SEO How to correct

Hello.....My forum has been running for several months but cannot be found on any search engine.
Can someone please help me with this.
Thanks.

You need to add it to a search engine. Try creating a google account at webmaster tools and follow the instructions on adding a site:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

I have tried everything but keep getting a message we are unable to verify your website.
This is doing my head in

I explained how to verify a site with Bing on this topic, but it applies to google also, have a look:

https://help.forumotion.com/t114482-help-with-verifying-fourm-with-bing#750295

Thanks for the reply but I follow every step closely then when I finally click on verify via the red button at the bottom of the page I get the sdame message which is "Verification failed for http://ukstairlifts.forumotion.co.uk/forum/ using the HTML file method (less than a minute ago). Your verification file has the wrong content. Are you using the verification file that was downloaded from this site?

I really don't understand whats going on here

No name or content included in the download from Bing just capital letters and numbers.I have done exactly what you have stated clicked on verify and I get this message "We couldn't find the verification meta tag" .I separated the name and content but still it will not verify.

You need to use the "Meta Tag" style. Bing or Google will give you a meta tag that look something like this example:

<meta name="msvalidate.031" content="798491567464AEF221D10369068458684ABC17" />

You copy and paste it not download it.

You will need to break the code up that bing or google gives you and add it where it says to on your forum in the additional tags:

On your forum go:

AP>>General>>Forum promotion>>Search engines>>

On that page find "Additional tags" and click the green icon.

After clicking the green icon it will have a drop menu to select what kind of additional tag you want to create, choose "meta tag". Then it will have a place to add the "Name" and the "Content".

The name which would be this part: "msvalidte.031"

And the content would be this part: "798491A711F8AEF221D10369068458684ABC17"

Just add the name and the numbers no quotation marks or any other part of the code Bing or google gives you and save your settings. Then click the "Validate" button at Bing or google. Keeo a window open at Bing or google so you can click the validate button after you add the code on your forum.

I have done exactly what you have stated clicked on verify and I get this message "We couldn't find the verification meta tag" .I separated the name and content but still it will not verify.

Is your forum open for guests to read?

Yes the forum is open for guests to read.
Thanks for helping me,I really do appreciate it my friend!

You're welcome

Well I don't know what else to tell you because that is the procedure. I will explain it again and I suggest you start all over again. Go the google webmaster tools here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/
and do what you did before to generate a HTML meta tag for verifying a site. Then copy the code it generates for you and paste it into notepad or somewhere you can break the code up at.

Then open a new window and go to your forum where the meta tags are in the search engine section, and create a additional tag, and choose meta tag from the menu, then open your notepad or whatever you used to paste the code into and copy just the name part of the code and paste it into the name slot, then do the same for the content and save your settings. Then return and look at your meta tag from the page where you clicked the green icon and check to make sure the forum added this at the beginning of the code tags <meta name=" and at the end tag this: />

That's why you break the code up when you add it to your forum because your forum automatically adds the tags, if you add the tags yourself it will be too may tags and not work.

If its correct open your window to google and click the verify and see what happens.

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="uZ0JotIT4XAb9oMsueoCC_Zn7hBaxvPvcaIZuJwZc_E" />

This is a copy and paste taken directly from the additional tags section on the search engine page.
When I go back to the google page and click on verify I get the same message saying "We were'nt able to verify we could'nt find the verification meta tag"
But every time I visit the page via Admin it is there.
What could be the problem?

If that is an old code it could be expired, but if that is a brand new code made the same hour you are trying it, it should work. I've thought about this and I can't think of any reason it would not work unless the code is not right.

Do you have any other tags in "Additional tags section"?

Edit:
Let me get this straight. You have created a google account and have already added your forum URL to your webmaster tools page, and the forum is just sitting there waiting to be verified, correct?

Yes that is correct!
I have had a google account for sometime now and I did add my forum URL when I was asked to do so which included a captcha so basically I just need it verifying.
I must add that last night (here in the UK) I tried to verify it with Bing and everything was fine,but for some strange reason when I try to verify with Google and I have tried all three alternate options available it just won't verify.
And when I have tried with Google there have been no other tags but obviously now there is a Bing tag.Would the Bing tag bring problems with including a Google tag now?
I think that this problem may have no solution.

Yes its possible Bings code is interfering with googles code. I remember having an issue with that once on another website I run that is not affiliated with forumotion, so I had to choose between google or Bing, I chose google. What you could do is copy the bing code that has already been verified and then delete the meta tag from your forum. Then add the google code and try to verify it again. If it works then add the bing code back again. I have both Bing and Google working on my forum so its is doable, and I think I added google first. If that makes a difference or not I'm not sure, but its worth a try.

Edit: I just noticed the part where you said you tried google without any other meta tags. rats.

So what is the next step?
I have a forum here specially for disabled and terminally ill people that has been dormant for nearly 3 MONTHS and no one can sort what should be a basic problem.

I really cannot believe it!

I really don't know you did all that I know to do. It worked for me and others that use that method. Other versions of forums like PunBB and phpbb2 have template editing where you can add the meta tag there. That would be one option if you were using one of those versions of forum, but you don't have that option unless you change versions, and even if you did change versions its no guarantee it would work either. If the usual way of adding the meta tag didn't work in the "additional tags" section it quite possible it wouldn't work in the template. So I don't know, perhaps someone else here can help you, but I ran out of ideas. The way I suggested is the standard way of doing it.

You could delete your forum from google and try it from scratch, maybe google is not giving you the correct meta tag for your forum. You know you have to click your forum on the google webmaster tools page and then get the tag or click the verify button next to your forum, so it knows what site you will be using the meta tag for.

Thanks for the replies!
And yes I have added a number of keywords on the search engines page.
Still cannot verify it with Google.........

A special thanks to Runaway Horses for the help given trying to solve this on going problem.
Will it have anything to do with me using Windows 7 by any chance?