forum has ID : 1886 , I can see it from url :

Code:

http://www.etalkindia.com/computer_it_tutorials_articles/tiphow_to_automatically_shutdown_your_windows_computerscheduled_shutdown-t1866.0.html

But same topic on IMPEXED vb is (without vbseo):

Code:

http://etalkindia.com/i/showthread.php?t=1335

and with vbseo :

Code:

http://etalkindia.com/vb/1335-tip-how-automatically-shutdown-your-windows-computer-scheduled-shutdown.html

so looks like topic ID is 1335 ..
So, it means it will redirect to wrong topic or IMPEX has taken care of it?

You need to use 404 / 301 Tool After Import Redirect on ImpEx imported forums to redirect all your existing URL's

Ya, I was reading about and came to know that it will redirect on the basis of old TOPIC ids ie. previous forum IDs.
I hope I will not loose traffic.

Please let us know how it goes after applying vBSEO 404/301 tool .

Hello,

I don't have any experience with mod_rewrite but in thread : 404 / 301 Tool After Import Redirect on ImpEx imported forums for smf they have given following rules to be added in .htaccess

Code:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} board=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=forum&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} topic=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=thread&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} .msg([0-9]+)
RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=post&oldid=%1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=profile;u=([0-9]+)

And what you gave me as follows :

Code:

# TOPICS
RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t([0-9]+)\.0\.html$ vbseo301.php?action=thread&oldid=$1 [L]

# BOARDS
RewriteRule ^.+-b([0-9]+)\.0/$ vbseo301.php?action=forum&oldid=$1 [L]

# Profiles
RewriteRule ^profile\.html;u=([0-9]+) vbseo301.php?action=user&oldid=$1 [L]

# Individual msg
RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t[0-9]+\.0\.html;msg([0-9]+)(.*)$ vbseo301.php?action=post&oldid=$1 [L]



RewriteRule index\.php vbseo301.php?action=user&oldid=%1 [L]

So I guess we need RewriteCond also or I should use condition given in above already ?

Well I implement and it says "page not found" for all old urls !!

Here is my .htaccess :

Code:

# Comment the following line (add '#' at the beginning)
# to disable mod_rewrite functions.
# Please note: you still need to disable the hack in
# the vBSEO control panel to stop url rewrites.
RewriteEngine On

# Some servers require the Rewritebase directive to be
# enabled (remove '#' at the beginning to activate)
# Please note: when enabled, you must include the path
# to your root vB folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums/)
#RewriteBase /

#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.yourdomain\.com
#RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]

# TOPICS
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} topic=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t([0-9]+)\.0\.html$ vbseo301.php?action=thread&oldid=$1 [L]

# BOARDS
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} board=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule ^.+-b([0-9]+)\.0/$ vbseo301.php?action=forum&oldid=$1 [L]

# Profiles
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=profile;u=([0-9]+)
RewriteRule ^profile\.html;u=([0-9]+) vbseo301.php?action=user&oldid=$1 [L]

# Individual msg
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} .msg([0-9]+)
RewriteRule ^[^/]+/.+-t[0-9]+\.0\.html;msg([0-9]+)(.*)$ vbseo301.php?action=post&oldid=$1 [L]


RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap_).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(admincp/|modcp/|cron|vbseo_sitemap)
RewriteRule ^((archive/)?(.*\.php(/.*)?))$ vbseo.php [L,QSA]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !/(admincp|modcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php [L,QSA]

I tried to remove RewriteCond then received following error :

Code:

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/eindia/domains/etalkindia.com/public_html/vbseo301.php:1) in /home/eindia/domains/etalkindia.com/public_html/vbseo301.php on line 100

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/eindia/domains/etalkindia.com/public_html/vbseo301.php:1) in /home/eindia/domains/etalkindia.com/public_html/vbseo301.php on line 101

Below is my vbseo301.php

Code:

 <?php
/**
* 404 /301 for external and internal link redirect.
*
* @package            ImpEx.tools
* @version            $Revision: 1902 $
* @author            Jerry Hutchings <jerry.hutchings@vbulletin.com>
* @modified by             Oleg Ignatiuk 
*/
$standard_404     = 'http://www.etalkindia.com/not_found.html';     // The usual 404 that this script replaces
$new_domain     = 'www.etalkindia.com'; // Including domain extension such as www.example.com , donot include http://
$new_folder        = '';    // Without trailing slash
$ext_type        = '.php';         // File extension type that vBulletin is using, i.e. index.php including the preceding dot

// Database
// This is the vBulletin database, needed for import id look up and logging
$server         = 'localhost';
$user             = 'hidden';
$password         = 'hidden';
$database         = 'hidden';
$tableprefix     = 'vbb_';


$old_id         = intval($_GET['oldid']);
$page            = intval($_GET['page']);
$postcount        = intval($_GET['postcount']);
$action         = $_GET['action'];
$sql             = null;

switch ($action)
{
    case 'forum':
        $sql = "SELECT forumid FROM {$tableprefix}forum WHERE importforumid={$old_id}";
        $new_url = "http://{$new_domain}/{$new_folder}forumdisplay{$ext_type}?f=";
    break;

    case 'thread':
        $sql = "SELECT threadid FROM {$tableprefix}thread WHERE importthreadid={$old_id}";
        $new_url = "http://{$new_domain}/{$new_folder}showthread{$ext_type}?t=";
    break;

    case 'post':
        $sql = "SELECT postid FROM {$tableprefix}post WHERE importpostid={$old_id}";
        $new_url = "http://{$new_domain}/{$new_folder}showpost{$ext_type}?p=";
    break;

    case 'user':
        $sql = "SELECT userid FROM {$tableprefix}user WHERE importuserid={$old_id}";
        $new_url = "http://{$new_domain}/{$new_folder}member{$ext_type}?u=" ;
    break;
}


if( $sql )
{
    $link = @mysql_connect($server, $user, $password);
    if ($link)
    {
        $db_selected = @mysql_select_db($database, $link);

        if ($db_selected)
        {
            $result = @mysql_query($sql);
            $row = @mysql_fetch_row($result);

            if (!$row[0])
            {
                $action = 'Original data missing';
            }
            @mysql_free_result($result);
        }
    }
}

if (!$sql || !$old_id || !$row[0])
{
?>
    <html>
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="<?php echo $refresh_speed; ?>; URL=<?php echo $standard_404; ?>">
    </head>
    <body>
    </body>
    </html>
<?php
    // Got nuffink
    die;
}

$new_url .= $row[0];

if($page)       
    $new_url .= "&page={$page}";
        
if($postcount)
   $new_url .= "&postcount={$postcount}";

@mysql_close($link);

header( "HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently" );
header( "Location: {$new_url}" );
?>

remove the space at the beginning of your file.

<?php
must be the VERY first thing on the page. you can clearly see there is a space in your file, and that's why you're throwing a header error.


Since the rules are not working for you, please provide examples of your urls so we can match them.