[SCI]

Hey T2DMan, Thanks for all the great tips.

I was wondering if you know how to change all instances of /forum/index.php to just /forum/ . I already have edited the navbar like you suggested by what about everything else like forum jump, who's online etc? I'm basically looking for a fix to change all instances.

I see this does the fix with vbSEO by default to get rid of the index.php but this is all I want to do. Is there a way to do this without buying the vbSEO?

I have been looking everywhere for this for about 2 days stright now and I am getting a headache. I cannot believe no one knows anywhere.

Thanks Much appreciated

[T2DMan]

Concepts - find out the variable used for the index.php and do a template search for it.

Add a plugin that does a search/replace the moment before outputting the html to strip the index.php

But remember that mention of the index.php is only once instance of duplicate content - what about all the others like next thread/previous thread, new post/latest post, the highlight variable in the url, ...

And what about all the other aspects of vbseo like having the forum/thread in the url giving great clickability as well as the higher Pr with being non string, and having keyphrases in the url. Or the vbseo aspects like auto adsense targeting, code compression, ability to choose your style of url, ...

[aacircle]

Hello T2DMan! Thank you very much for your expert advice and lengthy help. I read it with great enthusiasm.

Originally Posted by T2DMan

But the onpage SEO of the forum is working perfectly for another thread:

http://www.google.com/search?q=phone+english+lesson

gives the following as third:
http://www.aacircle.com.au/forums/e...ish-lesson.html

I've just tried it myself, but seems we have since been dropped from this rank. Unfortunately the vast majority of our board just doesn't rank. Even the keyword "ESL Jobs Japan" with a high keyword density on our forums, is not ranked in the top 5 pages in Google, however our own plain html page www.aacircle.com.au/teach-in-japan-info.htm is ranked 10th for this term.

Thank you for your suggestion on footer links to the archive pages. Will try this out, and see how goes.

Originally Posted by T2DMan

And you have some interesting things happening with the links into the forum. You have www.aacircle.com.au/forums/ and www.aacircle.com.au/forums/index.php and www.aacircle.com.au/forums/index_vb.php. There should be only one url that you link to. Otherwise a waste of opportunity.

Do you mean only 1 of these we should link to from external pages? We always link to /forums. Is this what you mean? I just read your post #22, and this clears up this question.

Originally Posted by T2DMan

Another search

http://www.google.com/search?q=esl+forum&start=10

Note the page that is shown for this - www.aacircle.com.au/forums/index.php - should be the url without the index.php so this highlights the wasted opportunity mentioned above. If you had only one page, the search for esl forum would be that much higher.

I'm not sure what you mean by only having 1 page. the index_vb.php is used for the standard vB installation.

Thank you very much for our Index page analysis. Much appreciated!

[SCI]

Thanks, I plan on buying the vbSEO real soon, I just don't have the cash right now, so I am trying to do anything I can until then. Your toturial has been great.

Add a plugin that does a search/replace the moment before outputting the html to strip the index.php

I don't know what you mean by this? I don't know how to add a plugin.

[T2DMan]

vbseo sorts out all the site issues on vBulletin. So no need to try and get rid of the index.php yourself. I have not researched specifically how you could get rid of the index.php, as I have no need of it.

[T2DMan]

Originally Posted by aacircle

I'm not sure what you mean by only having 1 page. the index_vb.php is used for the standard vB installation.

Have another read through my post. You have different url's that all give the same content. You need to make sure that all those url's 301 redirect to one url, and that only that one url is linked to on your site.

You have previously asked for me to personally work through your site. I will be available in a week or so to apply the principles of what I have suggested onto your site. Give me a call.

[Sculli]

T2DMan, thank you very much indeed for sharing your SEO tricks. My site is vanilla vB, and since I had to start displaying ads to cover hosting and contest costs I have continiously been trying to figure out just what it is I need to do to get more pages indexed, and to get more search engine hits. Unfortunately I have still not implemented any changes as I am quite honestly totally lost as to whos advice to follow when it comes to SEO. There are so many contradicting opinions out there, it's crazy.

It does seem like you do have a good handle on things though.
Do you recommend to purchase vBSEO and then apply your hacks? I mean my site isn't for-profit, and the vBSEO purchase price would put a serious dent in my pocket from which it would take a few months to recover. Of course I could consider it a 'hobby expense' and be done with it, but I am talking in return-on-investment terms.

[T2DMan]

Welcome to the discussion.

Why have a forum?

Why did you invest the initial amount to buy a professional package like vBulletin?

I firmly believe that we should all be the best that we can be.

If you have a great forum, then why are you keeping that great forum from the scores of people that ought to be finding it??? Why can't you be found on the search engines for phrases that loads of people are searching for?

It may be a hobby site, an interest, or it may be a commercial site. But I consider that all good sites deserve to be found for their search terms.

SEO has three parts
- onpage (template changes, keyphrase selection),
- onsite (vBSEO does heaps)
- whole of web (links links links)

So yes, I definately recommend vBSEO. And vBSEO is not enough - you have to select the search phrases that people are looking for, use those phrases on your pages in the right places, say what you mean, mean what you say. And so my seo recommendations are a great way of being able to achieve that.

The basics of SEO are easy. Dont be confused.

All the best.

[bhuwan]

in showthread how do you add the forum title to it .?

[T2DMan]

Have a look at the following post.

http://forum.time2dine.co.nz/5679-7-post.html