I don't necessarily agree that vBulletin is 'better' than free solutions - at least not in the area of SEO (running the risk of getting back on topic here!) But to take you up on the latter point. There might be several reasons why larger boards do not migrate from their free board to vBulletin aside from its alleged (or mythical) superiority. For a large board, it is not just a case of paying for vBulletin and then clicking a button to migrate. There are very many aspects to consider such as continuity of operation for the user base (don't forget your users are used to the board operating just as it does and it might be a major shift for them to migrate), plug-in/mod support, revenue continuity, impact on SEO and SERPs (SEs will pick up a possible change in URL structure which can have quite an impact for a board with, say, 50K+ pages indexed) and on and on...
There's seriously so much debate and mixed answers in this. I think the best answer really is that we can't tell. People who use vB will tell you vB SEO is the best. ppl that use smf will say smf, phpbb and so on. But just keep in mind. IMO DP is a bit vB bias.
I can give you 10 reasons why it's not the best. Best is subjective...when you start to say something is the "Best" that's when imho you have lost your credibility to be objective. It gets very tiring hearing the same old crud that VB is this or VB is that...I tried it...had it on my biggest forum for over a year after it was a successful phpbb site. Guess what...it did WORSE. When I switched this site to mybb...it began to grow once again. Then within a year...sold it for $xx,xxx. Do you have a story like that? Or do you just like to repeat what others say?
Thanks RectangleMan I am too fed up with people just screaming vB is the best with no backing. It seems like they where someone say it, then they feel they need to say it and now everyone is saying it without knowing why.
My tip to you, would be, never change a forum platform once started. I don't like that, due to many reasons one of them being SEO, all the indexed pages would have to get reindexed as they all use different structures. I agree with you, but he was stating his own opinion, no need to take this argument any further, I prefer phpBB as the free platform and vB as the paid platform, as vB has the experience and their own ideas. I pay for a software I know will offer me top support when I need them, constant updates and if there are any bugs they get on it fast. It is why I think vB is the best, that is why I paid for the software, if it wasn't for these factors I would most likely never buy the software. - Meti
What do you mean it did worse? How can you forum perform differently running on vBulletin than a phpbb forum? That's obsurd.
If all forum platforms run the same, then, erm, how can any one of them be better then any other? In order for one to be better, one has to be worse... right? Though, I think that in many cases there are more variables then just the forum one is using. Skin, members, moderators, etc, can all make a HUGE difference.
You might want to think out your statements better. Are you suggesting that all forums perform the exact same? That all forum software do the exact same job with no differences? If that were true then 100% certainly VB can't be the best. You have 2 people declaring that VB is best in this thread. They are not stating it's their opinion or they think it's the best...no they believe it as a fact as many webmasters do. The topic is "Which forum is better for SEO"...and the true answer is...NONE and ALL. There is no "best" and better is just as subjective a question. I can speak from my personal experience and state clearly my worst scenario was with Vbulletin. Others can clearly state the opposite but which makes it true? NEITHER...every admin must find their combination to success. It's not a path you follow but instead it's one you create.