Locked forum losing potential visitors?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by YugKoobe, May 3, 2006.

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  1. #1
    If a forum is locked to the public, meaning that you have to be registered to post AND view posts, does it affect how the way Google and other search engine index the pages?

    The way I see it, if it requires a password to view pages then search engines probably won't be able to index them properly, hence losing potential visitors.

    What do you guys think?
     
    YugKoobe, May 3, 2006 IP
  2. Pootwan

    Pootwan Active Member

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    #2
    Correct. Googlebot is like an un-registered viewer -- so if you need to register to see a page then G won't see it.

    Of course you could program your script to explicity let G see it. But not sure if that counts as "cloaking" given that G will be seeing something different to what a "normal" (unregistered) person would see.
     
    Pootwan, May 3, 2006 IP
  3. YugKoobe

    YugKoobe Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Great. Thanks for the quick reply! :)
     
    YugKoobe, May 3, 2006 IP
  4. diamond008

    diamond008 Peon

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    #4
    Better take out the session id, otherwise, the google will not index it.
     
    diamond008, May 5, 2006 IP
  5. WebFreedom

    WebFreedom Peon

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    #5
    If you have a private or "locked" forum, ranking in the SEs probably won't do you much good, as anyone who visits your site won't be able to see the content unless they register. You may pick up a small amount of traffic this way, but probably not enough to make proper SEO worthwhile. If it's important for you to keep your forum private, your best bet is probably word-of-mouth or "viral" advertising on the part of your members - giving them some incentive to "spread the word" may yield significant benefits. :)

    HTH,
    Sam
     
    WebFreedom, May 6, 2006 IP
  6. ~Julia~

    ~Julia~ Peon

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    #6
    The forum software I have (IPB) allows me to choose how spiders are treated. I have given them "member" status, so they can view the general forums, but not the off topic forums & definitely not the moderator forum.

    If I wanted, I could promote the spiders to members1 (the next usergroup which has access to the off topic area), but I don't particularly want those topics picked up by google.
     
    ~Julia~, May 6, 2006 IP
  7. WebFreedom

    WebFreedom Peon

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    #7
    Hi Julia,

    Thanks for sharing this information, and I have a question - just out of curiosity. I presume that your "general forums" are private and require membership to view, based on the topic of this thread. By allowing the SE spiders to access this content, it can be ranked in the SERPs - but what good does that do you when anyone linking to your forum from a search engine can't view the same content without becoming a member? I'm interested to know... :)

    Thanks,
    Sam
     
    WebFreedom, May 6, 2006 IP