Sure glad I clicked on this thread. Good questions and good answers. "Wiki" and "Blog" should be in the thread title, in addition to "SEO."
I recently decided to buy Xenforo... even though it is beta... even though there is a lawsuit... and even though I assumed there was not yet any wiki or blog bridge. Because Xenforo promises to be much more efficient, and also, I just don't like the other options. (IPB: never warmed up to them. Vbulletin: outdated code; question mark in URL may limit spiders; reportedly endless bugs; lack of replies even in pre-sales forum; and their promise of "free updates for life" just makes me wonder how many months before they create Vb5 and announce that we must buy the "new program" for a paltry 10% discount...)
At first, I was very hesitant, even dismissive, about Xenforo. Mainly, I assumed there was not yet significant third party modifications. This was put to rest in discussions at
Webdesign forums.net. Also today, I am pleased to read (in
the beta 4 release announcement) that Xenforo has that famous "PHP hook" to facilitate modifications.
...And now I am very glad to hear I was wrong again: there are already wiki and Wordpress bridges...
Also I am interested in the SEO views of JAXEL which seem similar to my own...
- The way search engines work these days are with "linkbacks". The more OTHER websites that mention your website, the higher your rank will be... Nothing that VBseo can do will be able to get other websites to mention your website...
- FaceBook integration is a good way to create linkbacks, as it lets people mention content from your website onto facebook...
- Vbseo is not going to magically make your website more popular like it claims it will...
- ...back when Webrings were popular, this is NOT how search engines worked. Back then, search engines sorted by meta information and general popularity; webrings had zero effect on the standing within a search engine. Now that the function of a webring is more powerful than ever, no one uses them. Hah!
I have not been active in SEO for two years, so my views don't carry much weight. JAXEL seems currently active, so I am interested in his views. My further thoughts...
- Time ago, before so-called SEO-URLs, there was a VB add-on that produced an "archival list," making thread titles into hyperlinks, and posting them on a single page. This often showed up in Google searches. I suspect that such a program could be more powerful than SEO-URLs if the webmaster does standard link exchange.
- There are many SEO refinements that can be done, but I am not talking. Internet SEO is like Blackjack Card Counting. The more people who do the latest gimmick, the more that the search engines (or casino managers) will clamp down. Not to mention the simple fact that there are only 20 spaces on that SERP page. If you have any bright ideas, keep them to yourself.
- SEO-URLs probably do help a little. The ever-changing secret Google algorithm probably does give some weight to URL content, just as they give some weight to page content.
- If you are serious about SEO, best be glad that most forum owners are not-so-serious.
- For the not-so-serious forum owner, SEO-URLs probably are an easy and appropriate compromise for SEO value. And there is not much point in trying harder as a standard option.
- P.S.--see JAXEL's reply below--clarifying that SEO-URLs ("URL plugs") are worthwhile. Thank you, JAXEL.
- It also has occurred to me that webrings "should" be usable for valuable linkage. Now thanks to JAXEL, I will give a higher priority to look into webrings.
- (But everyone here please do not spread the word.
)
