SEO question

[Kikya]

Hello,

I'm currently running a website with the phpbb forum 3.3.10. I'm just a simple person with basically no coding experience, no website experience since the days of AOL and geocities... with a lot of dumb luck and fumbling around, I managed to get the website up and running, and now have a functional forum with about 250 members. I would like to figure out how to increase traffic to my website by possibly getting some search engine optimization. However, it's a daunting task, because there are a million services that provide these but most are way too expensive or look like a website hack waiting to happen. Has anyone here ever used a service for their forum, if so how much did it cost? Or if anyone has any tips to share, that would be appreciated!

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, please feel free to move this, if it is.

[halil16]

Simple. Save the website to Google Search Console. Create the sitemap with the sitemap extension and send it to Google. (Bing or something later). Install and set up the SEO Metadata extension. Finally, quality content. This much.

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

the quality content is the number one thing. google will eventually index all your pages. if you have a lot of quality relevant content to the subject of your board, then you will get listed higher and get more traffic.


robert

[Kikya]

the quality content is the number one thing. google will eventually index all your pages. if you have a lot of quality relevant content to the subject of your board, then you will get listed higher and get more traffic.


robert

How much is a lot? I have almost 1000 topics and over 10k in posts. My site has only been up since Aug 2022. It's not stellar numbers but better than some.

Currently there are two sites ahead of mine, the top one is the newest and has the least amount of actual content. They popped up about 3 months ago. So clearly they are doing something differently than I am.

They are an ad site while mine is free of ads. I'm running it for the community, not to make money. My site is crawling with bots everyday.

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

a link to your board and maybe to the one that you think is doing better than you would help.

robert

[KevC]

If there was a magic option to get to the top, everyone would do it.

Many sites would kill to have that many users and posts in only a few months and you've done that without any 'additional SEO'. Although it's largely about content, it's also a lot to do with how people perceive the atmosphere on the board and what it talks about and how. Think about your own choices you make when you go to a site and decide or not to register. Why is that? It's largely because they're chatting about the things you want to and it's done in a respectful way (or at least in a way that you like).

Also it's worth looking at your site and theirs and being really harsh and objective about what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to make changes to help your cause.

[eroock]

I remember when I first dipped my toes into it for my food blog. I was eager to boost my traffic, so I hired this agency that promised big results. It ended up costing me a pretty penny, but the results were just not there. It felt like I'd just thrown my money into the wind.

After that burn, I took a step back and started learning the ropes myself. Through some trial and error, and a lot of Googling, I picked up on what to look for. When I felt ready to try an agency again, I found one that was transparent and took the time to explain their process. They showed me the value of building a solid backlink profile, and that's when I learned about the whole concept of buying niche edits links. Turns out, integrating your site into relevant existing content can give your SEO a real, organic boost, rather than just inflating numbers.

[Mick]

Many/most companies that offer SEO services are very often spammers themselves, we get them trying it on here all the time. What they do is sell phone lists or website links under the guise of selling better rankings and spam whatever they can until they get shut down or sussed and do nothing with ‘actual’ SEO. SEO services are the main cause of internet spam, I’ve never seen one look at the phpBB software and make changes that result in higher rankings, ever. If they did they would be massively rich by now.

[thecoalman]

I remember when I first dipped my toes into it for my food blog. I was eager to boost my traffic, so I hired this agency that promised big results.

Most companies promoting SEO services are like people offering books to get rich quick. Chapter 1: Sell a get rich quick book. Anybody with real knowledge of SEO is either busy with their own sites or it's going to be really expensive.

SEO has many facets but as already mentioned start with the basics which is content, specifically unique content. Content is not SEO but without good content SEO is useless.

Also mentioned was Google webmaster account. Google will make suggestions to improve your site.

[Terceirense]

To boost your traffic through SEO, I recommend starting with some basic keyword research and optimizing your existing content. Focus on using relevant keywords in your forum posts, titles, and descriptions. Engaging with your community and encouraging members to share content can also help drive more visitors.