If i rename my forum 'category' will that affect SEO!!??

[surfsup]

1. I have a category NOT forum that i want to change, would this effect my SEO?

It doesnt seem like it since all the threads just show up as DOMAIN.COM/THREAD.HERE

and not like DOMAIN.COM/FORUM.NAME/THREADNAMEHERE

plz lemme know as i need to change a really old category but kinda nervous if it will change !?

2. Id like to add some sub categories and move like 3,000+ threads, will this affect a lot of SEO!?

 

[melbo]

All threads, regardless of which forum (or category) they are in have a url like www.domain.com/threads/your-thread-here.123
I wouldn't think there would be any harm at all but don't take my word for it.

 

[surfsup]

Anyone else ?

 

[Digital Doctor]

Isn't standard operating procedure to put a redirect in place ? (If you make the change).

 

[melbo]

Yes to handle the forum url change although the urls of the threads won't change.
I did this just a couple of days ago when I added a word to one of my forums:

Added to httpd.conf (or .htaccess)
redirect 301 /forums/old-name/ http://www.domain.com/forums/new-fancy-name.19/

Although actually, I think it redirected without this due to the ID number on the end.

edit: just tested and I can strip most of the forum name out of a url and it still finds the correct forum ID

http://xenforo.com/community/forums/geral-xenro-dison-and-feack.45/
still hits:
http://xenforo.com/community/forums/general-xenforo-discussion-and-feedback.45/

 

[Jeremy P]

XenForo will redirect any ID to the canonical URL. So you could even take this thread and make it:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/cats-dogs-horses.39853/

And XF will redirect to the URL with the correct title. Renaming will not negatively impact SEO, as long as the ID is in the URL.

 

[Digital Doctor]

http://xenforo.com/community/forums/.45/

heh.

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/.1
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/1

http://xenforo.com/community/attachments/1

http://xenforo.com/community/members/1

 

[tenants]

XenForo will redirect any ID to the canonical URL. So you could even take this thread and make it:

That's one of the features I really like about XF:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/this-thread.39853/

You can move things around, and rename categories/threads/titles and you never end up getting to a link and it not being there (even from and old search engine index)

Everyone thinks they're an SEO expert, right
Although, having said, this does not mean changing titles will not have an impact on SEO, the redirects are there, but titles alone still play an important role in SEO (as does keywords in the URL).

Depending on what the URL is changed to, you may eventually get a higher rank or you may even get a lower rank for a particular term when changing a title/URL, but what you really should be thinking about is the click through /conversions. Isn't it better for users to want to click an appealing title, and want to stay on the site since the title was correct and accurate and lead them to the correct information:

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[Jeremy P]

Well I just don't pay much attention to SEO at all, I think it's ridiculous to build sites around search engines when search engines should be built around sites. If your site is truly the best source of information then it should show up in search results. Obviously it doesn't always work that way for everyone but it hasn't caused me problems.

So I guess not to say it wouldn't negatively impact SEO, but that XF would provide the correct redirect header so it wouldn't cause any broken links or anything.