Search Engine Optimize VBulletin - the thread on Time2Dine has had over 14,000 page views with many successful installations, and webmasters getting far more people coming to their forums.I always find it interesting to come across seo forums where the seo of that forum is in my opinion less than optimial. Just had a look at the source of the page - two headers. Hmmm. The topic of the thread as the second item on the title, hmmm...VBulletin is certainly an excellant package, but there are many aspects of it that need work.I have spent considerable time working on a series of SEO hacks for the VBulletin package. I like your motto - number one or get banned trying. I certainly like to be the best that I can be! A majority of the threads on my restaurants forums are top of the world for the restaurant name. I like the challenge. The following are some of the issues that there are with the standard installation:

there is more than one url per thread

try the next thread/previous thread at the bottom of each page
latest post, new post
archive version
the actual thread and the url for "page 1" of the thread accessed from the second page.
...The SEO VBulletin hack makes sure that there is only one url for each thread, so the max Goole PR and link text value goes to each thread and forum, getting each as high as possible on Google.
There is no effective site map for the threads

there is an archive that stores yet another copy of the threads, but there is no site map of all the threadsSo the SEO VBulletin hack uses the archive as the site map and instead of redirecting to the so called seo'ed copy of the thread, goes to the actual thread.
Redirects on the forum are the Bad 302 termporary redirectsso the SEO VBulletin hack adds a line and makes them all 301 redirects
Less than optimal titles, meta descriptions, H1 and first words on the pageso the SEO VBulletin hack makes the first words of the title to be the title of each thread. I use the title in the meta description of each thread along with that forums description. I use the title again in the meta keywords. The threadbits become the H1. Then I have created a new concept that I call "Firstwords" - a paragraph just under the threadbits that uses the thread title twice along with the forum description and some descriptive words about the forum.
Or how about one of my latest additions. When you make a post, the url that you are redirect to is yet another version for that thread. Yet I make posts and often like to tell others about that post - with what url. My SEO Bulletin hack changes the url to the standard url so that people can have a proper url to use for their linking.Get the idea. The above are only some of the many enhancements possible. The enhancements all follow the basic seo principles that are talked about in this forum.As far as links go, I have had a lot of success with the digitalpoint advertising co-op but they provide rotating links that are not so ideal for Google. I am now becoming part of the link vault that provides permanent links, in my opinion a far safer long term proposition.