Hi guys,

First i would like to say thanks for such a site with a vast amount of knowledge to intake. I have political forum that i have been working on for about month and i have just a few questions in regards to what i can do to get indexed by google, as well as improve my rankings on google as well as other search engines.

1) My site is a political forum, we use phpbb software. However it has yet to be indexed. Is this something i should be concerned about?

2) If someone could please take a look at my site and tell me what i can do to improve etc

Any input you guys can offer will be greatly appreciated and thanks for the help in advance

It would seem the site has only been around since October 13 2008. Looks like you have rss setup. You might try link exchanges, but give it time to catch on. If you don't already have one, implement a site statistics package so you know how and when users are visiting your site. If you're paying more than 5.00 a month to your hosting provider I can connect you with a provider that you can use your phpbb on and much more.

On a side note, at first glance, your GREY pages (despite your fanzy flaming logo) make me feel BLAH about your site. You might use a brighter color scheme. Hopefully you've implemented sitewide css. feel free to contact me if you want to talk about more site upgrades . I'm a designer and can be reached at darrian_walker AT yahoo DOT com

I've never created a forum site before, so I'm not a lot of help, although I've visited lots of them. I agree with the previous poster - you need to liven up that header. All the grey is just too much. I would get something brighter, more lively, at the top. Maybe with a tag line - why would people want to discuss anything on your site? What does it have to offer? Why is it different?

Did you submit the site URL to google, yahoo, msn, etc..? On a brand new site, I always do that. Then work on getting others to link to you. I have a site where I get lots of requests to link to others. Make it easy for the webmaster - give them your site URL, but also a short site description that you want them to use (with your keywords of course).

good luck!

I think that the theme and colors looks fine. I would, however, work on your header graphics. They should relate to politics and discussion.

Good luck with it.

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Garden Guides

The forum is not indexed by Google. What about the other SE's?

Why do you duplicate the link in your signature?

May be Google will index it now as you have an IBL from your signature link here.

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If I were you,I'd like to set some top topics on everyday events at the first time. Everyone has the hobby to show his view. In a word, timely update.

All of your pages are too wide for my laptop's screen, forcing me to scroll horizontally -- something most users (myself included) hate to do. Many people use only a laptop these days, so make sure you site looks good on a normal size laptop screen.

I don't think your "Who is online" feature is working. While I was browsing the forum, it said "Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests". What am I, chopped liver?!

1) Links links links, and relative ones. Then Google will find you. Try adding some content other than forum threads. I think Google places more importance on content that is not in a forum format. Maybe an SEO guru can confirm this.

2) I think the header would be good if it had an appropriate logo. Maybe add a catch phrase. Not sure what flames have to do with politics, might be some inside meaning, but when I see flames, I think of cars or classic cars. I think the darker gray looks good, but there is not enough contrast between the lighter gray and the white. Maybe some outlining would work? White space is good, but you have almost an entire column not in use. As peterbk stated, having to scroll, this width is not justified. I realize you are using phpbb software, and that may not be possible to change. Can the left hand column be moved to the top, and the overall width be narrowed?

Overall it is a nice clean look.

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Eric Griffiths
OhioWebPro

what is the url of the site?