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J_chem
07-03-2005, 03:14 PM
since this is my first site, and you guys know what you're talking about :D
I just wanted to see what you think I should do.

This year I had to pick what university I wanted to go to, and I figured that there would be something out there that had discussions on the pros and cons or each program, university etc..

but there isnt. So I decided to make http://www.universitynetwork.ca

Now I'm wondering how I can get better google results, especially since my site is the only one of its kind...

I was thinking that maybe I should have a main page with a bunch of descriptions/keywords with a link to the forums.. but I'm not sure

any advice?

and btw I'm planning on switching to vBulletin (I know most of you are phpBB haters) :)

thanks for any info

James
07-03-2005, 11:29 PM
It's not the only one of its kind; moreover, if it were, you wouldn't be interested in getting ranked well for that keyword as no one would search for it anyways--or at least enough for it to matter.

For forums, your best bet at getting good rankings is to probably get a layout with as few tables as possible; maybe finding a plug-in or something for phpBB (I don't expect you to move to vB right away) to make it so that SEs get a scaled-down version of the layout...I''m sure there's one out there, somewhere.

Maybe write a few articles for the site, putting them in certain forum categories as stickies, or have a dedicated section to them. These should be keyword-rich, but not keyword-excessive.

It looks like you've done your homework, so you should be fine. Maybe make it so the gradient in the logo doesn't cut off like that, and fill that gap at the top of the layout.
Forums are hard to critique, as usually it's just the content that differs, maybe the layout--but not often.

J_chem
07-04-2005, 09:40 AM
thanks for the response james.

Yeah the design is not complete yet, that was just i cheap logo I made myself.. I have someone else working a better one.

After reading some of the articles and posts here, I have decided to add some content, rather than having a forum only site... so I'll be working on that this week.

I see you're from Canada as well =) are there any sites i'm missing?
the only ones i can find that come close are:

http://www.canada-city.ca/canadian-universities/index.php?p=1

and

http://forums.studentawards.com/forums.asp?Ttoken=&SiteID=0

the second one is ok, but not very organized with respect to comparing programs/universities.

I'm trying to figure out exactly how google works..i'll be reading these boards and any articles I can find today..

Right now my site is not even in the top 15 pages of results when i search for: (is there a way to tell exactly where it is?)

Canadian Universities Forums
Canadian Universities Forum
Canadian University Forums
Universities Canada Forums

and I'm thinking that my site is more relevant than almost all of the results from google.

So my question is: should I just be placing the above keywords in my content and page titles as much as possible?

thanks for any advice

Cutter
07-04-2005, 10:21 AM
Use the overture suggestion tool to find the most relevant keywords for your site:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Right now, the keywords you listed might give you 10-15 uniques a month.

I think in the short run you'll want to set up an informational site and target a wide variety of keywords related to canadian universities. Set up an e-mail newsletter and try to filter all the traffic to the newsletter. Make sure you make the forum easily reachable & mention it in every newsletter (sent out every 2 weeks or 1 month.)

In the long run your type of site could be very successfully with word-of-mouth marketing.