Making Forum Posts More Search Engine Friendly

[VURG]

I have recently learned of a rarely used trick to make forum posts more search engine friendly and I am sharing this trick here and now. This trick is to use a unique reference code somewhere on the post.

I have placed a reference code at the bottom of this post. Prior to this post, I searched on Google with an exact search (used exclamation marks around the search term) and there was 0 responses with the reference code. Now with Google alerts I can track most activity on the internet related to this post by monitoring this reference code.

I believe that this process of using reference codes for pieces of information on and off the internet in the same way that product codes are used for most of the products that we buy will become more and more the norm as time goes by. I am considering using reference codes all the time for my public online activity as I can see huge potential in tracking responses related to what I communicate on the internet.

I am considering running my own registry (via blogger) of all the codes that I use to trace all the public discussion that I have over different sites on the internet. This can help me keep my followers in touch of the vast range of places that I use to communicate across the net with a different unique code for the thousands of things that I expect to say over the internet in the future. It should also help me be a bit more organised in monitoring my activity on the internet.

This is just an idea at the moment that I have been pondering over in different ways over the last year. This post has my first reference code.

I have found in the post that making forum posts more search engine friendly did make it more useful for me. What do you think?

Reference Code: PHOJ00001

 

[rngrdanny22]

By search engine friendly, are you referring to being able to locate your own codes/posts, or for potential new members to find the site easier?

Most forum softwares assign a numeric code for each topic and post. For instance, the unique code for this thread is 773319 and can be located in the URL. Each post has its own code, but is hard to notice in vBulletin except when you quote someone.

 

[VURG]

I'm refering to a code being a unique code to the internet not so much unique to a particular website. If I search "773319" on Google, I get 40,000 results. If I search "PHOJ00001" I get 0 results (prior to this thread). I forget about all the different forums I visit sometimes and I think that by keeping a registry of all the codes I use makes it easier for me to monitor that. I also think that I can monitor reactions to discussions that go over multiple websites better by monitoring codes related to the discussion.

 

[IntrepidPoster]

This is a pretty good idea for locating your posts. Is there a specific way that you generate your codes?

 

[hollywood]

Hey VURG that's a very interesting idea you have, I encourage you to explore it further

 

[briguy]

I have recently learned of a rarely used trick to make forum posts more search engine friendly and I am sharing this trick here and now. This trick is to use a unique reference code somewhere on the post.


Reference Code: PHOJ00001

I like this idea..especially (like you mentioned) using Google alert! One sure why to see if your posting/etc..gets crawled!

Thinking even adding a keyword (my blogs main keyword) before that code...

 

[sophiax]

The idea of locating a post is great but is the code generated automatically or manually ?

 

[VURG]

This is a pretty good idea for locating your posts. Is there a specific way that you generate your codes?

At the moment because I have decided to use Phoj.com for my branding online and Phoj is a rarely used term and so using the LLLLNNNNN format where LLLL is the letters "PHOJ" and then using numbers where the numbers are assending numbers starting with "00001". (I've used 5 codes so far.) I believe that this technique allows me to create up to 100,000 codes that are mostly unique.

What I have found from trying to manually come up with unused codes (searching random codes with in exclamation marks on Google) is that it is very difficult to come up with codes that are 6 characters long, it is possible to come up with come up with codes that 7 characters long and it gets easier as the number of characters reaches 8 and 9. My estimate is that there are probably over 100 trillion potential unused codes that are 9 characters or less long and so I expect for the next decade or so that 9 characters should be long enough.

I think my domaining experience of spending countless hours searching for unique domains on Google and Instantdomainsearch means that for me personally I instinctively find it very easy to work out what codes have a higher probability of being unique. There are probably ways of automating lists of unused codes but I'm a Statistician, not a programmer so I haven't worked out those ways.

Briguy, if you do try using it, let me know where and I'll aim respond to what your saying on my blog referencing your code.

The idea that got me excited about the potential of this is the idea of the newspaper industry using reference codes on their newspaper articles. I would love to be able to search responses to a popular newspaper article on my mobile phone by having some sort of reference code for a newspaper article and have the opportunity of interacting with my local community who read the newspaper this way. I got excited about that last year but it was only more recently that I considered following codes on Google as at the time I was thinking about following codes on Twitter then and following codes on Google has a long life expectancy and hence more potential.

 

[briguy]

Briguy, if you do try using it, let me know where and I'll aim respond to what your saying on my blog referencing your code.

I am going to take your last advice about the code..figure out my own unique code (maybe even start a code with briguy or my other AKA)and I will let you know!

 

[mathewbruce]

Good post, if you want to make it more natural then you can include your signature with photos or with long tail keywords, or with tag. That will look more professional as well.

 

[VURG]

So far my early use with my codes is that nobody else is referencing my codes yet. I have used codes PHOJ00001 to PHOJ00017. I have tweeted codes as well. What I have learned from this is which websites are referencing my tweets. I am watching out to see if anyone references my codes so that I can reply but no evidence of that yet. wellm87, if you let me know where you are using codes, I will be interested to reply to you via my website and referencing your codes.

I can't find any good Twitter alert system for monitoring a large number of codes/keywords at the same time yet.

MathewBruce, thanks for the advice.

 

[audreyabbey]

Thanks VURG for sharing another useful information.

 

[kristenmart]

Yes, you are absolute right...the forums are one of the best strategy in off-page seo..by this we can bring more quality backlinks and good driven traffic more and more to your website...you can also try Blogs...which is also having more priority than Forums......

 

[albiestorm]

Yes, forums are very helpful source of Off-page seo. Where we can get more quality backlinks along with good traffic to your website.