More popular forum?
 

Ok, I am a bit bored so here it goes....

Why is this forum not more popular? I cannot imagine there is another forum for the lakes region that is anywhere as popular as this one. Dont get me wrong, I like this place a lot and frequently check it out. I am familiar with seo, code, building web sites, etc and I think this site is just flat out done very well.

But as an avid poster on forums and someone who answers a lot of questions on forums, I dont see as much activity on this forum as I think there should be.

Where are all the winni lovers? Just more pop in the summer?

It's winter! We're all in hibernation!

Really?Can you point me to a more popular NH lakes region forum?

I can see that JasonG really is an avid poster, 69 in five years here. Wow!:rolleye2:

Well, here are the numbers..
 

Looks like a very popular website to me. You do have to remember that this site is a "special interest" type site. It's not likely that anyone in Montana would even know how to spell Winnipesaukee, let alone search for it.

If you search by just typing the term/name Winnipesaukee in Yahoo or Google, Winni.com is the 1st result on page 1 of the results before you finish typing. People would kill for that sort of SEO. (Search Engine Optimization)

Anyway... GREAT JOB Don! Keep up the good work!

Here are the numbers:
http://www.sitetrail.com/winnipesaukee.com

In addition to what SteveA said about it being a "Special Interest" forum, it uses a 'limited response" rule. By only allowing each member a max of 5 posts a day the moderator discourages a lot of people from making short responses like "LOL" "X2!" or other short non-contributionary posts. People have to think if they really have something to say.

If you look at the topic lists you'll often see someting like 4 responses but 500 views.

Some stats if you're interested
 

Yesterday we had 2548 unique US people visit the site. Not just the forum, the entire site. About 300 of those visitors were registered members. Guests usually outnumber registered members by about 10 to 1. Guests don't post so any activity you see is from about 10% or less of the site visitors.

There is much more to the site than the forum. There are days when the WeirsCAM gets more views than the forum. Our Photopost Gallery pictures have been viewed over 30,200,000 times.

During the week of Ice-Out the number of daily unique visitors climbs to about 10,000 or more. During the summer it hovers around 5000/day.

Beginning in September the numbers start dropping until we are at the lowest point in December. In January the climb in traffic begins. I assume that's because after the holidays people start thinking about the spring and summer. This has been the pattern for over 15 years.

There have been several occasions where the traffic exceeded 25,000 unique visitors in one day. This is usually caused by a forum topic being picked up by a large national forum or publication which then drives traffic our way.

Compared to busy national sites and forums these numbers are small but for a regional site basically dedicated to one lake in a small state I think they are pretty good. Thanks to all our members we have built up a library of information and pictures that no other site can come close to.

My goal has always been to provide others who love the lake a way to stay connected and get information. I think I have achieved that goal. Raw numbers of hits and visitors are not that relevant for me. I notice them but I don't obsess about it.

Just to clarify, most members have no post per day limit. The 5 post limit is only turned on to slow down members that post excessively. The 10 character minimum is what is intended to prevent "LOL" and "X2!" type replies. Unfortunately that doesn't always work as members pad their short replies with other characters. :rolleye1:

Lol lol lol!

The other reason (a VERY good one) is that this forum has always been moderated closely to make sure that the topics/responses pertain to the lake and surrounding region.

If this forum allowed what may do, namely posts that range all over, it would have more activity. But more is not necessarily better. As voted many times by those who visit, like Goldilocks, the moderation is "just right"

It's hard to admit that at times I have been angry at the Webmaster's rules and rebukes; and yet now after many years on this forum I understand why Don does what he does. His voodoo is crafted for youtodo what is righttodo to enjoy this bootiful lakes region website. Thanks Don.

I only sign in when I have something to post and usually read the forum without signing in. I suspect that others may do the same.

Ok, wow I didnt expect to get this much of a response.

To clarify, I am not knocking it. I think it is great and does a great service to the region. The post was not meant as a knock. I just expected to see more forum activity, that is all.

As the webmaster says, it is more than a forum and I dont think I realized that. My error. Your numbers are impressive, especially considering the specific region that it covers.

Well done...and Thank you!