Configuring SEO options
Many SEO options are configured automatically and don't require any action on your part. These include:
- All pages are mobile-friendly with responsive design. This ensures an optimal mobile-first index by Google.
- Meta title, meta description, and Open Graph tags are automatically generated for each page based on page title, images and content in the page.
- Canonical tags are automatically applied to tell search engines which pages are preferred and to prevent duplicate content indexing.
This article provides instructions for how you can override the default meta tags as well as access your sitemap file.
Tip: SEO options only apply to public communities. Private communities are automatically blocked from search engine indexing.
Sitemap file
What is a sitemap file?
A sitemap XML file lists all of your important pages and provides a roadmap for Google to quickly find and index all of your pages.
Note that for most sites, submitting your sitemap file to Google is optional. As long as you are linking to your Forumbee site, Google will typically discover and crawl your pages automatically.
Submitting your sitemap file to Google
The sitemap file for your Forumbee site is automatically generated and is always up to date. You'll find your sitemap link in Admin > Settings > SEO under Sitemap.
Copy the link and submit it to your Google Search Console account.
Tip: To add your Forumbee site to your Google Search Console, first add your Google Analytics ID into your Forumbee account in the Integrations area. Then in the Google Search Console, add your Forumbee site using the "URL Prefix" method. Google will verify your site ownership through your Google Analytics ID.
Title tag format
The title tag is shown in the browser tab as the page title and is used by Google as your page title in search results.
Title tags use this format by default: Page title - Category - Site Name
The title tag format can be changed in Admin > Settings > SEO:
The Sitename part of the title tag defaults to your community name. Optionally, you can override that and enter a Sitename in Admin > Settings > SEO:
Home page meta tags
By default, the home page meta tag is set to your community name. You can edit your home page meta title and description tags in Admin > Settings > SEO > Home page.
Category meta tags
Category meta tags are automatically generated based on the category name and description. You can override these in category settings.
Go to Admin > Categories and select a category. Select More Options and scroll down to Meta tags.
To block indexing of the category page, select Block category page search indexing. Note that this only blocks indexing of the category page itself, not the topics in the category.
To block indexing of all topics in a category, set the Access setting for the category to one of the private options: Registered users, Specific members, or Access code.
To block indexing of a specific topic, edit the meta tags for that topic.
Topic meta tags
Topic meta tags are automatically generated based on the topic title, images, and content in the topic. To override meta tags for a topic, edit the topic from within the Moderate area and expand the Meta tags panel in the side column. See this article for details.