Forum5 not coming up on Google search

[Steve VH]

Given bmw5.co.uk was just starting to get going again, when the name had to change to Forum5, of late posts have nose dived, suggests members and potential members struggling to get onto the newly named Forum5.

Are any of the Techs or Mods working in the background able to look into this. In my case, I cannot get the Forum5 up, other than via Facebook.

 

[Guest]

What do you mean you can't get it 'up' other than via FB?

 

The URL works as it should: https://www.forum5.co.uk/

 

Rankings are poor on Google etc as no SEO or PPC is being used/paid for because it's expensive and there's no traffic for it yet, as per this thread:
 

 

[Steve VH]

8 hours ago, danb1979 said:

What do you mean you can't get it 'up' other than via FB?

 

The URL works as it should: https://www.forum5.co.uk/

 

Rankings are poor on Google etc as no SEO or PPC is being used/paid for because it's expensive and there's no traffic for it yet, as per this thread:
 

 

If I type forum5 into a Google search bar, Firefox is the same,  it just brings up the forum5.co.uk Facebook page. Could it be why the numerous posts have dropped. 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Steve VH said:

If I type forum5 into a Google search bar, Firefox is the same,  it just brings up the forum5.co.uk Facebook page. Could it be why the numerous posts have dropped. 

 

They're no longer connected; this forum is new, so it's not even on the rankings yet

 

The only way it's being spread currently is via word of mouth and that's not taking it anywhere

[Steve VH]

Dan you are right, word of mouth alone won't be enough, but for all who currently know that Forum5 exists, how can they get on it if typing the URL in won't bring the forum up for them. I would say it needs sorting as a matter of urgency, are Sandip, Andrew, or Simon on the case.

[JohnH]

Its strange that BMW have allowed the facebook forum.bmw5.co.uk to survive.

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, JohnH said:

Its strange that BMW have allowed the facebook forum.bmw5.co.uk to survive.

 

Probably because it falls under Facebooks realm and not just a separate website/forum

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Steve VH said:

Dan you are right, word of mouth alone won't be enough, but for all who currently know that Forum5 exists, how can they get on it if typing the URL in won't bring the forum up for them. I would say it needs sorting as a matter of urgency, are Sandip, Andrew, or Simon on the case.

 

Why do you need to type in the URL though?

 

If you just save it to your favourites etc; there are no issues

 

If I type in forum.co.uk in to Google on my Mac; it brings me directly to this forum

[duncan-uk]

2 hours ago, Steve VH said:

Dan you are right, word of mouth alone won't be enough, but for all who currently know that Forum5 exists, how can they get on it if typing the URL in won't bring the forum up for them. I would say it needs sorting as a matter of urgency, are Sandip, Andrew, or Simon on the case.

What do you suggest we do? We have a link on the FB page so those people need to come back.

Perhaps those that post could suggest posting in forum might get more answers

We dont have a database of previous members so can't email them but even if we could i think that has GDPR issues.

It took years to grow to what it was and up the rankings so we need traffic and content

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, duncan-uk said:

What do you suggest we do? We have a link on the FB page so those people need to come back.

Perhaps those that post could suggest posting in forum might get more answers

We dont have a database of previous members so can't email them but even if we could i think that has GDPR issues.

It took years to grow to what it was and up the rankings so we need traffic and content

 

 

Catch 22 Dunc

 

Damned if you do etc

 

It'll grow; it's just got to have time... Doesn't happen overnight as you well know 👍🏼

[Dbcrd]

A big advert for the forum on the Facebook page at the top would be a help, as you suggested.

Last time I looked at FB there was someone with a problem on there, don't remember what it was but the advice was ludicrous and potentially detrimental to the OP-s car and nobody seemed to comment.  Not what I would expect on here, at least not without robust challenge.

In any case I stopped looking at it as I'm not on FB and don't want to join just for that forum as it doesn't really work very well compared to this site.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, Dbcrd said:

A big advert for the forum on the Facebook page at the top would be a help, as you suggested.

Last time I looked at FB there was someone with a problem on there, don't remember what it was but the advice was ludicrous and potentially detrimental to the OP-s car and nobody seemed to comment.  Not what I would expect on here, at least not without robust challenge.

In any case I stopped looking at it as I'm not on FB and don't want to join just for that forum as it doesn't really work very well compared to this site.

 

That's because every knobber and their offspring were allowed to join unfortunately; it wasn't mediated or managed; probably due to lack of time etc

[Dbcrd]

1 hour ago, danb1979 said:

 

That's because every knobber and their offspring were allowed to join unfortunately; it wasn't mediated or managed; probably due to lack of time etc

I like the word you used. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Dbcrd said:

I like the word you used. 

 

That & bollocks are the 2 most used words in my blunt vocabulary 😂

[Dbcrd]

21 minutes ago, danb1979 said:

 

That & bollocks are the 2 most used words in my blunt vocabulary 😂

I'll have to add that to mine.

