DOES PRIVATE FORUM AFFECT SEO?
 

So i've set it to>
you must register to view any content..

Does it affect seo or can google still read all my pages?
Can they crawl ?

Thanks very much..

No. Google cannot crawl.

Simple rule of thumb. Google sees the same thing an unregistered user sees. No more, no less.

So private means I get more signups

But open means I get close to NONE

whats the trick to get both,well it seems theres none :/

What to do now??

Welcome to everyone's dilemma! :)


Just remember, if they sign up to read a closed forum and aren't posting they are still not of much value to you.


An open forum with good content that makes users want to sign up and post is the solution. Start posting with content that will draw users to want to interact on your site, it's a snowball and when it starts rolling they will come!

Not strictly true, the only sure way to stop Google seeing private forums is to include the URL in robots.txt

Be aware though not all search engine bots follow robots.txt and will search for all extentions whether allowed or not.