Phone Zone Changes

[Scott Greczkowski]

In order to get back in good graces with Google and to streamline things SatelliteGuys and get members involved again we will be streamlining the Phone Zone as well as our computer forums.

This project is being spearheaded by staff member RockyMtnHigh who will be working over the next few days to make things work.

Thank you for allowing us to make SatelliteGuys even better for you!

 

[Hall]

Any chance of a "post-links-to-news-from-other-sites-that-almost-no-one-comments-on" sub-forum ?

 

[mike123abc]

Part of the problem seems to be that high link to content ratio of posts can cause a site to lower in rankings. Having a bunch of threads that were essentially just a URL makes it looks like this is a site that is doing a bunch of links to generate ad revenue by catching search terms with no real content. So, Google drops the rankings.

 

[Hall]

So it's

Spoiler

Poke's

fault ?

Why isn't that inline ?

 

[mike123abc]

So it's

Spoiler

Poke's

fault ?

Why isn't that inline ?

He is not the only poster that has more links than actual content.

But, when viewed as a service (i.e. finding information about new things and posting links here), it has value. The problem is that when a page is generated (each thread makes a page) that essentially has an Ad on it, and the rest of the page is links, it really hurts the site ratings. This is why you see pages like anandtech.com and tomshardware.com that essentially have a news feed section on a page with a lot of other content.

Combining all the links into a single thread is the satelliteguys version of a news feed. That way only a few pages on the sites are all links instead of many pages.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

In addition the search engines only really score you on the first post of a thread. So if you have one thread with a million links in it it will score MUCH better then a forum with a million threads with a link in it.

Before the opposite was true... you actually were scored higher for having a lot of links. But now they are grading you on the content... so now content is king.

With that said I love Poke's postings as it lets me keep an eye on what's going on around us without me having to visit a bunch of sites to see whats new.

 

[mike123abc]

Perhaps there is a XENFORO add on that could make a news feed page or something. Perhaps when you go into a forum like lets say "android" and see a mini news feed at the top of like the last 5 news links (with the option of course of seeing the rest).

 

[Hall]

In addition the search engines only really score you on the first post of a thread. So if you have one thread with a million links in it it will score MUCH better then a forum with a million threads with a link in it.

Before the opposite was true... you actually were scored higher for having a lot of links. But now they are grading you on the content... so now content is king.

I was going to say, do you need a "Poke's Android news feed" post, but there's a time limit for editing posts, is there not ? If what you say is true and only the first post counts, it won't do any good for him to reply and reply with each new link he adds.

With that said I love Poke's postings as it lets me keep an eye on what's going on around us without me having to visit a bunch of sites to see whats new.

I can appreciate them as I on occasion see something interesting. My complaint is, and always has been, that they often fill the page. I have my settings to show (25) threads and in the General Phone News forum, 1-22 are from him, 23 from someone else, then 24-25 are Poke's. Worst, most get (0) or (1) replies. With that, it's kinda hard to judge how "popular" they are.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its not a popularity contest. Its about providing people with the news, information and help they want.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have redone the forums so there is more likelihood of discussion going on. the Current News thread (they have been renamed, so they are NOT Poke's threads -- he may provide a lot of news there, but others are more than welcome to participate.

I am trying to help us get back to where we were when we had a vibrant community going on in the computers and phone forums.

 

[navychop]

I tend to post links to document statements I've made. Perhaps I should cut back on that.

And if I start a thread, I gather it would be better to just make comments in post one and place any links in post two.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I tend to post links to document statements I've made. Perhaps I should cut back on that.

And if I start a thread, I gather it would be better to just make comments in post one and place any links in post two.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No one is trying to stop people from posting threads, we just are trying to contain link-only threads, both to make the forums easier to follow, and to deal with the google issues.

If you start a discussion, and then after making your point, include a link, it will be totally fine.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Links are not bad as long as there is content to go along with the link.

The link to content ratio was an issue. It was just a bunch of links with no content.

Before you would get points for links, but now you get points taken away for links if there is no content to go along with it. (and again we are talking about the first post of a thread)

SEO is like doing a Rubix Cube. As soon as you solve the puzzle they come in and take off all the stickers and put them on again in a random order so you have to figure it out again.

 

[Hall]

Its not a popularity contest. Its about providing people with the news, information and help they want.

I'm referring to how to make sure Google ranks the pages / site and how to improve it.

 

[mike123abc]

I tend to post links to document statements I've made. Perhaps I should cut back on that.

And if I start a thread, I gather it would be better to just make comments in post one and place any links in post two.

If you are searching on google lets say for iOS 8 news, you see a link to a forum like this one, you click on it and you just get a page with a link to somewhere else without any discussion here or relevant comments. This would annoy me, and it probably annoys a lot of other people doing google searches. Why did the search not take me directly to the news site instead of a site linking that news. That is what Google is trying to make happen.

A page with at least a discussion of the link and content would be far more interesting. And even if it was not exactly what I was looking for, it would not annoy me very much, in fact I might find out something I had not thought about in the discussion, or reading the linked content.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

If you are searching on google lets say for iOS 8 news, you see a link to a forum like this one, you click on it and you just get a page with a link to somewhere else without any discussion here or relevant comments. This would annoy me, and it probably annoys a lot of other people doing google searches. Why did the search not take me directly to the news site instead of a site linking that news. That is what Google is trying to make happen.

A page with at least a discussion of the link and content would be far more interesting. And even if it was not exactly what I was looking for, it would not annoy me very much, in fact I might find out something I had not thought about in the discussion, or reading the linked content.

And this is what we want! Discussion of news items!!! So, go, make it so.

 

[Rey]

And this is what we want! Discussion of news items!!! So, go, make it so.

Yes sir!!!!

 

[mike123abc]

And this is what we want! Discussion of news items!!! So, go, make it so.

The problem about a lot of the news items is that it only would interest a very small group of people. For example LG releases a new phone, well that might be interesting to a few, but it is essentially a ho hum event to most the rest of the site viewers. When there are countless threads of ho hum news to most people they tend not to get commented on...

 

[mike123abc]

Yes sir!!!!

Rey your look has changed...

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The problem about a lot of the news items is that it only would interest a very small group of people. For example LG releases a new phone, well that might be interesting to a few, but it is essentially a ho hum event to most the rest of the site viewers. When there are countless threads of ho hum news to most people they tend not to get commented on...

I know, and for many of the stories, the News Thread will suffice. It provides a way to find out what is going on. We discuss those issues that excite people. Like why in the iOS forum, WWDC gets its own thread, and NOT just a link.