Website Growth Question

[erich37]

Peggy,
I would suggest you remove the blue-colored start-page and have the Forum as your Homepage.
If you focus onto your very local area, I would write a few reviews of local Restaurants, Shops, etc.
Put in a few links of interest of your local area, e.g. city-homepage, leisure places in the area, etc.

 

[Forsaken]

Peggy,
I would suggest you remove the blue-colored start-page and have the Forum as your Homepage.
If you focus onto your very local area, I would write a few reviews of local Restaurants, Shops, etc.
Put in a few links of interest of your local area, e.g. city-homepage, leisure places in the area, etc.

Reviewing something local that the shop or the restaurant doesn't agree with could cause issues, and if she doesn't review honestly it would be taken as being biased which would feedback into how people view the site.

 

[Peggy]

Reviewing something local that the shop or the restaurant doesn't agree with could cause issues, and if she doesn't review honestly it would be taken as being biased which would feedback into how people view the site.

On the other hand, it could make people join so they can tell me what a pig I am for my review, and bring about some discussion. Yes?

Peggy,
I would suggest you remove the blue-colored start-page and have the Forum as your Homepage.
If you focus onto your very local area, I would write a few reviews of local Restaurants, Shops, etc.
Put in a few links of interest of your local area, e.g. city-homepage, leisure places in the area, etc.

Thought about replacing that homepage with Jaxel's xenporta, and placing links & stuff on it.

 

[erich37]

Thought about replacing that homepage with Jaxel's xenporta, and placing links & stuff on it.

Keep it as simple as possible.
I would think having just XF-default is the best solution.

BTW: not sure anyone wants to talk about movies and music when you have a "local" forum.
They rather want to know e.g. where to go on the weekend in that local area or some other "local" topics.
If you focus on a local area, keep the topics "local" as well and focus on that "local" niche.

KISS
Keep It Simple and Sexy

 

[Tomble]

On the other hand, it could make people join so they can tell me what a pig I am for my review, and bring about some discussion. Yes?

Your reviews should probably be fair as if your reviews are always overly negative people will probably stop wanting to visit your site as they will feel it doesn't match up with their views and see little value in reading your reviews. On the otherhand having another of your accounts post a reply which is negative or overly harsh may encourage people to join and enter the 'debate' taking either your side or the other accounts side.

At least that would be my approach. Especially as you probably don't want to upset local businesses who may well be useful for growing your site. Especially if you can get them to put up a little sticker or sheet of paper with something like 'MVT Reviewed - "... catchy part of review..." - visit yoururl.com' or something like that.

 

[Forsaken]

On the other hand, it could make people join so they can tell me what a pig I am for my review, and bring about some discussion. Yes?

Thought about replacing that homepage with Jaxel's xenporta, and placing links & stuff on it.

You could also lose a lot of the positive traffic, which is what would help your site grow and make it more popular in your community.

Your reviews should probably be fair as if your reviews are always overly negative people will probably stop wanting to visit your site as they will feel it doesn't match up with their views and see little value in reading your reviews. On the otherhand having another of your accounts post a reply which is negative or overly harsh may encourage people to join and enter the 'debate' taking either your side or the other accounts side.

At least that would be my approach. Especially as you probably don't want to upset local businesses who may well be useful for growing your site. Especially if you can get them to put up a little sticker or sheet of paper with something like 'MVT Reviewed - "... catchy part of review..." - visit yoururl.com' or something like that.

I honestly have always hated sites that using fake users to accomplish something, I also don't see many of them last long once people catch onto what was done. While I believe manipulation is fine to a degree, something like this is something I wouldn't do, and can't respect having done.

 

[Wildcat Media]

On the other hand, it could make people join so they can tell me what a pig I am for my review, and bring about some discussion. Yes?

With social sites like Yelp around, there's no need to get into reviews. Although you could tailor it as something similar to a blog where you write regularly about local businesses, including restaurants.

