Changes at YachtForums...

I've heard this is one of the hottest summers on record, but I wouldn't know. I've been behind the keyboard all summer. I'm hoping that will change soon. Within the next few days, we're uploading an extensive script that has taken weeks of around-the-clock code work to complete.

This script is intended to recapture our search engine rankings that has suffered ever since the release of Google Panda 4.1, in which duplicate content is penalized. Ironically, the release of Google's revised algorithm came at the same time we migrated to XenForo in October of 2014, but I didn't become aware of the problem until April of 2015 after a random check of Google Analytics. Much to my dismay, our sitemap had been rejected several days after submission in October 2014. We lost 1000's of indexed URLs. Since that time, we have worked on a solution that would permit our content to remain w/o penalty.

Currently, every review and every news piece we publish goes right to the top of Google and stays there, but the threads & posts in the forums have suffered a penalty due to news pieces mixing in with discussions. Google sees this as duplicate content, so over the next few days, I'm manually doing 301 redirects to over 2300 news pieces and around 200 of YF's reviews. I'm fortunate to work with one of the best coders in the biz and he wrote a custom canonical script specifically for us. After all the canonical redirects are complete, a new builder hub page is being uploaded that should make our content taste like sugar to bots.

For the past 11 years, YF has topped a Google search - first page of results - for every brand of yacht builder in the world, but not for the past 10 months. Now we're on Google page 2 to 3 (or worse) of brand specific keyword search results. This should be rectified soon.

Sorry guys, this is what you get when a hydrodynamic engineer, turned magazine editor, turned forum admin is at the wheel! My fingers are crossed. And so are my eyes at this point.

Because Google is God in our world...

Thanks, but it's the senior members of YF that have created this resource. It's my job to insure their knowledge is protected and remains accessible to those seeking their wisdom. That part has become a full time job. Had I known the challenges that laid ahead, I may have taken a different career path, but as YF grew, the business model wasn't as important as the friendships forged, the positive change we've brought about in the industry and a general sense that we've all created something that will transcend our individual contributions.

Thanks Ed, but I'm not smarter than a 5th grader. I'm just a good juggler. If it weren't for Lars, Kevin, Ron and one very gifted coder that has taken sympathy on my limited time and resources, we'd be wallowing in the bowels of Google. You guys contribute more than me and I often feel guilty about it. I have specific knowledge on certain topics, but I often don't have time to get drawn into a debate. Thanks to everyone who allows me to quietly observe from the sidelines.

Judy, these guys are going think you're on the payroll! Thank you for the kind words, but to anyone reading this... believe half of what you see and none of what you read on the internet!

I have a fan club. Her name is Judy.

Interesting Kevin.

In another life, my mom asked me to read a book called the Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. The book was about the discovery of numerical letter sequences within the text of the Torah. Einstein theorized the Torah contained codes, but it took a modern day mathematician; Prof Ely Rips along with the processing power of a Cray 9000 computer to crack the first layer of these codes. I worked for a research facility that had access to a Cray computer for computational fluid dynamics, so my mom thought I could validate. The Bible Code was quite controversial. Short of faith, it may be the first tangible evidence of a higher being.

I can't recall if it was the Bible Code 1 or 2 that indicated that a power or knowledge would be unleashed around the dawn of the 2nd millennium. I assumed this meant processing power that would allow scholars to unlock more layers of the code within the Torah. Maybe it meant unleashing the collective knowledge of earth's inhabitant? Maybe it meant Google?

42?

When Tom's not taking pics, he works full-time heading up the disaster management team for Verizon Wireless. The man literally lives out of a suitcase! He's away from home so often, his dog thinks he's a burglar when he returns. Not sure where he finds the time to shoot pics, write for magazines, work boat shows, juggle a family life and take care of his house. I always ask him... "when are you going to slow down and get some rest?" His response is always the same... "I'll rest when I'm dead".

Speaking of no rest...

After weeks of code work, the new builder hub pages went live yesterday. On the front page of YF is a builders list which contained a selection of wallpapers. This has been replaced with pages that pull the latest news and reviews from each builder's forum, along with a brief bio. The content is not entirely complete yet, but I'm working on it.

As of this morning, I have created forums, wrote brief history pages and redirected PR & Feature content to:

Sunrise
Icon
MondoMarine

It's a tedious process. Hundreds of PRs needing canonical redirects, reformatting, indexing, etc. By the end of today, maybe tomorrow (if I lose power due to Erika), I'll try to finish up:

Admiral
Mangusta
Princess
Trumpy
Vitters
Pendennis

Kevin and Ron are burning the midnight oil too. They have been identifying thread ID number for 1000's of posts that will get redirects. This is all being done in response to Google's Panda 4.1 which penalizes duplicate content. We're also being penalized for threads with titles that are too short or non-descriptive. In some cases, the body of text within a post lacks descriptive content. As I go through and check each one, they are often posts from new members who don't understand the importance of using good, descriptive verbiage to enhance their results.

Back to work now...

Not to worry Ken, our senior members aren't the problem. You rarely open new threads anyhow. It's the guys who like to draw attention to their posts, often newcomers trying to illicit a response with sensationalism that isn't related to the subject of the thread.