bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/08/2005 10:36 pm
Hello,
I am having a problem with my site I don't know what it is but when I go to like google and search for NYChat my site comes up but when I do a search for like NYC MESSAGE BOARD I don't see my site come up. I don't even know what number page it is at. 
can someone tell me if it's my website description? all I have is NYChat.net - New York City message board!
I want to change it to: NYChat.net - New York City message board! Come and chat with 1000's of New Yorkers just like you. Post in our forums or join the many chat rooms NYChat.net has to offer.
the question is will the little lie of having 1000's of members in the description hurt my site?
and can someone tell me how long do I have to wait to see the site indexed after I make the changes?
Thanks!
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SportsGuy
Moderator
Joined: Aug 30, 2002
# Posts: 3586
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Posted: 09/09/2005 05:24 am
Julio
1 - I LOVE NYC - went earlier this year for the first time ever - it rocked!
2 - Change your Title in the meta tags - it shouldn't be the name of your board, it should be "keyword" rich - something like "New York City (NYC) Message Board – posting forum & Big Apple chat" - this conforms to the suggested character limits for Google, btw, so copy & paste away.
3 - make sure the description tag is clear and to the point about the topics you offer - put relevant keywords in the keyword tag, but don't worry about it too much (keep this under 155 chacters total)
4 - NYChat and New York City Message board are two totally different searches, so you could easily show for one and not the other.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 07:27 am
Thank you for the site description! 
I'm still working with the keywords and keyword phrases
Thanks again!
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SportsGuy
Moderator
Joined: Aug 30, 2002
# Posts: 3586
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Posted: 09/09/2005 10:32 am
Just to be clear BX - that was a title I posted above, not the description. I'm sure you know this.
About your keywords - let me ask this:
Does the forum platform you are on allow you to change the meta data for each page? Waht I'm thinking is this - if there's not much traffic on NYC forum"-type phrases, maybe your route should be to focus in on the section of the forum, and optimize the meta data in those areas - broadway, sports teams, tours, etc.
That's basically how I appreach SEO - one page at a time, one phrase per page.
With the shear breadth of topics available, you will be able to find phrases which have lots of monthly searchs. Getting ranked for them is entirely different, but your first step is the keyword research.
Post up on that question - can you change the meta data on each page where you are?
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10178
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Posted: 09/09/2005 01:23 pm
"Thousands" is marketing hype. Many sites do it, but many people visiting your site will see through it. It will be painfully obvious to visitors, if you only have a few dozen people there. For me it might be a reason to look elsewhere and find a place that really does have "thousands".
It's like the advert on the radio that listed all the people appearing in a musical concert and then ended with "...and many others" - but if you listened carefully, the list had already actually mentioned everyone. There were no "and many others". In fact there wasn't even a single "and one more". It is meaningless marketing speak.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 02:34 pm
Thanks guys!
I don't know if I can make a meta tags for other pages. I'm using phpbb forum.
about the keywords I have been working on that for the pass 3 weeks but I don't know how to use phrases or what keywords to use. Do I use a keyword that is being used a million times and do I repeat keywords like NYC Chat, NYC chat room?
I put the description in the index of the forum.
the only keywords that I have come up with: Manhattan,nyc,new york city,chat room,forum,message board
the sad part is that I am from NYC! and I can't comeup with good keywords
Thank YOU!
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 03:12 pm
do I use the same keywords that are on the site title?
now I am stuck with the website description. can I use words like "AND" "SO" stop words?
Thanks!
[ Message was edited by: bxuser 09/09/2005 03:22 pm ]
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JQ
Insider
Joined: Mar 11, 2001
# Posts: 2691
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Posted: 09/09/2005 03:20 pm
"Thousands" is marketing hype. Many sites do it, but many people visiting your site will see through it. It will be painfully obvious to visitors, if you only have a few dozen people there. For me it might be a reason to look elsewhere and find a place that really does have "thousands".
Have to agree with g1smd on that.
"We have 20 registered users"
Outright lying to the very audience you are trying to attract - that would send me away with a bad taste in my mouth, never to return.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 04:16 pm
I manage to change the title of other pages but what am I suppose to put there like the other title or something different?
Thanks!
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beth_lk
Insider
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1065
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Posted: 09/09/2005 05:34 pm
I suggest something like - new but growing - come and grow with us - or something like that in your description - but not fibbing... 
maybe try out some different key words/phases on different forum pages - like NYC on one - New York City on a nother page and such and then keep track of your stats and see what is bringing the people in - just a thought
Beth
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 06:27 pm
Thanks beth!
can you give me an idea of a keyword phrase?
how long do I have to wait until I see the changes that I made like in google?
Thanks YOU!
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 07:38 pm
can someone tell me if this is a good description for my site?
"Join new yorkers in discussions on all sorts of topics in the message board or join the chat rooms."
Thanks!
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JQ
Insider
Joined: Mar 11, 2001
# Posts: 2691
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Posted: 09/09/2005 09:24 pm
"Join new yorkers in discussions on all sorts of topics in the message board or join the chat rooms."
At least that's an honest approach. Sounds good to me.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/09/2005 10:50 pm
Thanks alot!
so now that I have keywords in the title and in the site description do I use them keywords in the keyword meta tag?
Thanks!
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10178
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Posted: 09/10/2005 05:27 am
Don't worry about the keywords tag. Almost nothing uses that tag these days.
Yahoo does reportedly look at it, but more for detecting spam I believe.
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SportsGuy
Moderator
Joined: Aug 30, 2002
# Posts: 3586
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Posted: 09/10/2005 05:46 am
Don't worry about the keywords tag. Almost nothing uses that tag these days.
Yahoo does reportedly look at it, but more for detecting spam I believe.
Bingo - but if it puts a smile on your face, feel free to update the keyword tag with those newfound keywords.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/10/2005 08:40 am
Thanks guys!!!
can you guys tell me when does google,msn,yahoo and other update their servers so the new info comes out when people do searchs?
so the keywords and phrases are just for the TITLE and site DESCPRIPTION then?
Thanks!
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10178
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Posted: 09/10/2005 08:50 am
Your title should describe in a very few words what actual content you will find on that page.
The meta description is a longer description of what you will find on that page.
Keywords are the things that searchers use, and if they match what your title, description, and on-page content are, then your site should show up in the SERPs that they get to see.
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10178
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Posted: 09/10/2005 08:53 am
Google, Yahoo, and MSN continually spider the web, and update their indexes. It will take a few days to a few weeks for your updated information to be spidered (keep an eye on your site logs), and then a few days more for it to appear in the results. You need other sites to be linking to you in order for the search engines to find your site.
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bxuser
Joined: Aug 18, 2005
# Posts: 54
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Posted: 09/10/2005 09:17 am
now that's what I wanted to know! Thanks G1
I see googlebot,msnbot and yahoobot spider my site like 100x a day.
EDIT: I just looked at yahoo and my site is 47 when I do nyc chat room :D
Thanks alot guys!
EDIT 2: how many characters am I suppose to use for description and keywords? I found a site that said description was something like 250 including spaces and keywords 850 or something like that.
Thanks!
[ Message was edited by: bxuser 09/10/2005 09:46 am ]
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