[Steve VH]

5 hours ago, duncan-uk said:

What do you suggest we do? We have a link on the FB page so those people need to come back.

Perhaps those that post could suggest posting in forum might get more answers

We dont have a database of previous members so can't email them but even if we could i think that has GDPR issues.

It took years to grow to what it was and up the rankings so we need traffic and content

 

Is it not possible to have a link come up after entering the forum on the Google search bar, other forums come up, but not forum 5, as I say the only way I can get on is clicking on the Facebook link that comes up, once I have gone into Facebook.

Not having a dig, I know it must be a long winding traffic road to get the forum anywhere near what it was traffic wise, making it easier to access must be a given.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Steve VH

[duncan-uk]

Beyond my pay grade that! Sandip's got his handsful at mo but will discuss.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Steve VH said:

Is it not possible to have a link come up after entering the forum on the Google search bar, other forums come up, but not forum 5, as I say the only way I can get on is clicking on the Facebook link that comes up, once I have gone into Facebook.

Not having a dig, I know it must be a long winding traffic road to get the forum anywhere near what it was traffic wise, making it easier to access must be a given.

 

No, because the site has no traffic. So it's way way down the rankings...

 

As said. Why do you need to go via FB. Just save the URL as a favourite and it's there for whenever you need it

 

You don't need to type it into the search bar...

[Sharkfan]

Why not cancel the Facebook side of things and direct anyone interested to this site - it’s long been known that Facebook can’t act as a searchable supportive technical forum and that in essence is what forum5 always was - isn’t it?

[BobA]

On 14/12/2022 at 20:05, danb1979 said:

As said. Why do you need to go via FB. Just save the URL as a favourite and it's there for whenever you need it

I think what the OP means is that for anyone looking for the site who doesn’t know its new URL it’s very difficult to find. If you try to find it on Google for instance by searching for ‘forum bmw’ or similar it isn’t listed. It took me ages to find it when it’s URL changed but luckily I found it by searching the Facebook posts for ages.

The way that Google ranks searches (apart from ads) is based on how often a site is mentioned on other sites which it already crawls so one way we could get up the rankings is to post on other BMW forums mentioning this one. Maybe anyone who reads this could give that a try - it’ll just take a bit of time.

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by BobA

[Guest]

4 hours ago, BobA said:

I think what the OP means is that for anyone looking for the site who doesn’t know its new URL it’s very difficult to find. If you try to find it on Google for instance by searching for ‘forum bmw’ or similar it isn’t listed. It took me ages to find it when it’s URL changed but luckily I found it by searching the Facebook posts for ages.

The way that Google ranks searches (apart from ads) is based on how often a site is mentioned on other sites which it already crawls so one way we could get up the rankings is to post on other BMW forums mentioning this one. Maybe anyone who reads this could give that a try - it’ll just take a bit of time.

 

 

That's because of everything I've said above

 

It cannot be changed

 

Unless lots of money is pumped into SEO & PPC; kit'll stay as it is until the forum grows, which will be years...

 

There's no other way around it

[BobA]

Nothing to do with pay per click or optimising for search engines, it’s good enough as it is. Nothing to do with how big the site is or how many members. The first thing to fix is that if you type “site:https://www.forum5.co.uk” into Google you don’t get any results except the Facebook page so Google doesn’t know about this site at all and can’t crawl or index it. It’s nearly impossible for Google to find because it’s not linked anywhere. Google might find it eventually by crawling the list of domains but that could take ages. It would be good if the site owner or chief admin or whatever would submit the site or a site map to Google or as I said if people would list the url on other sites if they allow it though that’ll still take a while.

(I see that @E39madhas already started 🙂 )

Edited December 17, 2022 by BobA

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, BobA said:

Nothing to do with pay per click or optimising for search engines, it’s good enough as it is. Nothing to do with how big the site is or how many members. The first thing to fix is that if you type “site:https://www.forum5.co.uk” into Google you don’t get any results except the Facebook page so Google doesn’t know about this site at all and can’t crawl or index it. It’s nearly impossible for Google to find because it’s not linked anywhere. Google might find it eventually by crawling the list of domains but that could take ages. It would be good if the site owner or chief admin or whatever would submit the site or a site map to Google or as I said if people would list the url on other sites if they allow it though that’ll still take a while.

(I see that @E39madhas already started 🙂 )

 

If you know how to do it Bob; sort it then!

[BobA]

28 minutes ago, danb1979 said:

If you know how to do it Bob; sort it then!

Just a member here like you Dan, I’ve no authority to mess with the site but I’ve added a suggestion here 

for one of the ‘bosses’ 😉 to think about it.

[Sandip]

I started this a few weeks ago and got stuck at verifying. I was meant to come back to it but no time. 

I've raised a ticket with our domain co today so can hopefully progress over the coming days.