Converting guests from the archive -> repeat members

[Overgrow]

Now that I have my forum archive listed in Google, how do I make sure those guests come back?

You will see this problem on most vBulletin sites using the archival hacks. While they may get listed in Google and may get tons of guest traffic from the search results, how many of those search-guests are encouraged to register or even view another page on the site?

I've seen so many sites recently where the guests outnumber the members more than 10:1! Obviously the result of poor guest->member conversion.

First, let's examine the mistakes made in the typical archive results page. No offense meant to my example site as you are using the standard templates:

http://www.explosivelabs.com/forums/showthread/t-470.html
Explosive Labs is simply a random example of sites using one of the archive hacks.

-Results page with logo looks like a typical vBulletin page. It does not imply that the user is only getting half of the experience.

-Most importantly, all of the breadcrumb links go back to the archive. This makes no sense as you want the users to go forward into the real forum and not stay isolated in the archive.

-The "Click Here" for original thread link is nearly the same color as the table background and does not stand out AT all. And it is the only way on that page for the user to find your real site!


Now let's take a look at a few examples of other sites that are more ambitious when trying to turn guest-searchers into fulltime members.

http://www.phpbuilder.com/mail/php-general/2000091/2272.php
PHPBuilder is one of the oldest forum archives in Google. I've been using it for years and it is still one of the most effective. The page draws the user into the other content of the site. Also, since it only displays one post in the archive at a time, it forces you to click into the normal thread to read the replies.

http://forums.devshed.com/archive/5/2002/01/1/27968
DevShed is one of the best computer related communities and sites that I've found. They use my old vBSpiderFriend to manage their archive. It returns very good Google rankings for the archive due to high keyword density and placement. I believe it also brings search-guests into the rest of the site because ALL of the links go to the real forums. There is no link back to the archive from the threads because there is no need. You don't want users browsing your archive-- when they find their answer they should be compelled to click into the rest of the site.

http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread/t-249754.html
My new archive results page. Advantages:

-Eyes first hit on the breadcrumb trail that leads back to the real forums and not back to the archive

-Large, labeled search box that encourages people to search the FAQ

-Quick link to the FAQ for more information next to the thread title

Everything leads back to the real site and there is an easily recognizable search box that encourages people on a quest for answers to find them with my search engine. If you've recently found yourself with an influx of guests but not many new members, putting a little attention into the archive template will pay off greatly as people are encouraged to register and return.

Hope that helps someone~

[limey]

Great points.


http://www.icalledit.com/archive/

Having trouble getting the category to show on the forumdisplay...

[FlyBoy73]

Yes, definitely. Great point. Now, who wants to make some $$ editing mine a bit? ;)

[Overgrow]

Hey nice imitation limey!

I didn't build a new navbar, I simply used the existing archive's navbar and moved it up top. I changed the archive's code in functions.php to breadcrumb with the proper forum links instead of the archive links.

I see no reason to have a breadcrumb trail through the archive at all. Instead I put a generic "Back to the archive" link at the bottom of every page so spiders don't think they're orphaned.

[Overgrow]

One more small thing.. Be sure to edit the archive template and move the thread[title] to be the FIRST THING in the <meta title>, instead of the forum name. It's inefficient to have it any other way since you are trying to get the highest search rank possible for that thread's keywords-- they need to be the first thing in the title.

(Of course I think you should do that sitewide.. ever noticed when you minimize a bunch of windows from your site, they all start with the same text, your forum title? Doesn't it make more sense to have them start with the thread title or page title so you know which minimized window is which?)

[limey]

Overgrow: again thanks for inspiring me to change my archive. I think the $thread[title] alone is going to be something the search engines will eat up!

Now off to try to rework my navbar :D

[Dean C]

Good tips Overgrow :D Thanks

- miSt

[JulianD]

Thanks for your great tips overgrow! I'm planning to launch my new site very soon and i'm subscribing to this thread for reference! :)

[Velocd]

I would suggest trying to integrate my "Similar Threads v2 (or v1, which might lack speed but offers a more strict filter)" hack, being that the archive hack probably generates with low queries and fast page output anyway, there shouldn't be much of a performance decrease--I would think, unless you have a gigantic forum. Being that you ultimately want to attract the visitor to your register page, if they visit an archived thread and are unsatisfied with their findings, they might simply click back and wander off somewhere else. But, if there is a listing of similar threads in plain visible sight, there is a possibility they will wander onto those threads, which places them in a tree of threads branching out everywhere.

I have yet to use the archive hack even though I'm writing this, but after reading your post Overgrow I just might consider an installation soon.

[Overgrow]

Thanks for the good words, everyone.

Vcd> Is there an online example of your v1 hack? I've never been keen on Similar Threads simply because I've never seen vb3's version pull anything up that was relevant. Thanks~

[Overgrow]

I've updated my Archive results page again. Improvements are including the main site nav-bar and the bottom site links-- both of these are to help with internal link structure and PageRank. The top bar should draw visitors into the site.

