GTServices

I do the same but I try to keep the same URL if possible. I limit words used on FURLS to 5 words max which allows me to make changes without changing the URL. But, there are times you just have to change the whole title.
Other things I do to improve SEO...
Merge similar topics (especially if old and not driving too much traffic; especially, those that have some value) Format content so that it's easier to scan.  Improve content that drives traffic. (Evergreen content) Delete/Archive old poor quality content.  Delete old accounts with 0 content. None of this is easy but it's worth it. I recommend starting with your most popular topics (high Views count).
I'm against auto-tagging. I just don't see any value to it.
My team have instructions to tag only "high-quality" content.
We use tagging for the Similar Content block because it gives us some control.
We have control over what keywords are used. We  have control over what topics are tagged.  We have control over what topics are found in Similar Content block (and tag pages). The easier it is to find these "quality pages" the more value they gain. (eg. More traffic, shares, word of mouth, etc)
BACKGROUND...
Years ago I used tagging like you do. Enabled auto-tagging, allowed all members to tag, etc ... we literally had hundreds of thousands of tags (perhaps over 1 million) - many were similar, typos, poor quality, etc. (VBULLETIN BIG BOARD SITE)
I found myself working constantly in cleaning the mess. The ROI just wasn't there when compared to other things I could be doing. So I dropped it altogether with no regrets.
TAKE CONTROL
I'm sure you have heard of User Generated Content (UGC). If you run a forum site you are dependent on your members to produce content. About a decade or so ago, most forum admins peaked in terms of traffic. Since then traffic likely plateaued or dropped (more likely the latter).
Heck, back then you would see many forums selling for over $1 million dollars. Not these days. 
The biggest problem we have with a UGC business model is that we have very little control over what members post.
Technology and Google are changing rapidly it's time to start taking some control back. The above is just one way of doing just that.
Joel R's Community Management tips is another great way to take back some control.  A good community manager redirects focus where it should go. 
So let's get back to these Growth Hacks. I'm sure @Joel R would appreciate it. 😉

I do the same but I try to keep the same URL if possible. I limit words used on FURLS to 5 words max which allows me to make changes without changing the URL. But, there are times you just have to change the whole title.
Other things I do to improve SEO...
Merge similar topics (especially if old and not driving too much traffic; especially, those that have some value) Format content so that it's easier to scan.  Improve content that drives traffic. (Evergreen content) Delete/Archive old poor quality content.  Delete old accounts with 0 content. None of this is easy but it's worth it. I recommend starting with your most popular topics (high Views count).
I'm against auto-tagging. I just don't see any value to it.
My team have instructions to tag only "high-quality" content.
We use tagging for the Similar Content block because it gives us some control.
We have control over what keywords are used. We  have control over what topics are tagged.  We have control over what topics are found in Similar Content block (and tag pages). The easier it is to find these "quality pages" the more value they gain. (eg. More traffic, shares, word of mouth, etc)
BACKGROUND...
Years ago I used tagging like you do. Enabled auto-tagging, allowed all members to tag, etc ... we literally had hundreds of thousands of tags (perhaps over 1 million) - many were similar, typos, poor quality, etc. (VBULLETIN BIG BOARD SITE)
I found myself working constantly in cleaning the mess. The ROI just wasn't there when compared to other things I could be doing. So I dropped it altogether with no regrets.
TAKE CONTROL
I'm sure you have heard of User Generated Content (UGC). If you run a forum site you are dependent on your members to produce content. About a decade or so ago, most forum admins peaked in terms of traffic. Since then traffic likely plateaued or dropped (more likely the latter).
Heck, back then you would see many forums selling for over $1 million dollars. Not these days. 
The biggest problem we have with a UGC business model is that we have very little control over what members post.
Technology and Google are changing rapidly it's time to start taking some control back. The above is just one way of doing just that.
Joel R's Community Management tips is another great way to take back some control.  A good community manager redirects focus where it should go. 
So let's get back to these Growth Hacks. I'm sure @Joel R would appreciate it. 😉

I’d be interested to see how that looks, can you pm me your site info? 
I do use tags and also add tags into topics. One thing that has worked for me is editing topic titles to make them more relevant and have better page titles. It’s driven organic traffic on some topics that had titles not descriptive enough. I then use the similar topics plugin based off topic titles.

