Very old site and vbSEO

Hello Everyone!

I have a very old forum from 1996 with over 90K threads and 1.2MM posts. There is 600K pages indexed by Yahoo, but only 22K by Google.

I recently purchased this site from a novice and am trying to quickly whip it into shape.

Is there any bad things that could happen by installing vbSEO? Obviously, you never want to change URL's unless you absolutely have to. So, should I expect a drop in traffic and then over time an increase?

Anything I should watch our for?

Thanks!

Hello, yes, some do experience a drop in the beginning. However, you should take note that vBSEO will automatically 301 all of your old URLs to the new format.

do it up. you're in a PERFECT position to double your traffic.

i installed when my site was 5 years old, and its done wonders since.

Brian, I read your ultimate guide... Good information in there, thanks!

You do mention in there if you're already indexed, dont change. Am I right to assume you mean if you already have non-dynamic URL's indexed, dont change?

Cheers!

The dynamic urls will be 301'ed to the new static urls.

Yes, I realize what the htacces files does.

Right, that's referencing already vbseo'ed people. you'll HAVE to under-go the re-indexing anyway, so you might as well use the file provided

Brian's right Meat. With an old site with such a large volume of content waiting to be optimized I would expect *very* positive results.

Once you choose a vBSEO URL format, you should *definitely* stick with it. Changes later will cause disruptions. But you do have to go ahead with the first step of getting vBSEO enabled.

What is the theme/niche of your forum?