[ResaleBroker]

Michael I've searched your forum and didn't find the answer so forgive me if this has been asked before...

What is the reason for linking to the search engine friendly archives instead of linking to the respective forum displays. Either way PR is being transferred to the threads.

[T2DMan]

Originally Posted by ResaleBroker

Michael I've searched your forum and didn't find the answer so forgive me if this has been asked before...

What is the reason for linking to the search engine friendly archives instead of linking to the respective forum displays. Either way PR is being transferred to the threads.

• Have a look at how many threads are listed on the forum pages.
• Have a look how many links there are on those forum pages.
• You will find that the archive pages have more thread links, and less other links.
• Therefore the archive pages are a far more effective way of getting Google PR and link text value to the threads.

Make sense?

[ResaleBroker]

I understand about the number of threads being displayed (70 vs. 25 +/-)

I also understand about there being a higher number of links in "forum display" pages.

With that being said, many of the "other" links in "forum display" pages have the "rel=nofollow" attribute and the number of threads displayed in each forum can be increased.

It just seems that by routing PR through the archive you've added one more page to the equation which can be eliminated by linking directly to the source.

Your thoughts?

[T2DMan]

Interesting points Jeff.

So the question becomes, for usability, what is the max number of threads that should be on a forum page.

Usability talks about max 7 in a list for a menu. 20 seems a great number as default. IMO, having around 80 is a bit overkill.

So the archive/sitemap seems a reasonable solution.

Yes, you could do away with the sitemap completely and have the just the forums listing with 80 of so threads. Yes, it would achieve what you are talking about since its reducing the overall number of pages that have pr on the site.

But I think usability would suffer, and I for one want the best for my users as a big priority.

[ResaleBroker]

Originally Posted by T2DMan

Interesting points Jeff.

So the question becomes, for usability, what is the max number of threads that should be on a forum page.

Usability talks about max 7 in a list for a menu. 20 seems a great number as default. IMO, having around 80 is a bit overkill.

So the archive/sitemap seems a reasonable solution.

Yes, you could do away with the sitemap completely and have the just the forums listing with 80 of so threads. Yes, it would achieve what you are talking about since its reducing the overall number of pages that have pr on the site.

But I think usability would suffer, and I for one want the best for my users as a big priority.

I had a feeling you were going to bring that up.

Thanks again Michael. I appreciate your input.