@GTServices manual staff tagging adds quite much work for staff which is problematic especially for small communities (i.e. I have to be a webmaster, head editor, admin, mod etc). Do you have any good suggestion how to best do this?
Currently what I use is a mix of automatic tagging (autotags are based on subforum / gallery category that the user posts content in) mixed with fixing tags when I notice that there's a need. I also periodically go through tags via backend to get rid of errors, things that should be merged and similar. So the users have freedom to tag as they see fit (some use that, most of them properly) and lazy users aren't forced to tag too.

GREAT TIPS @Joel R!!
I love it when I see members tagging other members. That in itself is evidence that it's an effective feature!
Oftentimes, members didn't even know that it existed until someone tags them. (You see the numbers grow after each use.)
If you don't have a Similar Content block directly after your first topic than you are missing out on a BIG opportunity!!!
Similar Content
Improves Engagement. Improves Bounce Rate Improves Conversion Rate Improves SEO.  (Related content helps Google and other bots better understand your content. It also helps with internal links.) NOTES: The closer the block is to the main content the more effective it is. Sidebar block doesn't help much since GOOGLE and your users are now focused on mobile.
I find you win BIG when you use Similar Content with controlled tags. What I mean by this is that only a certain group of people (eg. staff) are allowed to tag topics. This keeps the crap out.

GREAT TIPS @Joel R!!
I love it when I see members tagging other members. That in itself is evidence that it's an effective feature!
Oftentimes, members didn't even know that it existed until someone tags them. (You see the numbers grow after each use.)
If you don't have a Similar Content block directly after your first topic than you are missing out on a BIG opportunity!!!
Similar Content
Improves Engagement. Improves Bounce Rate Improves Conversion Rate Improves SEO.  (Related content helps Google and other bots better understand your content. It also helps with internal links.) NOTES: The closer the block is to the main content the more effective it is. Sidebar block doesn't help much since GOOGLE and your users are now focused on mobile.
I find you win BIG when you use Similar Content with controlled tags. What I mean by this is that only a certain group of people (eg. staff) are allowed to tag topics. This keeps the crap out.

oh, yeah ... this is custom
under first post BUT only when a tag is present (tags are added by Staff or whatever group) 
JFYI: Automatic tagging or using tags made by members is NOT recommended.

I agree... returning users are more likely to read to the bottom of the page. That's a certain segment that we must focus on. 
But...
If you look at your traffic you will likely see that most of your users are guests. At least for large sites, this is always the case.
In my experience, it NEVER hurt to place a Similar Content block directly under the first post. It ALWAYS helped.
With today's SEO changes, this along with other changes help improve traffic.
(The Similar Content block has the most impact when it is fast and topics are all quality content. Similar topics should be helpful.)

GREAT TIPS @Joel R!!
I love it when I see members tagging other members. That in itself is evidence that it's an effective feature!
Oftentimes, members didn't even know that it existed until someone tags them. (You see the numbers grow after each use.)
If you don't have a Similar Content block directly after your first topic than you are missing out on a BIG opportunity!!!
Similar Content
Improves Engagement. Improves Bounce Rate Improves Conversion Rate Improves SEO.  (Related content helps Google and other bots better understand your content. It also helps with internal links.) NOTES: The closer the block is to the main content the more effective it is. Sidebar block doesn't help much since GOOGLE and your users are now focused on mobile.
I find you win BIG when you use Similar Content with controlled tags. What I mean by this is that only a certain group of people (eg. staff) are allowed to tag topics. This keeps the crap out.

