SEO friendly urls and meta tags for seo

admirernepali · Post by **admirernepali** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 2:30 am

Why phpbb3.1 hasn't covered seo part yet?

I was expecting at least having seo friendly urls and to be able to create some cms pages (about us etc) from backend.

I am not sure if I am missing something.

david63 · Post by **david63** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 5:46 am

admirernepali wrote:I am not sure if I am missing something.

You are missing using the search option. This subject has been discussed several times over the last few months, usually with the same conclusion - that it will make little or no difference.

Post by **Mick** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:36 am

You should have a search of the 3.1.x Extensions Forums and, if you don't find what you require, you can make an extension request.

Swanny · Post by **Swanny** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 5:15 am

Google is actually eliminating URLs from search results, so don't waste your time changing URLs IMHO.

See http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot. ... earch.html

admirernepali · Post by **admirernepali** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:12 am

david63 wrote:
admirernepali wrote:I am not sure if I am missing something.
You are missing using the search option. This subject has been discussed several times over the last few months, usually with the same conclusion - that it will make little or no difference.

I have done research in google and also searched this forum.
Problem with searching in this forum is loads of comments come across in results, and requires ages to go through. I would expect search results to be specific or have refining system to see only topic (if I am not missing this feature.)

Thanks for reply though.

admirernepali · Post by **admirernepali** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:14 am

Mick wrote:You should have a search of the 3.1.x Extensions Forums and, if you don't find what you require, you can make an extension request.

I have searched, but not luck finding right info.

Could you send me link for extension request?

I was thinking to learn extension development for phbbb3.1.x, but not sure how productive it will be in future. I mean comparing with Magento Extension, which is for sure will be required for long in the future.

admirernepali · Post by **admirernepali** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:16 am

Swanny wrote:Google is actually eliminating URLs from search results, so don't waste your time changing URLs IMHO.

See http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot. ... earch.html

Hopefully they will in future, but what about cms structure for phpbb3.1.x?
You don't expect to have coding knowledge for everyone to implement any new page or edit the info in those pages.

Post by **Mick** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:56 am

admirernepali wrote:Could you send me link for extension request?

[3.1.x] Extension Requests.

Lumpy Burgertushie · Post by **Lumpy Burgertushie** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 1:42 pm

phpbb is not a cms it is a bulletin board script.

you can add new pages from the admin panel if you wish.

robert

koraldon · Post by **koraldon** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:14 am

The state of seo in phpbb is very bad indeed.
There are a couple of extensions that can help - meta data and site maps

There are also URL extensions but are still.in beta - I would prefer to see such a critical extension to be verified before use.

And to those who don't understand seo here is some myth busting for you - http://moz.com/blog/seo-myths

Post by **Mick** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:20 pm

koraldon wrote:The state of seo in phpbb is very bad indeed

Have you got documentation to substantiate this claim?

phpBB out of the box does not require any fancy SEO tricks it populates the search engines just fine on it's own. This post will probably be searchable in Google by the time you read it.

**My CDB Contributions** · Post by **HiFiKabin** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:33 pm

Mick wrote:
koraldon wrote:The state of seo in phpbb is very bad indeed
Have you got documentation to substantiate this claim?

phpBB out of the box does not require any fancy SEO tricks it populates the search engines just fine on it's own. This post will probably be searchable in Google by the time you read it.

Exactly so. Many years ago (well, 8 or so) using a pbpBB 2.0.x posts were 'googleable' almost instantly.

koraldon · Post by **koraldon** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:33 pm

SEO is not about being searchable - even simple html sites are searchable. SEO is about achieving growth and traffic to your site from organic search.
If you don't what SEO is, how can you claim all is well with phpbb?

Every other major forums / cms optimises for search results, using meta tags, schema, URL structure etc.
Phpbb is happy being "searchable"...
Even the headers are wrong on phpbb sites...
And the excuse is? Misquoting Google sites or just plainly not understanding SEO
Please go read the link I provided and other excellent resources

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 2:05 pm

From the very topic you linked to

The truth is, when you create solid content focused around topics, you almost always receive far more (and oftentimes better) traffic from long-tail keywords that you didn't try to rank for.

The magic happens when visits reach your site because the content matched thier needs, but not necessarily when you matched the right keywords.

Emphasis mine.

koraldon · Post by **koraldon** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 4:16 pm

You need good content, as well as good SEO, the two complement each other.
This is a false argument, as having good content by itself doesn't help. Google doesn't know to read and judge the quality of your content, it is a machine. It uses a variety of other indicators to determine if the content is "good", as also detailed in the article.
The point is that if there are ten sites with good contents about the mating habits of rabbits, having good seo will put you on the top of the list, instead at the bottom, and that has a major impact on traffic - getting 20%+ of the traffic vs. 2-3% (assuming first page, if you are on 2nd page +, the traffic falls off very fast).

SEO is not a magic bullet, you do need good content, but it is the difference between getting a high position vs. low position in a crowded market. Also, a lot of the SEO "methods" are also helpful to users.

Just did a quick test for hifikabin (as he posted here):
Searching for HiFi music -
Hifi Music - hifikabin doesn't appear on the first six pages, but this is a strong keyword
Hifi music forum - hifikabin appears in position 11, which is not good, but can probably be improved. This is the description
"HiFi Kabin. THE HiFi and Music Forum ... You mean other companies make HiFi too? ... Music Where would we be without the music? Moderator: The Kurators"
Not really tempting me to click.
Compare to the art of sound forum description
"Hi-fi forum for discussing any aspect of hi-fi; vinyl, turntables, amplifiers, cd players, DACs, loudspeakers, ... Advertise equipment, music and accessories for sale."
hifi music linn (seen it is one of the subforum) - doesn't appear in the first five pages.

The Goal of SEO is to make sure that the site will appear in the 1st page for all relevant search terms, drivng traffic. I'm pretty sure that if that was the case, more users would have joined the forum.