Adding H1 Tags to your Forum and Threads

[Joeychgo]

H1, H2 and H3 tags can help search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN figure out what a web page is about.

SO this is an important mod to make. It also is good for your members as it gives a more descriptive introduction to a thread.

As always, you should back up your forums before making any changes.

In the FORUMDISPLAY template find

$navbar

and Below it add:

<br />
<center>
<h1 class="myh1">$foruminfo[title_clean]</h1>
<h2 class="myh2">$foruminfo[description]</h2>
</center>
<br />

This adds the Forum Name in the H1 Tags and the Forum Description in the H2 tags. It also places these items below the navbar when you visit a forum.

In your SHOWTHREAD template find

$navbar

and Below it add:

<br />
<center>
<h1 class="myh1">$thread[title]</h1>
<h2 class="myh2">$foruminfo[title_clean]</h2>
</center>
<br />

This adds the Thread Title in the H1 Tags and the Forum Name in the H2 tags. It also places these items below the navbar when you visit a thread.

Now. You can control the size and appearance of H1, H2 and H3 tags via your CSS if you choose.

For example. In your Style Manager, Main CSS, under Additional CSS Definitions, scroll to the bottom and add something such as this:

(This will make all the H1 & H2 tags using this class appear like this, forum wide) This is the code we use here to give you an idea of how it looks.

/* ***** H1 Tags ***** */
h1.myh1 {font-family: Arial; font-size: 20px;
color: #000000; font-weight: bold;}

h2.myh2 {font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;
color: #000000; font-weight: bold;}

You can change the font, font size and whether its bold or not by simply changing the variables. You can also change the color if you like.


-

[Mike]

Of all the SEO techniques that can be applied to vbulletin, this is one of the most imporant in my opinion and it is the modification that has brought be the most noticeable results in term of search engine rankings.

[Joeychgo]

And it looks good to members as well..

[Mike]

I think I am going to implement you use of the CSS as stated above in my ATV forum. That site has absolutely no SEO added to it yet and I may use it as an experiment for the techniques that are provided by this place.

[Joeychgo]

Great! I am confident doing so will help.

Let me point out one thing. Dont approach SEO like a hack. Just install and forget. The best SEO is when its creative and a bit unique. Work with it and learn a little about SEO, what works and what doesnt.

[Mike]

That is a very good point. I do my best to monitor any change I make.

Something to definately keep in mind when approaching SEO is to not forget about the members. Alot of SEO techniques can make a forum absolutely ugly to visit.

[Joeychgo]

Yes, they can. Always build your site for your users FIRST. No sense being #1 in the search engines when users hate the site and dont participate.

[dakar]

Way too easy! Keep the tips coming!

[Peggy]

damn damn damn... been working in my acp all morning (off work today), come here to check up on stuff... and you've handed me something ELSE to do Mr JOSEPH.

*back to my acp I go* ----------- >>>>>>>>>>


ppsssssssssstt... thank you

[Peggy]

ok... I already have this on my forum, but it's in an unattractive block. When I added these tags, I had the info twice, lol. See?

http://www.exquisitelyerotic.net/for...splay.php?f=15

is there a way to get rid of the block of info and keep this?

[Joeychgo]

Sure

Admin CP> vBulletin Options> Forum Display Options (forumdisplay)>
Enable Forum Description ----------- Set this to OFF

[Peggy]

Sure

Admin CP> vBulletin Options> Forum Display Options (forumdisplay)>
Enable Forum Description ----------- Set this to OFF

yaaayyy... thank you. I saw that but didn't realize that this was what it was for.
I think that your way is much more attractive on a site than the box

thanks again

[Danecookie]

i have vbseo kinda thing installed, do i need to do this? or this will effect it?

[Joeychgo]

I have no clue - You have to ask vBSEO - Make a post there and link them to this thread - asking the same question.

[icare]

Can I make tags invisble? will that be accpetable by search engines? Does size of H1 tags matter?

[Joeychgo]

Invisible? how do you mean? where the text doesnt show at all? no that would be hiddne text and could get you banned from search engines. But you can make it any readable size you like - 2 pt, 4 pt, etc.

[icare]

Invisible? how do you mean? where the text doesnt show at all? no that would be hiddne text and could get you banned from search engines. But you can make it any readable size you like - 2 pt, 4 pt, etc.

Yes I mean like making text colour same like background colour... but you are rite i might get banned fromsearch engine,, i had read that somewhere else tooo

[contactsonia]

I have applied this into my forums at well
Great job Joeychgo.

[Stryker]

Ok, Im an idiot but I cant find the $navbar to do this. I am still learning and building and Im lost
I get to the forum display options and see just a page of settings to turn on and off or set defaults.
Am I in the wrong place?

[Peggy]

Stryker... go into your admin cp, then to styles and templates >>> click on style manager.
Then scroll in the right-hand pane to your Forum Display templates, click on that, then click on forum display. Follow the instructions above.

Then go to Show Thread Templates, click on it, then click on Show Thread. follow instructions above

Then click again on Style Manager, in the right-hand pane, click on the arrow next to all style options, select Main CSS and click on go

scroll down to the box at the bottom that says Additional CSS Definitions and follow instuctions above