Appreciate the update/walk-through!
Love the Photos (dog images).
Here's my little pups (shih-poo and lhasa-poo)...
  
 

Appreciate the update/walk-through!
Love the Photos (dog images).
Here's my little pups (shih-poo and lhasa-poo)...
  
 

Very in depth - Thank you!

Appreciate the update/walk-through!
Love the Photos (dog images).
Here's my little pups (shih-poo and lhasa-poo)...
  
 

I think in 3-5 years, there will be less successful forums on the Web. It's just not enough these days.
That's the key right there!
We can't continue doing the same thing. We NEED to change. We NEED to make the whole "community experience" better.
We need to...
Focus on members. Focus on your diamonds ... build them up.
Focus on Community Management.
Focus on other content types (instead of sending them away why not point internally to your content) eg. videos, whitepapers, etc
Focus on directories and landing pages (Pages). If you find that your members are constantly directing readers to XYZ site then why not create a directory out of it? For example, if your target are students you can have a Scholarship Directory or a School Directory. Heck, I can go on... how about a Videos Directory (of all the Youtube videos you are working on 😜), Articles, etc
Focus on User Experience. Make sure there is nothing that turns people off. Test. Test. Test.
Focus on Speed.
Focus on ALL devices.
Focus on quality content.
 
Any other ideas?
 
 

I think in 3-5 years, there will be less successful forums on the Web. It's just not enough these days.
That's the key right there!
We can't continue doing the same thing. We NEED to change. We NEED to make the whole "community experience" better.
We need to...
Focus on members. Focus on your diamonds ... build them up.
Focus on Community Management.
Focus on other content types (instead of sending them away why not point internally to your content) eg. videos, whitepapers, etc
Focus on directories and landing pages (Pages). If you find that your members are constantly directing readers to XYZ site then why not create a directory out of it? For example, if your target are students you can have a Scholarship Directory or a School Directory. Heck, I can go on... how about a Videos Directory (of all the Youtube videos you are working on 😜), Articles, etc
Focus on User Experience. Make sure there is nothing that turns people off. Test. Test. Test.
Focus on Speed.
Focus on ALL devices.
Focus on quality content.
 
Any other ideas?
 
 

Depending on audience, I stay away from using the term "forum". I don't even use it on the site.

2 decades as vbulletin big board admin/programmer
A few things to be aware of...
With every major conversion there will be a loss in traffic. If done correctly, you should see traffic levels close to normal in a few months. Prepare for the worse and you will come out on top. This will happen regardless of platform you select.
Create a test site and run conversion. I recommend you do this a few times. This will give you an idea of how long the process will take. You will end up making mistakes so I recommend duplicating your test database first. eg, on one you can prune all private messages and see if that will speed up conversion ... if you have millions and millions of posts you definitely need to have a plan of action
Start changing your old site so that it starts looking like the new. This decreases the shock in change. For example, I changed posts style on old site so that it looks similar to the new theme that I will be using. I also changed main page and directories so that it looks the same.
If you haven't done so switch to HTTPS.
Attachments (images) is a big generator of traffic for many sites - especially if you've been around for years. Although attachments are converted over without issues they are not redirected (old to new url). On a personal note, I literally lost thousands and thousands of Google image placements because of this oversight. This hurts backlinks. SEO.
If you use vbseo/dbseo, if forum friendly urls include forum id then no issues redirecting old urls to new. If in the form of /forum-name/ then these will not be redirected properly. Topic urls will redirect regardless of type.
Learn everything you can on how to use IPS Pages app. It's a very powerful system. You can create any type of directory or custom page with it.
For search, use IPS built in elasticsearch feature if possible. You won't regret it. 
For cache method, use Redis for everything if possible.
Finally, be smart with number of plugins you install. IPS is fast but when you start adding a lot of plugins you could hurt performance.