That is something I'm struggling with right now. I'm working on a niche-based site that can include website staff reviews (those of us maintaining the listings), user comments (which would be heavily moderated), and a comments area for the store to detail what they sell, their philosophies, etc. I don't want to scare store owners away with members who do nothing but complain or flame the stores. The idea of this directory is for the mutual benefit of everyone. Have to tread carefully...

 

[Forsaken]

With social sites like Yelp around, there's no need to get into reviews. Although you could tailor it as something similar to a blog where you write regularly about local businesses, including restaurants.

That is something I'm struggling with right now. I'm working on a niche-based site that can include website staff reviews (those of us maintaining the listings), user comments (which would be heavily moderated), and a comments area for the store to detail what they sell, their philosophies, etc. I don't want to scare store owners away with members who do nothing but complain or flame the stores. The idea of this directory is for the mutual benefit of everyone. Have to tread carefully...

Its an even larger problem in a smaller area or niche, as they tend to be a lot closer than if it was a larger area or subject.

 

[Wildcat Media]

I honestly have always hated sites that using fake users to accomplish something, I also don't see many of them last long once people catch onto what was done. While I believe manipulation is fine to a degree, something like this is something I wouldn't do, and can't respect having done.

Honesty is the best policy. My forum users could see right through any fake or paid users posting on the site. I'd rather have very few members than result to any trickery or deception. It always comes back to bite you.

 

[Tomble]

I honestly have always hated sites that using fake users to accomplish something, I also don't see many of them last long once people catch onto what was done. While I believe manipulation is fine to a degree, something like this is something I wouldn't do, and can't respect having done.

I would generally agree, but as it was mentioned earlier I thought I would suggest how that strategy could be adapted to the idea of reviews. Personally I do not use them, but I can see how they would be useful in the event that you do not have any other users.

I know that personally I will not stay on a website where the only other poster is the main admin, it just starts to feel awkward for some reason. Using a single fake account to help move conversation until there are two real posters doesn't seem that wrong as long as it isn't done in such a way that creates arguments etc.

 

[Forsaken]

Honesty is the best policy. My forum users could see right through any fake or paid users posting on the site. I'd rather have very few members than result to any trickery or deception. It always comes back to bite you.

Another issue with it is most people can usually figure out who someone is by their typing mannerisms of how they react to things. Someone who uses an alternative account will eventually slip up and get caught.

 

[Wildcat Media]

Its an even larger problem in a smaller area or niche, as they tend to be a lot closer than if it was a larger area or subject.

Very true, and that's why we're treading carefully on our project. Some store owners can be very touchy; others don't give a lick. If you have a huge operation like Yelp, you somewhat expect the general public to be a bit loose with the comments. But when you get more specialized, it gets tricky. The way I'm planning on doing this, I'll have volunteers in many areas who will actually be in personal contact with some of these stores, either as customers or acquaintances. It's good, too, in that I have a lot of good connections to make this all happen, even if they are second- or third-level.

It also goes without saying that we're being extra careful since I plan on accepting advertising in the future. Our own staff "reviews" are not going to be judgmental--they are going to be informative, more like a description of the store, what it carries, how many staff are on hand, etc. User comments will probably be more critical, but I want constructive criticism, not complaints or whining. (In that case, contact the store directly...we won't be the middleman.)

 

[Peggy]

Thanks for all of this guys, I'm getting some good ideas from your dialogue.
Keep it coming.

 

[Wildcat Media]

Another issue with it is most people can usually figure out who someone is by their typing mannerisms of how they react to things. Someone who uses an alternative account will eventually slip up and get caught.

Definitely! We've caught more than a few members on our big board signing under new IDs after they'd been banned...they always get busted. It would be a certain word, a mannerism, a turn of phrase...wham!

 

[Wildcat Media]

Thanks for all of this guys, I'm getting some good ideas from your dialogue.
Keep it coming.

Wait until you get the bill.

 

[Peggy]

Keep it as simple as possible.
I would think having just XF-default is the best solution.

BTW: not sure anyone wants to talk about movies and music when you have a "local" forum.
They rather want to know e.g. where to go on the weekend in that local area or some other "local" topics.
If you focus on a local area, keep the topics "local" as well and focus on that "local" niche.

