New Seo Update Suggestion

[esquire]

That was probably the best post made in this entire thread thus far, but as far as FURL customization goes, I belive you can easily tweak almost any of the FURL files yourself. I've tweaked the FURL structure of a few apps myself. With that in mind, I'm curious how technically difficult it would be to add it as a feature itself.

Agreed, great post. It took me many days and help from the experts here to get FURLs and URL structure into something usable similar to what SJV wishes and recommends. I'm still not entirely sure how I did some of it or why making some modifications breaks other things - so it works and that's the way I'm keeping it for now. Regarding VBSEO, you're right that many of the testimonials are ridiculous but there are enough to say that there must be some benefit. As I mentioned above and as illustrated by this post, there are a number of things it does do well that obviously increase good content visibility. This includes both proper and more useful display of content in the meta tags as well as URLs that provide better keyword visibility in many places where URLs are posted by people without anchor text. Just a little logic that makes good sense IMHO. I look forward to hearing more from sjv and blair, both who nailed my concerns. Thanks to all for contributing.

[GreenLinks]

Agreed, great post. It took me many days and help from the experts here to get FURLs and URL structure into something usable similar to what SJV wishes and recommends. I'm still not entirely sure how I did some of it or why making some modifications breaks other things - so it works and that's the way I'm keeping it for now. Regarding VBSEO, you're right that many of the testimonials are ridiculous but there are enough to say that there must be some benefit. As I mentioned above and as illustrated by this post, there are a number of things it does do well that obviously increase good content visibility. This includes both proper and more useful display of content in the meta tags as well as URLs that provide better keyword visibility in many places where URLs are posted by people without anchor text. Just a little logic that makes good sense IMHO. I look forward to hearing more from sjv and blair, both who nailed my concerns. Thanks to all for contributing.

Michael you already know many things i suggest ;) I just use company account here

Take Care ,

Mert ( aka Lizard King )

[nrep]

Another vote for some of the changes suggested in this thread - Mert/Blair know what they are talking about and these changes would go a very long way.

[Wolfie]

People who ask proof about vBSEO should really be joking or have no information about many things. There has been tons of success stories published on vBSEO.com , go start reading those to find out what kind of changes they faced. Our big board traffic increased 200% in first year and in 3 years we now have 8-900% increase in stats.

You really expect for a company to publish failure stories about their product or service? That's just like if Microsoft were to have been honest about Windows Vista instead of trying to hide the complaints while promoting the praises. Overall, while there were some people who liked Vista, a huge number of people despised it and either went back to XP or switched to 7 as soon as they could.

As for your success rate, do you have numbers that show the 200% and 8-900% increases as well as evidence that clearly show why there was the increase? As in, it was because of SEO optimization vs the content itself. I'm not saying that the proper SEO structure doesn't make a difference, only that you can't assume that any success coming afterwards is because of it. Point being, stick to reliable facts and not glamored hype.

[GreenLinks]

You really expect for a company to publish failure stories about their product or service? That's just like if Microsoft were to have been honest about Windows Vista instead of trying to hide the complaints while promoting the praises. Overall, while there were some people who liked Vista, a huge number of people despised it and either went back to XP or switched to 7 as soon as they could.

As for your success rate, do you have numbers that show the 200% and 8-900% increases as well as evidence that clearly show why there was the increase? As in, it was because of SEO optimization vs the content itself. I'm not saying that the proper SEO structure doesn't make a difference, only that you can't assume that any success coming afterwards is because of it. Point being, stick to reliable facts and not glamored hype.

Dude feel free to believe what ever you want to believe. I know how succesfull vBSEO is as i am one of the old developers of vBSEO.

I have tons of facts in my hand but sorry i don't need to proove anything to anyone. I will simply make suggestions within my expertise area and if they are not implemented , i will implement many of those to our own system with assistance of freelancer developers. We already started submitting SEO changes we want to our designer. Once he is done , our developer will start implementing our code modification changes.

Also please try to discuss my suggestions , instead of focusing on other things. Please state your facts why any of my suggestion will not assist regarding SEO ;)

[Wolfie]

Dude feel free to believe what ever you want to believe. I know how succesfull vBSEO is as i am one of the old developers of vBSEO.

I have tons of facts in my hand but sorry i don't need to proove anything to anyone.

If you're going to claim to be successful and/or expect people to believe that you know what you're talking about, then you'll need to prove it. That's a simple fact of life. I'm not saying that you're not successful or anything, just that you're wrong as far as proving stuff is concerned. What I said was factual, in that a company is going to happily post testimonials that make them look good instead of putting up ones that will make them look bad. If you want to tell me I'm wrong on that, then go ahead, but trust me, that'll hurt your credibility.

Also please try to discuss my suggestions , instead of focusing on other things. Please state your facts why any of my suggestion will not assist regarding SEO wink.png

Where did I say that your suggestions are wrong? I believe I've said it before but I'll say it again, I'm not an SEO 'expert' nor do I try to hint that I am. But it doesn't take an expert to know the difference between claims and facts. I'm just saying to stick to facts instead of hype.

