SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. It's a very complex topic but can be summed up easily:
In our case it's the process of how woodbarter as a forum in general, and threads on our forum in particular are ranked within the hierarchy of results on the various search engines (SE) for the keywords each SE spider has crawled our site and decided where to rank our forum or a thread within our forum. This is for non-paid results or what is called organic results.
There's probably a better way to say it but on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being expert and 1 being imbecile regarding SEO expertise I am about a 3.372. But let me try to explain why not all "hijacking" is "hijacling at all. For those reading this, please go to google right now and type in the keyphrase 'flame boxelder'. You will see my Powder Creek website in the top 3 to 5 results. For about 7 years it has always been ranked at the very top of the page because the SE spiders considered my site the most relevant to that (and other) keyword phrases. Last summer I closed my website and just re-opened it a few weeks ago, so it had dropped completely off the map. I needed a break but that's a different story. Now that the SE crawlers have found it again it is headed straight back to the top and that's where it will remain unless someone opens a site that is more relevant to FBE than mine.
Now, go back to google and type in this keyword phrase - flame box elder pot call blanks - you will see WB pop up in a couple results both near the top. One of those results is a thread by treecycle. Google thinks that the combination of all those keywords put together are most relevant in his thread. that's because he has 6 or 7 pages of those keywords used by both him and the other posters in the thread. That's a good thing. No, that's a GREAT thing for Greg, his customers, and especially WB!
So when a discussion takes place within someone's WTB or FS or Trade threads that is not apparently "on topic", don't think it is a "hijack" because it is actually a help not a hinderance, provided his keywords are being used. the claro thread that phoenix started will eventually (and sometimes it doesn't take very long) be ranked by G and the various other SEs because Claro is being used over and over in the thread.
We do not have many members here that have claro walnut, But if his thread gets ranked it will draw not only people who are looking to buy it but also those looking to sell it or even trade it. This is how we have gotten over 35% of our members - via keyword searches. I know this because I have access to every imaginable statistic you can think of. i can even see which members have joined our forum in order to use it to get their own site ranked. I see them searching google for terms relating to their site and others who search those terms to end up on WB. this is great - it's how back links and SEO in general works. If it's good for your site it's good for WB.
Not all that glitters is gold, and some tarnished metals are solid silver. So not all hijacks are bad. Usually, they are good provided the keywords are being used. Maybe phoenix's thread will not get ranked before he needs his wood, but it might. And it will eventually get ranked and who's to say he won't need more, or that someone is going to find it on G in a week or a year and join the forum letting us know he has a lot of it and is wiling to trade for other stuff?
Now to address the "Thread Ownership" portion of the title. Even considering everything I have said, anyone who posts a thread on WB I have always considered them the actual owner of the content. Anytime someone wants posts they deem unrelated, removed or moved, I have always been willing to do this and that hasn't changed. I just hope this post helps more members realize that the more keywords used in their thread, the better of WB, and they, are and that it isn't a professional hijack, but free results that no professional SEO company can get for you for even thousands of dollars.
Greg is going to benefit from the high ranking of his thread probably for years, and so will we all.
In our case it's the process of how woodbarter as a forum in general, and threads on our forum in particular are ranked within the hierarchy of results on the various search engines (SE) for the keywords each SE spider has crawled our site and decided where to rank our forum or a thread within our forum. This is for non-paid results or what is called organic results.
There's probably a better way to say it but on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being expert and 1 being imbecile regarding SEO expertise I am about a 3.372. But let me try to explain why not all "hijacking" is "hijacling at all. For those reading this, please go to google right now and type in the keyphrase 'flame boxelder'. You will see my Powder Creek website in the top 3 to 5 results. For about 7 years it has always been ranked at the very top of the page because the SE spiders considered my site the most relevant to that (and other) keyword phrases. Last summer I closed my website and just re-opened it a few weeks ago, so it had dropped completely off the map. I needed a break but that's a different story. Now that the SE crawlers have found it again it is headed straight back to the top and that's where it will remain unless someone opens a site that is more relevant to FBE than mine.
Now, go back to google and type in this keyword phrase - flame box elder pot call blanks - you will see WB pop up in a couple results both near the top. One of those results is a thread by treecycle. Google thinks that the combination of all those keywords put together are most relevant in his thread. that's because he has 6 or 7 pages of those keywords used by both him and the other posters in the thread. That's a good thing. No, that's a GREAT thing for Greg, his customers, and especially WB!
So when a discussion takes place within someone's WTB or FS or Trade threads that is not apparently "on topic", don't think it is a "hijack" because it is actually a help not a hinderance, provided his keywords are being used. the claro thread that phoenix started will eventually (and sometimes it doesn't take very long) be ranked by G and the various other SEs because Claro is being used over and over in the thread.
We do not have many members here that have claro walnut, But if his thread gets ranked it will draw not only people who are looking to buy it but also those looking to sell it or even trade it. This is how we have gotten over 35% of our members - via keyword searches. I know this because I have access to every imaginable statistic you can think of. i can even see which members have joined our forum in order to use it to get their own site ranked. I see them searching google for terms relating to their site and others who search those terms to end up on WB. this is great - it's how back links and SEO in general works. If it's good for your site it's good for WB.
Not all that glitters is gold, and some tarnished metals are solid silver. So not all hijacks are bad. Usually, they are good provided the keywords are being used. Maybe phoenix's thread will not get ranked before he needs his wood, but it might. And it will eventually get ranked and who's to say he won't need more, or that someone is going to find it on G in a week or a year and join the forum letting us know he has a lot of it and is wiling to trade for other stuff?
Now to address the "Thread Ownership" portion of the title. Even considering everything I have said, anyone who posts a thread on WB I have always considered them the actual owner of the content. Anytime someone wants posts they deem unrelated, removed or moved, I have always been willing to do this and that hasn't changed. I just hope this post helps more members realize that the more keywords used in their thread, the better of WB, and they, are and that it isn't a professional hijack, but free results that no professional SEO company can get for you for even thousands of dollars.
Greg is going to benefit from the high ranking of his thread probably for years, and so will we all.
