Getting Physics Forum Answers from Google Search

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the visibility of Physics Forums (PF) in Google search results, particularly focusing on how PF ranks for various search queries related to physics. Participants explore the effectiveness of search strategies and the factors influencing PF's search rankings.

Discussion Character

  • Meta-discussion
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express appreciation for PF appearing on the first page of Google for specific queries, such as waste products of fusion.
  • Others suggest using the "site:physicsforums.com" prefix to restrict searches to PF, noting that Google's search capabilities are customizable.
  • One participant points out that while PF ranks well for certain phrases, it struggles with single keywords like "physics," which leads to lower visibility.
  • There are suggestions that increasing the number of external links to PF could improve its search ranking, although some participants admit to limited knowledge about SEO.
  • Participants note the quick indexing of PF pages by Google, with some sharing personal experiences of discovering PF through recent searches.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that PF's visibility in search results could be improved, particularly for broader terms like "physics." However, there is no consensus on specific strategies to achieve this, and opinions vary on the effectiveness of current search practices.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the competitive nature of search rankings and the challenges associated with improving visibility for common keywords. There is also a recognition of the variability in search results over time.

Drakkith
Mentor
Messages
23,205
Reaction score
7,687
Physics news on Phys.org
When searching, restrict searches only to PF if you want by preceding your search text with "site:physicsforums.com". Google's search is more customizable than just that though. Take a look around.
 
anirudh215 said:
When searching, restrict searches only to PF if you want by preceding your search text with "site:physicsforums.com". Google's search is more customizable than just that though. Take a look around.

I think you've missed the point of this thread...It's pretty neat that PF gets on the first page, but if you do a Google search for "physics" (at least the last time I did) PF is only on page 3! This needs to be fixed.
 
jhae2.718 said:
... but if you do a Google search for "physics" (at least the last time I did) PF is only on page 3! This needs to be fixed.

Wow. I'm surprised. What can we do?
 
I think there needs to be more links to PF from other sites, but I don't know much about SEO.
 
PF does well with phrases in google. Single keywords have great competition and it's much harder. We've never ranked well with just "physics".

I think there needs to be more links to PF from other sites

If you have a website or blog make a link to PF :)
 
And don't forget your link should have this form: [noparse]<a href="https://www.physicsforums.com">physics</a>[/noparse].
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jhae2.718 said:
I think you've missed the point of this thread...


It's pretty neat that PF gets on the first page, but if you do a Google search for "physics" (at least the last time I did) PF is only on page 3! This needs to be fixed.

Oops. Mea culpa.
 
I found PF originally by googling some junk science claims. I'm sure it was first page since I rarely go beyond that.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
4K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K