Making bad choices for subforum names

[Beverly]

One of the things that bothers me about some forums is how the forum owner tries to get creative with the subforum name. It's not such a huge deal when you name your general chat area, 'the water cooler'. But, going too far in that direction for more niche specific subforums is bad for SEO or in some way doesn't properly identify the purpose of the subforum. And, I guess that's what the subforum description is for, to clarify that section's purpose.

Another thing that comes across as strange is having very specific 'niche' type subforums that don't match the main subject of the forum. So for instance, a gamer forum might have a subforum on website ownership or webmaster topics. Or, a parenting forum would have a subforum on beauty. Those topics don't fit into the niche. So why not just include questions like that in the general chat area? Anyway, those are some of the things I see people doing on forums and it makes me wonder what they are thinking. What are some of the mismatched type choices you see going on with subforum names?

 

[ForumSource]

This happens a lot with forums these days because people tend to not stick specifically to their subject. Instead, they branch out to a whole bunch of topics that have nothing to do with the original topic of the forum.

I'm not really a SEO expert so I don't know if it really affects things greatly... as some forums like Hack Forums have a WIDE variety of topics, mostly not relating to hacking at all and their SEO is still good.

 

[Mikaya]

If you noticed bad names for sub-forums, then just suggest some improvements. Hopefully the admin/owner would consider them. If not, well, it's their loss, and at least you tried.

 

[Migi]

I did not consider SEO before when naming my sections, haha. I try to make it as unique as possible. I mean, for 'Introductions' I would probably pick other words to reflect the name, but make clear descriptions of what the section can be used for.

As for content, I heard before that content such as forum games or discussions which are not really related to the forum's main topic could give bad impact too, including for SEO. I feel that it would be bad if it overshadow the main topic; as long as the main topic can still shine, if everything works and grows properly, I wouldn't complain. Focus is still necessary, though. I agree that branching out too much makes the identity of the forum not so clear anymore.

 

[Soapbox]

It's easy to be too smart for your own good, I agree. These trends can be harmful especially if your sub forum names are random and don't conceptually relate to each other. If you think you can make your quirky theme work SEO-wise, at least carry it through consistently throughout your site.