Forum visitors halved since upgrade to 2.0.10

[Topman]

In the first full month since I upgraded my forum to SMF 2.0.10 the number of visitors has halved (google analytics)
The  number of page views (as indicated by the forum) is down 26% too.

I have set up Optimus Brave, Google Tagged (don't work!) and MetaTags Mod (some of it is in German so cannot understand all features)

I have added a sitemap.xml to the root of the url and submitted it.

I did change the URL to forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk but have set up the right .htaccess re directs and tested a few and they all worked.

Could this just be as a result of the SMF 2.0.10 not being 'mobile friendly' as considered by Google?

I've done a hell of a lot of work and lost half my traffic!

[Illori]

i think the loss in hits may be from bots or users you dont want that are not registered. a good part of it is because you moved your forum to a new location.

what do you have in your .htaccess?

[Topman]

I've just checked Analytics for devices and Desktops are down 50% Mobile down 30% and Tablet down 50% so it isnt the mobile friendly thing.  That said google referrals are down 60% direct down 50%.

My .htaccess file (located in the root of www.brand-newhomes.co.uk has this in it:

Code Select Expand

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.brand-newhomes\.co\.uk
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^index.php$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^index.shtml$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^index.asp$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^index.aspx$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^index.cfm$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^index.pl$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^default.asp$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^default.aspx$ /index.htm
RewriteRule ^default.htm /index.htm

Redirect permanent /forum/smf/ http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/

RewriteRule ^(.*)index.htm$ http://www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]
ErrorDocument 404 /404-re-direct.htm

The forum was in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/smf/forum   and is now in forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk

The .htaccess file in the new forum url has been created by the PrettyURLs  Mod

It is important that non-registered users are able to find the forum via search engines to benefit from the information it contains.  I am currently back in 2013 from a traffic point of view.

[Illori]

you dont have a redirect from your old forum to your new forum and you are wondering why you are having fewer hits? ...

[Topman]

you dont have a redirect from your old forum to your new forum and you are wondering why you are having fewer hits? ...

Am I missing something? 

What is this then?
Redirect permanent /forum/smf/ http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/
From above .htaccess.

Type in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf/index.php  in your browser and see what happens!

[Illori]

The forum was in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/smf/forum

you click that URL and see what happens. seems without the index.php it does not redirect. IMO it should always redirect as the location has changed.

[Topman]

If you put in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf  as a web page it does not exist.  It didnt exist in the old forum either it is a file!

If you put in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf/development-reviews/taylor-wimpey-development-at-lion-park-hambrook-west-sussex-po18-8rf/msg1457/#new     for example

This will re direct to the new forum url at  forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/development-reviews/taylor-wimpey-development-at-lion-park-hambrook-west-sussex-po18-8rf/msg1457/#new      page.

As far as I can see it does re direct properly.

The drop in traffic is not as far as I can see down to re directing. 
I note that my forum is not #1 in Google serps for "Home Owners Forum" since I changed it to "New Home Owners and Snagging Forum" but it is for that search term.

I'm still none the wiser why traffic would drop after upgrading to 2.0.10.
The new URL is a new sub domain and as such it would not have any backlinks to it other than the redirected backlinks.
perhaps this is one of the causes.

[Illori]

If you put in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf  as a web page it does not exist.  It didnt exist in the old forum either it is a file!

that is the root or main folder that your old forum was in, it should also redirect to the new location without issue.

[Topman]

If you put in www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf  as a web page it does not exist.  It didnt exist in the old forum either it is a file!

that is the root or main folder that your old forum was in, it should also redirect to the new location without issue.

I recreated the old forum.smf folder in the root of the main URL and added a .htaccess file witht he re direct
Redirect permanent /forum/smf/ http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/
It didnt work.

I used the site operator to have a look at what Google has indexed.

At first it said I had 1200+ pages.  As I worked through the listings looking for the sitemap.xml it ended up with only showing 211 with the note:

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 211 already displayed.

Is there any possibility that  the upgrade created some duplicate content on the forum?

The good news is that the forum links I found are redirected to the new location and Google has picked up the breadcrumbs.

[Kindred]

upgrading does not ever create new content....   so, if you had duplicate content, then you always had it...

[Antes]

btw you are redirecting forum/smf/ not forum/smf so its very normal htaccess fails to redirect if you visit forum/smf

Try;

Redirect permanent /forum/smf http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk

[Topman]

upgrading does not ever create new content....   so, if you had duplicate content, then you always had it...

Thanks for the confirmation Kindred.

[Topman]

btw you are redirecting forum/smf/ not forum/smf so its very normal htaccess fails to redirect if you visit forum/smf

Try;

Redirect permanent /forum/smf http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk

I've just changed it in .htaccess to /forum/smf and now it does redirect the www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/forum/smf
for what its worth. Let's see if this was the cause of the traffic drop.

[Topman]

Still investigating:
I used to have a Mod that used/enabled  the H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 tags but it did not work with 2.0.10.
So I had a look at the Source code to see what if any H tags were being used and found on a post that the post title link was "no Follow"  The H5 does not look very SEO friendly either!
No wonder my traffic is down!

Code Select Expand

<h5 id="subject_2209">
<a href="http://forum.brand-newhomes.co.uk/snagging-and-defects/new-homes-are-poor-but-most-buyers-accept-it-anyway/msg2209/#msg2209" rel="nofollow">New Homes Are Poor But Most Buyers Accept It Anyway</a>
</h5>

[Kindred]

I don't think you really know how SEO or traffic works...


yes, the H! could be better...

however, the nofollow is completely intentional and completely appropriate - since you don't want the search engines following every link back to the already spidered pages

[Topman]

I don't think you really know how SEO or traffic works...


yes, the H! could be better...

however, the nofollow is completely intentional and completely appropriate - since you don't want the search engines following every link back to the already spidered pages

I think it would be more accurate to say I don't know how SMF forum software works.
If the H tags "could be better"  why aren't they? 

[Antes]

H-tags are improved in SMF 2.1

[Topman]

I've just spent 6 weeks or so going through a process/journey of upgrading to 2.0.10! 
2.1 is Beta and says:
"As this is in development, we do not recommend running SMF 2.1 on a production site."

[Antes]

I've just spent 6 weeks or so going through a process/journey of upgrading to 2.0.10! 
2.1 is Beta and says:
"As this is in development, we do not recommend running SMF 2.1 on a production site."

True, you need to wait till SMF 2.1 hits stable. I'm not saying you should upgrade to SMF 2.1, all I'm saying the improvement you are seeking about H-Tags are done in new version.