XF 1.2 SEO for xenforo

[BassMan]

Hi!

I'm using xenforo for about 4 months now. And I'm still impressed any everything.

I'm just wondering why my SEO is not so optimized as before.

Vefore XF I was using phpBB and I was ranked very high on for example Google. But now with same key words I'm not as high as I used to be.

Any SEO tips or just an explanation why is this so?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sheratan]

Do you migrated from phpBB to Xenforo? If yes, are you using phpBB to xenforo redirect url?

 

[BassMan]

Do you migrated from phpBB to Xenforo? If yes, are you using phpBB to xenforo redirect url?

Yes! But my old phpbb forum doesn't exist any more...

 

[Sheratan]

Yes! But my old phpbb forum doesn't exist any more...

Doesnt matter.

I would suggest you to using redirect url from phpBB to xenforo. Some resource:
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/phpbb3-redirection-script-seo-urls-apache-nginx.2166/
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/phpbb-import-url-redirect.32123/
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/phpbb-to-xenforo-google-analytics.45656/

 

[BassMan]

Doesnt matter.

I would suggest you to using redirect url from phpBB to xenforo. Some resource:
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/phpbb3-redirection-script-seo-urls-apache-nginx.2166/
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/phpbb-import-url-redirect.32123/
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/phpbb-to-xenforo-google-analytics.45656/

But I already added this in my .htaccess file with help of @Jake Bunce:

    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
    RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /teme/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
    RewriteRule ^(viewforum\.php|viewtopic\.php)$ /forumi/%1? [L,R=301,NC]
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)p=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
    RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /posts/%2? [L,R=301,NC]

 

[craigiri]

The explanation is complex. Google changes their formulas on a constant basis. They make the decisions - and it makes some rise, and some fall.

Chances are that there also is some small penalty for changing software frameworks. Google likes consistency and points are probably scored for having the same basic format over many years. But any such penalty will eventually go away.

We have had vast increases in search engine referrals over the past 2 or 3 years - I don't think it is due to XF, but more due to google changes. Still, it's clear that XF itself does not create a penalty.

I do think that some platforms - wordpress, for example - have better SEO for actual articles and blogging. IMHO, this is because wordpress probably scores in google as a platform NOT for idle chat, whereas forums have so many posts...and so many worthless ones...that they are harder for SEO.

The usual advice applies. Make sure your forums are kept clean and full of content. Everything else is likely to take care of itself.

 

[BassMan]

The explanation is complex. Google changes their formulas on a constant basis. They make the decisions - and it makes some rise, and some fall.

Chances are that there also is some small penalty for changing software frameworks. Google likes consistency and points are probably scored for having the same basic format over many years. But any such penalty will eventually go away.

We have had vast increases in search engine referrals over the past 2 or 3 years - I don't think it is due to XF, but more due to google changes. Still, it's clear that XF itself does not create a penalty.

I do think that some platforms - wordpress, for example - have better SEO for actual articles and blogging. IMHO, this is because wordpress probably scores in google as a platform NOT for idle chat, whereas forums have so many posts...and so many worthless ones...that they are harder for SEO.

The usual advice applies. Make sure your forums are kept clean and full of content. Everything else is likely to take care of itself.

That's the answer I want to hear. Thank you very much for this. And I hope you don't understand me wrong - I don't blame XF for this...

Ok, I'll just wait for search engines to do their job and keep my forums clean with good content like always.