Slides from my talk at BrightonSEO in September 2019

2. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

3. Why forums?
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO

4. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Increased SERP
visibility

5. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Mo’
traffic

6. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Keep people
on-site

7. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Mo’
money

8. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Before we
go any
further...

9. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please

10. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Use, logical,
consistent
URL paths

11. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

12. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

13. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

14. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

15. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
YMYL

16. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Marvellous.

17. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

18. Duplication
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO

19. Duplication
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Crawling

20. Duplication
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Crawling Trust

21. Duplication
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO

22. #brightonSEO
People.
Are.
Lazy.
@SEOStephW

23. #brightonSEO
People.
Are.
Selfish.
@SEOStephW

24. #brightonSEO
People.
Don’t.
Get.
SEO.
@SEOStephW

25. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW

26. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
Duplicate content
Awesome
webmasters & SEOs

27. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
Rules
Take back
control

28. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
Rules
Meta title:
● Min. character
limit - users

29. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
Rules
Meta title:
● Prompt users

30. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
Rules
Meta title:
● Existing threads =
auto-populate
with post content

31. #brightonSEO
<title>Cheese</title>
<p>I’m looking for a place to buy
Brie near Brighton</p>
CheeseChamps.com
@SEOStephW

32. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
<title>Where to buy Brie near
Brighton? | European Cheese |
CheeseChamps</title>
[min character limit]
AFTER

33. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
AFTER

34. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
UX
Help users find
stuff

35. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
UX ● Design well
○ IA
○ Section
names

36. #brightonSEO@SEOStephW
UX ● Use internal
search!

37. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Crawling

38. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Pages Crawled per day

39. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Pages Crawled per day

40. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Pages Crawled per day

41. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

42. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Da
heck is
this

43. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
UGC has the potential
to grow exponentially

44. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

45. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Log file
analysis

46. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Log file
analysis
Min 2 weeks of
data
Look for
common
sections/themes

47. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Sitemap
analysis

48. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Sitemap
analysis
Use different
sections as
sitemaps > Index
Look for issues
by site area

49. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft

50. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft

51. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Thin

52. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Thin

53. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Thin

54. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Thin

55. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Thin

56. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Cruft
Set benchmarks
Freshness
Engagement
Spamworthiness
Relevance
Search volume
Low value

57. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Dealing
with
Cruft

58. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Dealing
with
Cruft
410 it 😵

59. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Dealing
with
Cruft
410 it 😵
Robots.txt it 🤖

60. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Dealing
with
Cruft
410 it 😵
Robots.txt it 🤖
Wall it

61. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Internal
Linking

62. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Internal
Linking
Pagination - are
we overdoing
it?

63. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Internal
Linking
HTML sitemaps
& modules

64. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

65. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

66. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

67. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Internal
Linking
Connect to/from
(relevant) static
content

68. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Brief tangent

69. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Content ideation

70. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Repeated questions and
discussions? Make some
awesome static content!

71. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

72. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Trust

73. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Trust is important.

74. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Ways to prevent comment spam -
Google Webmaster Guidelines

75. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

76. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Poor quality
=
Poor trust
=
Poor rankings

77. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
How is website trust
(most likely) measured?

78. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
How is website trust
(most likely) measured?
Link graph
Content quality
Site hygiene

79. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
How is website trust
(most likely) measured?
Link graph
Content quality

80. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
How is website trust
(most likely) measured?
Link graph
Content quality
Site hygiene

81. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Moderators

82. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Gatekeepers of
quality &
standards
Moderators

83. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Gatekeepers
of quality &
standardsModerators
Keep things relevant /
on-topic
Close duplicate threads
Ban trolls / spammers

84. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Gatekeepers
of quality &
standardsModerators
Keep things relevant /
on-topic
Close duplicate threads
Ban trolls / spammers

85. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Gatekeepers
of quality &
standardsModerators
Keep things relevant /
on-topic
Close duplicate threads
Ban trolls / spammers

86. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Links

87. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Links
Review your
linking
domains &
disavow
regularly
t

88. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Links
Blanket
rel=nofollow
UGC links!

89. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Expertise

90. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Expertise
Use
verifiable
citations
for content

91. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
healthline.com

92. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Expertise
Expert users
Encourage
participation &
quality
responses using
gamification

93. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

94. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

95. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Expertise
Expert users
Make more of them:
- Link profile to
other sites (entities)
- Moderators
- Expert-only
sections

96. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Expert users
Links to
profiles
Links to
published work
examine.com

97. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO

98. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Check your
mobile
useability

99. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Final
thoughts...

100. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Did it pay off?
YMYL

101. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
Kinda. Implementation
starts
YMYL

102. @SEOStephW #brightonSEO
bit.ly/StephW-BSEO19

103. @SEOStephW
slideshare.net/stephanieweight
bluearray.co.uk - we’re hiring!
@SEOStephW #brightonSEO