At some point in time (years ago) I understood that forums were indexed using a different pattern by Google which recognised that new content was being added much more frequently than other sites. A friend has a forum which gets alot of new posts every day yet it's cached infrequently. I don't have access to the logs to see real visits though. So, what's the feeling these days? * are forums just like any other site? * does Google visit more often? I'd be interested in your thoughts! Sarah
Vbulletin seems to be treated the same. I can make single posts that rank better than regular domains for the same keywords.
Have a look at my forums Search Engine Optimize vbulletin page. Forums are special beasts, they have so much technology for the user, that it gets in the way of the search engines. Then, in general they are not search engine friendly - very poor PR distribution, multiple URL's for the same content... But all that can be changed, and VBulletin and other forums can be made powerhouses on Google. But onpage, and onsite SEO is not much good when there is little Google PR coming in to start with. You have to work hard at getting links in just like any other website. Hopefully once the ball gets rolling, your users will start to link in and you wont have to concern yourself about PR any more. Then there is the Co-op which is great for PR and getting high on Google for certain pages. But don't forget, you still need to combine the Co-op with good onpage, on site and whole of web optimization.
VBUlletin can get great rankings. My Lincoln vs Cadillac Forums ranks second page for CADILLAC - a tough KW. It isnt all that hard, just takes some work and dedication.