https://www.sheffieldboardgamers.com

You may/ may not have noticed but the forum is now located at www.sheffieldboardgamers.com

I have submitted the URL to the Google index... lets hope they let us in this time!

Update your links and spread the word...

We finally made it to Google... I have no idea how we improve how far up the list we appear... But we are there...

Google Webmaster Academy: https://support.google.com/webmasters/checklist/1095542?rd=1

On page 7 there is a link to Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.

As far as I can work out some of the things that have an effect:

Relevance of page content (text, image file names ect).
Quantity and quality of links to site (links will have a greater impact if they are from pages that are themselves well regarded on Google).
Social media (+1s, likes, follows ect)
Web history of user (similar sites may be better regarded).

But undoubtedly tons of other subtle and secret factors.

My take is that Google have had teams of smartypants working for decades aiming for a system that cannot be gamed and only promotes naturally popular, important and relevant results. There are no doubt some tricks, but I would like to think the most effective result is the straightforward one: create buzz. Have a club and a site worth talking about, and encourage chatter.

On my Google search for "sheffield board game club" we are on the first page, but last. Above us are  

boardgamegeek.com
royalsocietyofgamers.com
board-games.meetup.com
sheffieldforum.co.uk
clubbz.com
patriotgames.ltd.uk
wargamesemporium.com
sheffieldgoclub.org.uk
sheffieldu3a.org.uk

Though half of them are forums that link to us anyway, lol, including the first one, so I guess Google is doing its job.

Interestingly we are first for the same search on DuckDuckGo, which does things somehow differently to Google. I'm guessing they put more weight on page relevance. But nobody uses that.

we are now 2nd - after the geek

I make us 1st after typing in "sheffield board games club"
What did you type in?