KISS
Keep It Simple and Sexy

Normally I would agree, but if I don't have an informative homepage, where would I put stuff like an article about the new grocery store being build just around the corner?

Just thinking out loud....

 

[Peggy]

Wait until you get the bill.

Wait until you get the payment...

 

[Forsaken]

I would generally agree, but as it was mentioned earlier I thought I would suggest how that strategy could be adapted to the idea of reviews. Personally I do not use them, but I can see how they would be useful in the event that you do not have any other users.

I know that personally I will not stay on a website where the only other poster is the main admin, it just starts to feel awkward for some reason. Using a single fake account to help move conversation until there are two real posters doesn't seem that wrong as long as it isn't done in such a way that creates arguments etc.

Rather than that I'd ask a staff member to play devils advocate; its much more organic and it'll create a cleaner argument than if it were an one time poster.

I've actually done the above, and it worked well, but the moderator actually had a small difference in opinion so it wasn't just to create more content, but to actually discuss the difference in public in a way that got more people involved.

Very true, and that's why we're treading carefully on our project. Some store owners can be very touchy; others don't give a lick. If you have a huge operation like Yelp, you somewhat expect the general public to be a bit loose with the comments. But when you get more specialized, it gets tricky. The way I'm planning on doing this, I'll have volunteers in many areas who will actually be in personal contact with some of these stores, either as customers or acquaintances. It's good, too, in that I have a lot of good connections to make this all happen, even if they are second- or third-level.

It also goes without saying that we're being extra careful since I plan on accepting advertising in the future. Our own staff "reviews" are not going to be judgmental--they are going to be informative, more like a description of the store, what it carries, how many staff are on hand, etc. User comments will probably be more critical, but I want constructive criticism, not complaints or whining. (In that case, contact the store directly...we won't be the middleman.)

Something to consider is follow up reviews, which is something most Yelp foodies don't do (Most of them are idiots, not foodies and are just trying to cause issues for places). That way you'll have a true review of the store as its on more than one visit, and it'll give you a broader vision of how the place is.

Unless a place I've gone to is absolutely horrible, I will go more than once to get an idea of how they are. The few places that I will never go back to are ones where the service was utterly horrible or where the food is just plain disgusting (One such place is http://www.lucillesbbq.com/ as they hit both of those criteria).

Definitely! We've caught more than a few members on our big board signing under new IDs after they'd been banned...they always get busted. It would be a certain word, a mannerism, a turn of phrase...wham!

I don't know how they think they get away with it either, its pretty obvious.

 

[Wildcat Media]

Something to consider is follow up reviews, which is something most Yelp foodies don't do (Most of them are idiots, not foodies and are just trying to cause issues for places). That way you'll have a true review of the store as its on more than one visit, and it'll give you a broader vision of how the place is.

If I can work that into the system, it may be a good idea. I will be making sure the visitor knows comments are moderated too--the way Yelp is so open, there is very little moderation, so visitors know they can post pretty much anything they want and get away with it. Yelp also seems to have a one-comment-per-user setup, though, so you really can't post an additional review or comment, only a follow-up. I may also consider letting others rank the quality of the posted comments, like user reviews are rated on Amazon (using stars and/or a yes/no if the comment was helpful). If there are enough users, self-policing by the membership is a good way to go. But I don't think we'll a huge base of users either. We could end up with a larger following, but the individuals using it would likely just stick to their geographic area.

Unless a place I've gone to is absolutely horrible, I will go more than once to get an idea of how they are. The few places that I will never go back to are ones where the service was utterly horrible or where the food is just plain disgusting (One such place is http://www.lucillesbbq.com/ as they hit both of those criteria).

Ugh, I've probably been to a couple like that.

 

[erich37]

Normally I would agree, but if I don't have an informative homepage, where would I put stuff like an article about the new grocery store being build just around the corner?

Just thinking out loud....

why not have a forum for each city in your valley? everything what is going on in that city or town can go into there.......? So people from that city can complain about that ugly grocery-store next door....