[Smitty]

I bought the 'full' VBSEO package but decided not to install it. My biggest worry was how to change back if I decided, for whatever reason, to remove it. I'm told it can be set up so that taking it out won't be a problem. Last year I grossed almost US$70K from my main site (which I consider small, but it's a good 'niche' technical web site) so the cost wasn't a factor at all. Most of the feedback I found when I perused many 'web master' forums researching was that for a mature site it isn't of much, if any, 'help'.

If I was setting up a new forum I'd use it, probably. But the bottom line is VBSEO isn't a 'magic bullet' any more than a site map is. Content, inbound non-reciprocal links, and length of time online are the major factors IMHO. Even page rank is of little significance these days. I also think Google now understands the url name issue and is placing less weight on the url name.

As to the number of pages indexed, I don't believe that's all that important. What is important is visitor statistics. As long as I see an increase in visitors most months I'm a happy camper.

EDIT ADD: As a disclaimer, I haven't installed this mod/hack. I did 'subscribe' to this thread to monitor it. Like VBSEO, I think site maps are vastly over rated. Content, inbound non-reciprocal links (but not from link farms or 'reciprocal', or related, agreements {such as 'post for post' or 'link for link' exchanges}), and length of time online rule!