2 decades as vbulletin big board admin/programmer
A few things to be aware of...
With every major conversion there will be a loss in traffic. If done correctly, you should see traffic levels close to normal in a few months. Prepare for the worse and you will come out on top. This will happen regardless of platform you select.
Create a test site and run conversion. I recommend you do this a few times. This will give you an idea of how long the process will take. You will end up making mistakes so I recommend duplicating your test database first. eg, on one you can prune all private messages and see if that will speed up conversion ... if you have millions and millions of posts you definitely need to have a plan of action
Start changing your old site so that it starts looking like the new. This decreases the shock in change. For example, I changed posts style on old site so that it looks similar to the new theme that I will be using. I also changed main page and directories so that it looks the same.
If you haven't done so switch to HTTPS.
Attachments (images) is a big generator of traffic for many sites - especially if you've been around for years. Although attachments are converted over without issues they are not redirected (old to new url). On a personal note, I literally lost thousands and thousands of Google image placements because of this oversight. This hurts backlinks. SEO.
If you use vbseo/dbseo, if forum friendly urls include forum id then no issues redirecting old urls to new. If in the form of /forum-name/ then these will not be redirected properly. Topic urls will redirect regardless of type.
Learn everything you can on how to use IPS Pages app. It's a very powerful system. You can create any type of directory or custom page with it.
For search, use IPS built in elasticsearch feature if possible. You won't regret it. 
For cache method, use Redis for everything if possible.
Finally, be smart with number of plugins you install. IPS is fast but when you start adding a lot of plugins you could hurt performance.

2 decades as vbulletin big board admin/programmer
A few things to be aware of...
With every major conversion there will be a loss in traffic. If done correctly, you should see traffic levels close to normal in a few months. Prepare for the worse and you will come out on top. This will happen regardless of platform you select.
Create a test site and run conversion. I recommend you do this a few times. This will give you an idea of how long the process will take. You will end up making mistakes so I recommend duplicating your test database first. eg, on one you can prune all private messages and see if that will speed up conversion ... if you have millions and millions of posts you definitely need to have a plan of action
Start changing your old site so that it starts looking like the new. This decreases the shock in change. For example, I changed posts style on old site so that it looks similar to the new theme that I will be using. I also changed main page and directories so that it looks the same.
If you haven't done so switch to HTTPS.
Attachments (images) is a big generator of traffic for many sites - especially if you've been around for years. Although attachments are converted over without issues they are not redirected (old to new url). On a personal note, I literally lost thousands and thousands of Google image placements because of this oversight. This hurts backlinks. SEO.
If you use vbseo/dbseo, if forum friendly urls include forum id then no issues redirecting old urls to new. If in the form of /forum-name/ then these will not be redirected properly. Topic urls will redirect regardless of type.
Learn everything you can on how to use IPS Pages app. It's a very powerful system. You can create any type of directory or custom page with it.
For search, use IPS built in elasticsearch feature if possible. You won't regret it. 
For cache method, use Redis for everything if possible.
Finally, be smart with number of plugins you install. IPS is fast but when you start adding a lot of plugins you could hurt performance.

2 decades as vbulletin big board admin/programmer
A few things to be aware of...
With every major conversion there will be a loss in traffic. If done correctly, you should see traffic levels close to normal in a few months. Prepare for the worse and you will come out on top. This will happen regardless of platform you select.
Create a test site and run conversion. I recommend you do this a few times. This will give you an idea of how long the process will take. You will end up making mistakes so I recommend duplicating your test database first. eg, on one you can prune all private messages and see if that will speed up conversion ... if you have millions and millions of posts you definitely need to have a plan of action
Start changing your old site so that it starts looking like the new. This decreases the shock in change. For example, I changed posts style on old site so that it looks similar to the new theme that I will be using. I also changed main page and directories so that it looks the same.
If you haven't done so switch to HTTPS.
Attachments (images) is a big generator of traffic for many sites - especially if you've been around for years. Although attachments are converted over without issues they are not redirected (old to new url). On a personal note, I literally lost thousands and thousands of Google image placements because of this oversight. This hurts backlinks. SEO.
If you use vbseo/dbseo, if forum friendly urls include forum id then no issues redirecting old urls to new. If in the form of /forum-name/ then these will not be redirected properly. Topic urls will redirect regardless of type.
Learn everything you can on how to use IPS Pages app. It's a very powerful system. You can create any type of directory or custom page with it.
For search, use IPS built in elasticsearch feature if possible. You won't regret it. 
For cache method, use Redis for everything if possible.
Finally, be smart with number of plugins you install. IPS is fast but when you start adding a lot of plugins you could hurt performance.

