[Zher0]

So Google takes bounce rate into account when ranking. I wasn't able to find an existing recommendation for this, but would it be wise to allow non-registered members to view threads, but not links or downloads? This would allow people coming from Google to stay on the page/thread longer therefore giving positive signals to Google. Just a thought.

[FK71]

As a relatively new member, I can see both sides to this argument.

If the forum was open to read, perhaps more people would see the content and feel compelled to sign up and engage.
However, I'd caution against that also - personally, for me, had the forum content been open to view, it's possible that I may not have registered at all, and may have just become a lurking reader without ever contributing...

Hard decision imo, but given that it's currently disabled for non-registered users to see threads, I'm guessing the admin has a pretty good reason for wanting it that way.

[Pentatonix]

This isn't super plausible for most applications. However, it could work with certain forums. Perhaps have the Site News open and restrict the rest until they sign up. Or hide the marketplace and hacking forums.

[Truth]

maybe some forums, there actually used to be a vip forum for upgraded members that normal members couldn't see, would be cool if that returned

[Artisan]

I think that if this is implemented, that would improve traffic but that would result in non-registered people contacting people offsite from the socials available on threads and that would flood the disputes section in the long run. Things are perfect, the way they are now.

[Moooookie]

The reason users who aren't member aren't able to see the site, is because it's a technique used to force people to sign up, if they would like to see the content. Helping to increase the member count and activity on the forum. And I gotta say it works, as that's how I joined. I was searching for something, and I couldn't access the thread without signing up... so I would say it definitely works.

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As a relatively new member, I can see both sides to this argument.

If the forum was open to read, perhaps more people would see the content and feel compelled to sign up and engage.
However, I'd caution against that also - personally, for me, had the forum content been open to view, it's possible that I may not have registered at all, and may have just become a lurking reader without ever contributing...

Bingo.

[Zher0]

The reason users who aren't member aren't able to see the site, is because it's a technique used to force people to sign up, if they would like to see the content. Helping to increase the member count and activity on the forum. And I gotta say it works, as that's how I joined. I was searching for something, and I couldn't access the thread without signing up... so I would say it definitely works.

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Bingo.

All valid ideas. I guess the only way we would know for sure is if Omni tested it.

[Moooookie]

All valid ideas. I guess the only way we would know for sure is if Omni tested it.

I definitely understand your point in regards to SEO.. having the threads visible would be more beneficial in terms of bounce rate. But I don't know if that competes with getting new users to the site. I can't lie though, I almost didn't sign up to view the thread.. but I wanted to read the contents that bad, that I just decided to join. And I'm glad that I did.

[7]

I really want this as a feature and have the signup popup/overlay at the bottom of the screen like they do with medium or news papers.
This way they can read the first post should the user turn this feature on, encouraging signups.

Like my Call of Duty Giveaway BO6, be so good to generate traffic from external sources.. let them read a little and then block until register.
Also make OP the referral

IMO, I'm no one though

Like this

[Zher0]

I really want this as a feature and have the signup popup/overlay at the bottom of the screen like they do with medium or news papers.
This way they can read the first post should the user turn this feature on, encouraging signups.

Like my Call of Duty Giveaway BO6, be so good to generate traffic from external sources.. let them read a little and then block until register.
Also make OP the referral

IMO, I'm no one though

Like this

I like that idea. Maybe even allow them to see half of the original thread or the first reply then have the overlay at the bottom to sign up. Could be more enticing? Omniscient

[SwimmingPool]

So Google takes bounce rate into account when ranking. I wasn't able to find an existing recommendation for this, but would it be wise to allow non-registered members to view threads, but not links or downloads? This would allow people coming from Google to stay on the page/thread longer therefore giving positive signals to Google. Just a thought.

I can see how this would 100% be a good thing for members selling things on this forum.

[Jamika]

So Google takes bounce rate into account when ranking. I wasn't able to find an existing recommendation for this, but would it be wise to allow non-registered members to view threads, but not links or downloads? This would allow people coming from Google to stay on the page/thread longer therefore giving positive signals to Google. Just a thought.

Omni get annoyed when someone just keep reading and go , this is a forum for discussion, not a newspaper

[Charlie Sheen]

One of the problems we have is foreign governments are using bots currently to crawl HF. Logging everything. Omni has been a ton of time combatting this and has had a lot of recent victories in stopping them. If we open it all the way up, it would make matters much harder to combat them.

Google and other search engines already have accounts here setup for crawling. I've found threads that were made minutes before on Google.

Truth is SEO is really dead now. It's a pay to play now. If you want your site to rank higher, you gotta pay.

[Hackers]

So Google takes bounce rate into account when ranking. I wasn't able to find an existing recommendation for this, but would it be wise to allow non-registered members to view threads, but not links or downloads? This would allow people coming from Google to stay on the page/thread longer therefore giving positive signals to Google. Just a thought.

I treat HF like clearnet so I have always thought that it would be good to just turn it public. However, I can understand why it requires a signup. It definitely does impact bounce rate which can hurt SEO rankings for sure.

[Zher0]

One of the problems we have is foreign governments are using bots currently to crawl HF. Logging everything. Omni has been a ton of time combatting this and has had a lot of recent victories in stopping them. If we open it all the way up, it would make matters much harder to combat them.

Google and other search engines already have accounts here setup for crawling. I've found threads that were made minutes before on Google.

Truth is SEO is really dead now. It's a pay to play now. If you want your site to rank higher, you gotta pay.

SEO is definitely not dead but it is 100% pay-to-play (thanks spammers). But this domain already has some authority. Google has access to read the threads, etc., so I'm sure OMNI is blocking the foreign government IPs. Otherwise, these scrapers would change the user agent/fingerprint to look like Googlebot's.