i dont know much about SEO thats why im asking the SEO experts here some tips how to better optimize my forum.. aside from purchasing vbSEO, what other methods should i use? its a webmasters forum btw.. http://iwebneed.com
I won't usually do this but I'm going to link you to another forum that you may want to brose through: http://forum.vbulletinsetup.com/f7/
You need to make your links to threads search engine friendly.. Also need to build more backlinks to your site
Your link text in your signature here on DP should just say iwebneed.com or any other keyword that you want to target. Other text should not be as a link. Otherwise, you can try to promote your forum at other similar forums without spamming. Try to create some threads at your forum on your own with different usernames as people like to join an active forum. Do some blog commenting and social bookmarking as well.
You can adopt two methods On-page and off-page. On-page: Updated content meta Title Meta Description Meta Tags keyword Density Site map and etc..... Off-Page: Targeted Keywords Identify some submissions sites like Directory Submission Social Media Articles and much more to go......