Modify Your vBulletin Title Tag for SEO Purposes

Changing your vBulletin title tag seems minor yet it plays a huge role in search-optimizing your forum. This is because major engines like Google and Yahoo look closely at a webpage’s title tag, among other considerations, to determine what that page is all about. The following steps will optimize your vBulletin title tag without infringing vBulletin’s copyright.

1. Take out “- Powered by vbulletin”.

Say your forum is about Diecast Cars. The “Powered by vBulletin” portion of the title tag might confuse the search engines about what your page is about since your title tag contains two different topics. Go to Languages & Phrases > Phrase Manager. Look for x_powered_by_vbulletin and change it into your desired title. 

2. Remove website name from board and thread titles.

By default, vBulletin board titles follow this format: “Board Name – Forum Name.” In addition, thread titles follow this format: “Thread Name – Forum Name.” A shorter and snappier title would definitely be better not only for search engines but also for end-users.

To modify your board title, go to Forum Display Templates > FORUMDISPLAY. Here, remove $vboptions[bbtitle] from the title tag.

To modify your thread title, go to Shrow Thread Templates > SHOWTHREAD. Likewise, remove $vboptions[bbtitle] from the title tag.

3. Rename your forum.

In the AdminCP, got to vBulletin Options > Site name / URL / Contact Details > Edit Settings. Edit “Forum Name” and put a proper SEO-friendly keyword-centered name. By doing this, you’re telling end-users what exactly your forum is about. Also, doing this would be like providing search engines with keywords to associate with your site. You may also edit “Homepage Name” and use the same name. This would be akin to having keyword-intensive anchor text pointing to your home page through internal links from all your forum’s pages.

The suggestions above employ basic SEO techniques. The goal here is to have an accurate description of your site in order to inform and attract human users as well as have the proper keywords for search engines.