[nrep]

If you're going to claim to be successful and/or expect people to believe that you know what you're talking about, then you'll need to prove it. That's a simple fact of life. I'm not saying that you're not successful or anything, just that you're wrong as far as proving stuff is concerned. What I said was factual, in that a company is going to happily post testimonials that make them look good instead of putting up ones that will make them look bad. If you want to tell me I'm wrong on that, then go ahead, but trust me, that'll hurt your credibility.

Where did I say that your suggestions are wrong? I believe I've said it before but I'll say it again, I'm not an SEO 'expert' nor do I try to hint that I am. But it doesn't take an expert to know the difference between claims and facts. I'm just saying to stick to facts instead of hype.

I've been using VBSEO for many years and I can assure you it does what it says on the tin - it's a bit expensive for an addon script, but it improves the out-of-the-box SEO of VB hugely. I've seen it work on many of my own sites and that's proof enough for me.

Mert has made some very valid suggestions that can improve IP Board - he's got no need to start posting stats and so on, as there is plenty of proof out there for the things he has posted (and lots are just common sense/good markup).

[Rimi]

In seo related news, 3.4 allows users to make posts in h1 tags.

[GreenLinks]

In seo related news, 3.4 allows users to make posts in h1 tags.

That is not good news. Is it done by a Bbcode ?

Posts etc.. should have h2 and remaining header tags. H1 should be only used once.

[Wolfie]

Mert has made some very valid suggestions that can improve IP Board - he's got no need to start posting stats and so on, as there is plenty of proof out there for the things he has posted (and lots are just common sense/good markup).

What we have here is a failure to read my words for what they say and instead purposely misread it to ignore the point being made.

Let's clarify what a fact is and isn't. Here's a statement of fact:
"Our son Bobby started getting better grades when we enrolled him in a private school."

Here's the same thing but isn't a fact even though it's said as one:
"Our son Bobby started getting better grades because we enrolled him in a private school."

The first one can be verified because you need only look at his grades from before and compare to after. The second one is an opinion as to why because there could be a number of reasons for the improvement in grades that have nothing to do with where their son was going to school or why he was going there.

Someone saying that they got a 200% increase in something but without numbers to verify that increase and the reason for it is stating an opinion not a fact. Ever heard of the saying, "86.3% of all facts are made up?" The number is always different, but the point remains the same in that people tend to spit out made up numbers instead of actually figuring those numbers out. Even if the overall point or reason remains valid, if the numbers are made up then they're made up, pure and simple.

Notice I haven't said that he's a liar nor anything along those lines. I'm simply asking that facts be used, because at the end of the day, it's the facts that matter the most. Why should someone have to dig through a ton of claims just to try to get to a fact? Present facts only and we all stand a better chance of benefiting from it. Right? Right.

[Wolfie]

That is not good news. Is it done by a Bbcode ?

Posts etc.. should have h2 and remaining header tags. H1 should be only used once.

If you haven't done so, you should start a topic about it. Find out the implementation as well as address concerns specifically on the use of H1 tags.

[nrep]

I understand what you are saying, but you're dragging down a technical discussion asking for specific proof that each thing works - Mert, blair and others have provided lots of useful knowledge in this thread based on experience, which can be verified after a quick google. If you want to see facts on how VBSEO works, just view a few threads in this discussion forum: http://www.vbseo.com/f30/. You've stated that you're no SEO expert, but there are some people here that are and these sort of minor changes are just common sense - we're not here to teach/prove everything, you can take it or leave it.

The tweaks posted above aren't controversial voodoo things, it's just good practice and suggestions made based on experience. I've made similar changes to my sites and have directly benefited from these changes - that is proof for me.

I'm simply vouching for Mert's experience and knowledge here, and others that have seen his suggestions that understand them will no doubt agree.

[bfarber]

Sjv

Why do you feel limiting the RSS feeds in the header is a benefit if I may ask? Browsers use that to determine what RSS feeds are available from a site, and not showing all of them will mean automatic feed discovery software won't be able to (easily) find all of the feeds available for the site.

Just curious. There's always a balance between functionality and SEO of course.

[Charles]

Wolfie and others: nrep has a valid point. Please stop arguing about if people are arguing and picking things apart. We're after technical information here and this topic has some useful information. Let's not derail a useful topic. Thanks.

[GreenLinks]

Sjv

Why do you feel limiting the RSS feeds in the header is a benefit if I may ask? Browsers use that to determine what RSS feeds are available from a site, and not showing all of them will mean automatic feed discovery software won't be able to (easily) find all of the feeds available for the site.

Just curious. There's always a balance between functionality and SEO of course.

When browsing through a forum section or a thread , you don't need to have Files , Gallery , Blogs RSS links discovered. They should only be discovered if someone is browsing through files , blogs or gallery.