Also I've added a big Click here link when there is an image attached to the post so that the user knows they are missing the full experience.

http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread/t-255769.html

[Dean C]

Does changing the tempaltes affect the ability to be spidered/crawled?

- miSt

[Overgrow]

Not at all, I've got Google, Teoma, Wisenut, and Inkitomi on right now. Improving certain parts of the archive, most importantly putting the thread title first in the meta-title and using an < h1 > tag for the thread name, will improve your result ranking on Google. Other changes I've made are to improve PageRank (internal links labeled well) and to increase the number of guests that hit one page and then convert to full members of the site.

ps. a Search Engine forum here on vB.org isn't a bad idea.. ie, how to improve your vBulletin site's Search Engine ranking. Google/Yahoo listings are the #1 reason for my site's success.

[RDX1]

Can't access your archive...

[Dean C]

Well i agree with you there Overgrow but dedicating a forum to it might be too much. General Hacking Discussion and The Lounge cover discussion about search engine rankings :)

- miSt

[Overgrow]

>>Can't access your archive...

Stupid servers.

>>dedicating a forum to it might be too much

haha thanks. I understand, everyone wants their favorite subject to have it's own forum. For those interested, here are the best search engine forums: http://www.webmasterworld.com

[djr]

Hi shabang / Overgrow,

Some questions, before I go and spice my archive page like your example.

- how did you manage to get the [Click to view the attached image]? Mine just shows the image. You probably modified the archive_postbit template for that, but I can't seem to figure out how?
- I also don't really understand how to breadcrumb the archive navbar properly. I looked at the archive_navbar function in functions.php, but I'm not that much of a coder. Care to post instructions for that?

Thanks... the hack itself is brilliant, but you have a very valid point. I have more guest than members online, and they're all looking at the archive without getting the full monty ;)

-- djr

[Overgrow]

>>how did you manage to get the [Click to view the attached image]?

That's part of a much bigger set of features on OG. I don't use the attachment code, it was replaced with special image uploaders and image templates. I already have separate templates in use when images are loaded in a post so it will be a whole different story if you're using the standard vB code.

>>I also don't really understand how to breadcrumb the archive navbar properly.


// ###################### Start archive_navbar

function archive_navbar( $id , $idtype='forum' , $highlightlast=1 )
{
global $bbtitle,$bburl,$navbits,$navbar,$DB_site;
$datecut=time()-1800;

$rawcountusers=$DB_site->query("SELECT DISTINCT userid FROM session WHERE userid<>0 AND lastactivity>$datecut");
$countusers=$DB_site->num_rows($rawcountusers);
$countguests=$DB_site->query_first("SELECT COUNT(host) AS sessions FROM session WHERE userid=0 AND lastactivity>$datecut");
$totalonline=$countusers+$countguests[sessions];

$navbits = archive_nav( $id , $idtype , $highlightlast );
$navbar = '<img src="/edge/images/bcarrow2.gif" border="0"> <a href="' . $bburl . '">Overgrow Marijuana Forums</a> <img src="/edge/images/bcarrow1.gif" border="0"> ' . $navbits;
$navbar.= '<br><div style=\"margin-top:8px;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'.$totalonline.' users online now!</div>';

return $navbar;
}

// ###################### Start archive_nav

function archive_nav( $id , $idtype='forum' , $highlightlast=1 )
{
global $DB_site,$bburl,$threadcache;
$code = '';
if ( $id != -1 )
{
if ( $idtype == 'thread' )
{
if ( !isset( $threadcache["$id"] ) )
{
$getforumid = $DB_site->query_first("
SELECT forumid
FROM thread
WHERE threadid=$id
");
}
else
{
$getforumid['forumid'] = $threadcache["$id"]['forumid'];
}
$code = archive_nav( $getforumid['forumid'] , 'forum' , 1 );
if ( $highlightlast )
{
$code .= '<a href="'. $bburl . '/forumdisplay.php?forumid=' . $id .'">' . $threadinfo['title'] . '</a>';
}
else
{
$code .= $foruminfo['title'];
}
}
else
{
$foruminfo = getforuminfo( $id );
if ( $foruminfo['parentid'] != -1 )
{
$code = archive_nav( $foruminfo['parentid'] , $idtype , 1 );
}
if ( strlen( $code ) > 0 )
{
$code .= ' <img src="/edge/images/bcarrow1.gif" border="0"> ';
}
if ( $highlightlast )
{
$code .= '<a href="'. $bburl . '/forumdisplay.php?forumid=' . $id .'">' . $foruminfo['title'] . '</a>';
}
else
{
$code .= $foruminfo['title'];
}
}
}

return $code;
}

[djr]

Thanks man! Really helpful, and I actually learned from it ;)

Too bad 'bout the image spoilers, but I can live with it :D

A special thank you - Kitt says: 'Computers are serious tools, Michael.'

http://members.fortunecity.com/knightriders/scanner1.gif

- djr

[Alien]

I'm a little confused. How do I actually call the navbar breadcrumb inside xenons/skuzzys archive?