2 decades as vbulletin big board admin/programmer
A few things to be aware of...
With every major conversion there will be a loss in traffic. If done correctly, you should see traffic levels close to normal in a few months. Prepare for the worse and you will come out on top. This will happen regardless of platform you select.
Create a test site and run conversion. I recommend you do this a few times. This will give you an idea of how long the process will take. You will end up making mistakes so I recommend duplicating your test database first. eg, on one you can prune all private messages and see if that will speed up conversion ... if you have millions and millions of posts you definitely need to have a plan of action
Start changing your old site so that it starts looking like the new. This decreases the shock in change. For example, I changed posts style on old site so that it looks similar to the new theme that I will be using. I also changed main page and directories so that it looks the same.
If you haven't done so switch to HTTPS.
Attachments (images) is a big generator of traffic for many sites - especially if you've been around for years. Although attachments are converted over without issues they are not redirected (old to new url). On a personal note, I literally lost thousands and thousands of Google image placements because of this oversight. This hurts backlinks. SEO.
If you use vbseo/dbseo, if forum friendly urls include forum id then no issues redirecting old urls to new. If in the form of /forum-name/ then these will not be redirected properly. Topic urls will redirect regardless of type.
Learn everything you can on how to use IPS Pages app. It's a very powerful system. You can create any type of directory or custom page with it.
For search, use IPS built in elasticsearch feature if possible. You won't regret it. 
For cache method, use Redis for everything if possible.
Finally, be smart with number of plugins you install. IPS is fast but when you start adding a lot of plugins you could hurt performance.

This is great. I'm glad you put it together.
Something like this would have helped me months ago.
You want to convert more people over to IPS?
Create more videos, articles, and better guides and show how easy it is to use.
Think of small AND big board admins when creating these. Each group want to hear something specific ... something that helps them make a decision. Something that helps them take that first step.
I can tell you this...
Big Board admins would love to hear that IPS conversion script saves old topicids for mapping purposes (to redirect old urls to new). The more info you provide the better. (It was hard to find this info last year.)
One question that bugs me but haven't checked...
Does the conversion script save old attachment ids?? (Specifically images.) To redirect old attachment image URLs to new. I'm only asking because I know a lot of vbulletin sites that have accumulated many many images over the years. (Thinking SEO here.)

Another great article Joel! You should have your own column by now. 😁
This is the type of content I love reading about. I love that I can find it here. I love that IPS finds it useful enough to post here.
Being an admin/owner of a board is hard enough. It's time consuming.
The more time you put in the more ROI right?
That's not the case with most admins.
What I recommend...
You don't have to do this alone. It's impossible to know everything that is going on. 
Every board admin has a team. They could be paid or volunteer staff. It doesn't matter.
Start having weekly/monthyly team meetings.
Each team member has their own task. Talk about them ... 
What is the progress? 
What news do you have to share?
How is the project coming along?
Etc.
By doing this..
You will find that you will learn from your staff.
You will find that you are getting things done on time. 
You will start creating new opportunities.
More importantly, you will start reacting opportunistically to changes that you may not have been aware of.
(Yeah, that's often the case for many admins - they didn't know about ABC/XYZ until it's too late.)
For small board admins, ask questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question. 
I've been doing this for 20 years, I still ask stupid questions. I still make mistakes.
I'm still learning.

BAM! Thanks.

You can find them in the `convert_link` table, they're logged as (type) 'core_attachments'.