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Originally Posted by tkdlady
I am having no problems. Is this site going to slowly migrate to the look of the one we have been testing?
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This is something I'll have to discuss with cb because right now the answer is prolly not. I love having cb as admin here bud I'd hate for him to do all the work which means I'll have to tackle the vB install and database migration process. It ultimately doesn't serve us much if I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to some of our sites software.
As for the look of the test forums, it may be that we use that theme but it may not. I'd really like to examine all possible alternatives because any theme we choose, we'll be stuck with for up to a few years time. I also want a progressive theme that takes us away from this bland looking hospital corner and plops us into the 90's at least
When we do finally migrate to the new site software, it's likely lifesupporters.com will look like utter crap for a while during the process and we WILL LOSE some functionality in the short term. As an example, we will likely continue using this software for the news, stats, etc., but vBulletin will be for everything else. This means that some of the pages may retain this theme (or another more neutral phpnuke theme) while vB uses something completely different. In other words, don't look for any continuity because it's likely there won't be any.
The sad fact is that I'm being completely anal about this entire upgrade process so I only want to do it once that will last me years to come. The only way to make certain I'm making the right move is to work even harder to understand the varying types of Content Management Systems out there. The best part is that cb has been instrumental in not only helping me learn some of them, but to point out some of the limitations and how they may or may not work for us.
Lastly, there is SEO to consider in every decision. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in simple terms is making your site easy to index with search engines such as google, yahoo, msn, alta-vista, etc., while at the same time, trying to get as close to page one for every targeted keyword. As an example, if you were searching google for a
family friendly forum, would you find us better on page one of the google search result or page 100? The answer of course is page one because most people won't look beyond page 3 without trying a different search keyword or keyword phrase.
As you can see, we're doing pretty well with google for keywords/keyword phrases such as:
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family support forum
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life supporters
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online family support
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family friendly news
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family support
Regional results may vary for all the above links but in my area, not one of the above has us ranked below page 3 in google. This means we have a much higher chance of attracting visitors and members here because they can find our site easier. The goal is to redefine what the term "life support" actually means and to ultimately own the #1 spot on page one, result one, of all the major search engines.
Now what you will find interesting is that all of the above all lead to our main page, not our forums. Well cb thinks that the fact our forums aren't configured properly in regards to SEO is a crying shame and I'm inclined to agree. What we will be doing on the new site/sites, is optimizing everything with SEO techniques in mind so every word we use counts toward pushing us to page one with the SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages).
I remember the days of basking in glory when we surpass one thousand page views/day, now we average around 2500 - 3000/day. The goal is to get 10x that while helping people sort out there issues and actually making a positive difference on the www.
We'll get there in the long run but believe me when I say, this is only the beginning of a very long and winding road. I'm just glad I have you fine people as travel partners.
Ken