It is also not a good implementation when you consider User Exprience. When you click on RSS tons of options listed , user can't easily find the exact RSS link they want to follow . Instead of making them avaible on every page , simply create a separate page for RSS feeds that can be discovered on your site. I am a 37 year old dude that spend nearly all day in front of monitors and i can't find the exact RSS feed i am looking for in http://d.pr/i/Q2rS and imagine i am a geeky dude. Many others will face more issues with this.

By the way RSS feeds was just an example , removing RSS feeds from head will have nno effect regarding SEO. It will only remove some byte from total page size.

[Wolfie]

Wolfie and others: nrep has a valid point. Please stop arguing about if people are arguing and picking things apart. We're after technical information here and this topic has some useful information. Let's not derail a useful topic. Thanks.

My apologies. Was actually trying to encourage more facts and less fiction. The post where Sjv listed off several items, that's useful. As Kirito said, it was 'probably the best post made' in this topic. I want more posts like that, as those are useful.

[Charles]

My apologies. Was actually trying to encourage more facts and less fiction. The post where Sjv listed off several items, that's useful. As Kirito said, it was 'probably the best post made' in this topic. I want more posts like that, as those are useful.

I understand but one person's fact is another person's fiction and by judging that yourself you are putting yourself in a position of authority. Attacking people just creates a hostile environment :)

Again though lots of useful information here we're going through.

[Makoto]

My apologies. Was actually trying to encourage more facts and less fiction. The post where Sjv listed off several items, that's useful. As Kirito said, it was 'probably the best post made' in this topic. I want more posts like that, as those are useful.

I agree with and support you on that. Too many self-proclaimed SEO experts out there for people to think that they don't need proof for anything they say just because they're in charge of a large website, which isn't meant to insult.

Anyways, there have been some good bits of information posted here, sure, I hope to see more credible suggestions as well.

[Wolfie]

It is also not a good implementation when you consider User Exprience. When you click on RSS tons of options listed , user can't easily find the exact RSS link they want to follow . Instead of making them avaible on every page , simply create a separate page for RSS feeds that can be discovered on your site.

Just a question but what if the feeds were put into submenus? Do you think that would allow the feeds to show up on the current page while making it easier to browse? Or only a single destination page where you pick and choose the feed you want to use?

I understand but one person's fact is another person's fiction and by judging that yourself you are putting yourself in a position of authority. Attacking people just creates a hostile environment smile.png

Sorry. You know me, I sometimes am rather direct and unintentionally come off in that way. More to it than that, but I don't see any benefit to going into it (at least not in this topic).

[Charles]

To everyone interested in what's being discussed here I can say that we are taking many of these good ideas in. A good many of them will show up in future releases.

[GreenLinks]

Just a question but what if the feeds were put into submenus? Do you think that would allow the feeds to show up on the current page while making it easier to browse? Or only a single destination page where you pick and choose the feed you want to use?

Sorry. You know me, I sometimes am rather direct and unintentionally come off in that way. More to it than that, but I don't see any benefit to going into it (at least not in this topic).

Can you try to elobrate sub menus idea a bit further so i can respond after i fully understad what it means.

Charles and Wolfie , i will not get disturbed with messages like Wolfies. I've been within online community management and development pretty long enough. It wa actually a nice productive discussion as responding forced me to identify couple additional issues i didn't realise at first :)

Discussions will always occur and some people will always disagree each other. The best way is simply respect other people's opinion while we disagree with them.

To everyone interested in what's being discussed here I can say that we are taking many of these good ideas in. A good many of them will show up in future releases.

Amazing news.

[Charles]

Unfortunately it's too late for 3.4 but next version will have a lot of this. There are some ideas from this topic we really want to do but are concerned about how novice users may find them. Will require some head scratching to balance you guys (power users) against the majority who aren't as technical :)

[Rod.]

For those requesting proof -

http://www.vbseo.com/f30/progress-report-http-www-cashgamers-net-forums-23098/

vBSEO is geared towards creating SE friendly communities. Creating a forum/site with SEO in mind is not magic and there are no secrets. It's simply taking the time to learn the standards. vBSEO has laid it all out rather nicely.

H1 tags certainly need to be limited to no more than 1 per page. Personally, I prefer to use only H2 when necessary.

RSS in the header should not affect SEO - simply based upon my own research.

Perhaps we can limit access denied pages (ie: member profiles) by simply removing the hotlink for guests. Currently if a guest does not have access to view certain areas of the forum, they receive an access denied message. SE's will see this over and over. One idea is to simply remove the link all together for guests/SE's. This could also be controlled via .htaccess.

Glad to see all of the discussion around this. Can't wait for 3.4!

[Rimi]

That is not good news. Is it done by a Bbcode ?

Posts etc.. should have h2 and remaining header tags. H1 should be only used once.

I lied. It's a bug.

[Charles]

Perhaps we can limit access denied pages (ie: member profiles) by simply removing the hotlink for guests. Currently if a guest does not have access to view certain areas of the forum, they receive an access denied message. SE's will see this over and over. One idea is to simply remove the link all together for guests/SE's. This could also be controlled via .htaccess.=

We already did that in 3.4 :)