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Increasing Userbase
Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 8:33 am
by downtoearth
Hi All,
It's currently very hard to find this forum without a direct link via google. Typing 'Electrical Forum NZ' currently only shows the existing unused forum on at least the first page of Google. So you basically wouldn't find it unless you knew what you were looking for.
I think it may be ideal to work with Google to make this forum show at the top of the list, what this entails I'm not overly sure. Combine this with regular advertising of this forum on the newly made Electrical Forum Facebook page should eventually get it back to how it was.
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 9:28 am
by DougP
That's a good point. Not sure if Greg has put any MetaTags in the page code...
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 4:24 pm
by gregmcc
I have not done any meta tags, setting this up was a very steep learning curve for me, but lucky for me I have a reasonable back ground in computers and plenty of people offering help, so if anyone has any ideas on how to go about doing this, feel free to post here or PM me.
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 10:15 am
by BenAlchin
I believe you need to go the overall_header html page in the forum's installation and manually add in your meta title and description tags (can explain in more detail if you like).
You can also add in the tag to allow google search console to track data so you can request indexing and see where you're being searched, found and clicked.
As best I understand, at present the most important factor in SEO is links back to your site and normal, topical conversation. Google has advanced to the point it can begin to recognise actual organic conversation and seperate it from keyword stuffing and what have you.
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 9:10 pm
by gregmcc
I'm reasonable sure I know exactly which file I need to edit (the Google bot checks out this forum using the pro silver theme, so the overall_header.html for that style, but I'm not sure what I should be putting in the content, so any suggestions are welcome.
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 1:13 pm
by BenAlchin
<title>The title of your website</title>
<meta name="Description" content="A description of what your website is for" />
Place both of those between the <head> and </head> tags
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 4:58 pm
by gregmcc
Thanks, I was really looking for some feedback on what to use for the description, Title is easy "NZ Electrical Forum"
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 5:08 pm
by BenAlchin
So you'll want pretty much how you'd explain it to someone - keep it conversational and don't try to stuff keywords in. Keywords aren't used anymore.
It'd be probably something like 'A forum for New Zealand's Electrical professionals to discuss everything in the industry, share tips and knowledge, and learn the tricks of the electrician's trade'
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 6:00 am
by gregmcc
I've given it a go and the change has been active for about 4 days now, doing a google search and nothing comes up.
this is what I have in the overall_header.html
-------
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html dir="{S_CONTENT_DIRECTION}" lang="{S_USER_LANG}">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="New Zealand's Electrical Forum" content="A forum where New Zealand's Electrical professionals can discuss anything in the industry to get good sound advice on how to solve electrical problems, help with Electrical legislation and standards along with tips and tricks of the trade." />
{META}
-----------
A google search doesn't produce any results for me
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 9:39 am
by BenAlchin
note quite right, you'll need it to be this:
<title>New Zealand's Electrical Forum</title>
<meta name="Description" content="A forum where New Zealand's Electrical professionals can discuss anything in the industry to get good sound advice on how to solve electrical problems, help with Electrical legislation and standards along with tips and tricks of the trade." />
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 7:26 pm
by gregmcc
Thanks, I have made the change, we will see if google picks it up
Re: Increasing Userbase
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 8:22 pm
by DougP
Like this maybe?
<head>
<title>New Zealand's Electrical Forum</title>
<meta name="Description" content="A forum where New Zealand's Electrical professionals can discuss anything in the industry to get good sound advice on how to solve electrical problems, help with Electrical legislation and standards along with tips and tricks of the trade." />
</head>