Site Traffic

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Team Fountain

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2004
Messages
61
What can we all do to get some traffic to this site?
I've made my local Bobcat dealer aware of the site. I've told my friends (both of them). It seems that most Bobcat people aren't very interested. I mentioned it to a couple of customers at the dealer the other day and received the same response from both. "Don't even got a 'puter." If this site is going to become a valuable resource, it needs traffic.
Maybe we can get bobcat.com to link to here.
Ideas?
 

owensge

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Messages
326
The majority of folks we are seeking use other "general" tractor forums to communicate (that's why I decided to start this one). In the beginning, I went to sites like Tractor Links and Tractor By Net and found all of the Bobcat related questions. From the posts (I didn't get them all), I pulled e-mail addresses and sent out an invitation to the Bobcat Forum. I planned to do it again when I had time, but I haven't had the time. If anyone has the time, go for it. I would guess that there are hundreds of folks using those forums who might like this one.
As far as exposure, we are hovering around the top 15 on google and yahoo but we fall back after a month or so. A search on Google now returns our link from the Tractor Links web site as number one, (which reminds me that I need to resubmit keywords to the search engines). Currently we are getting about 300 hits per day, and 20 or so individual users (5 members, 15 non-members) visiting. We currently have 30 members signed up, but most of them just read the posts and choose not to contribute.
I'll put up a hit counter next time I get a chance.
Thanks for your enthusiasm and input!
 

500K_773

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
342
The majority of folks we are seeking use other "general" tractor forums to communicate (that's why I decided to start this one). In the beginning, I went to sites like Tractor Links and Tractor By Net and found all of the Bobcat related questions. From the posts (I didn't get them all), I pulled e-mail addresses and sent out an invitation to the Bobcat Forum. I planned to do it again when I had time, but I haven't had the time. If anyone has the time, go for it. I would guess that there are hundreds of folks using those forums who might like this one.
As far as exposure, we are hovering around the top 15 on google and yahoo but we fall back after a month or so. A search on Google now returns our link from the Tractor Links web site as number one, (which reminds me that I need to resubmit keywords to the search engines). Currently we are getting about 300 hits per day, and 20 or so individual users (5 members, 15 non-members) visiting. We currently have 30 members signed up, but most of them just read the posts and choose not to contribute.
I'll put up a hit counter next time I get a chance.
Thanks for your enthusiasm and input!
Geoffrey, We should be thanking you for everything you've done. I'm tremendously appreciative that this site has been created. I have also let ly local Bobcat dealer know that it exists. Xing
 

owensge

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Messages
326
Geoffrey, We should be thanking you for everything you've done. I'm tremendously appreciative that this site has been created. I have also let ly local Bobcat dealer know that it exists. Xing
Thanks to all of you guys who are regulars to the site. You have gotten me fired up and kept me involved. To take the next step, I think "word-of-mouth" is a great way to do it. Google and other search engines are also part of the equation. I really think that retrieving the e-mail addresses from some of these other sites would be huge. It's pretty tedious to look through the postings, but I believe it will pay off. Team Fountain makes a good point that many of our fellow Bobcat owners "aint got no 'puters". So we need to reach the hundreds of "Cat Geeks" who are committed to other sites. I have an e-mail listing that I built in the beginning of the site that we can build on. If any of you guys want to assist, you can send me the addresses and I'll do a mailing telling them about the site.
Thanks again for your support!
 
OP
OP
T

Team Fountain

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2004
Messages
61
Thanks to all of you guys who are regulars to the site. You have gotten me fired up and kept me involved. To take the next step, I think "word-of-mouth" is a great way to do it. Google and other search engines are also part of the equation. I really think that retrieving the e-mail addresses from some of these other sites would be huge. It's pretty tedious to look through the postings, but I believe it will pay off. Team Fountain makes a good point that many of our fellow Bobcat owners "aint got no 'puters". So we need to reach the hundreds of "Cat Geeks" who are committed to other sites. I have an e-mail listing that I built in the beginning of the site that we can build on. If any of you guys want to assist, you can send me the addresses and I'll do a mailing telling them about the site.
Thanks again for your support!
I'm not a real techno-weenie, but I can say that I would never go to a site that harvested my email address from somewhere else. In business, we do what we have to do, but that falls too close to spamming for my taste. I would suggest an add in Worksaver or even post on the other sites adding bobcatforum.com in your tagline. I just have a real aversion to spam. Once your site is associated with spam, be it in databases or on other sites, you're doomed. Believe me, if you send mail to a dedicated poster on another forum, they will trash you and your forum without any regard for what you are trying to do. I see it all the time on the woodworking forum I frequent.
Just curious: Is this a business or are you doing this for fun? Is there an advertising budget or are you just trying to pay for bandwidth? How many hits would you like to get a day? Search engine stuff can be extremely time consuming. It's a sucky way to spend a Saturday. Hmm. I need to think. Where's the newspaper?
 

owensge

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Messages
326
I'm not a real techno-weenie, but I can say that I would never go to a site that harvested my email address from somewhere else. In business, we do what we have to do, but that falls too close to spamming for my taste. I would suggest an add in Worksaver or even post on the other sites adding bobcatforum.com in your tagline. I just have a real aversion to spam. Once your site is associated with spam, be it in databases or on other sites, you're doomed. Believe me, if you send mail to a dedicated poster on another forum, they will trash you and your forum without any regard for what you are trying to do. I see it all the time on the woodworking forum I frequent.
Just curious: Is this a business or are you doing this for fun? Is there an advertising budget or are you just trying to pay for bandwidth? How many hits would you like to get a day? Search engine stuff can be extremely time consuming. It's a sucky way to spend a Saturday. Hmm. I need to think. Where's the newspaper?
No, it's not my intention to spam anyone! I get up to 100 e-mails per day asking me if I want to "keep it up longer". This site is just for fun and I don't plan on making money on it. Spam is a large umbrella, but that's not where I'm coming from. I'm about bringing folks of like mind to the site looking at all possibilities and using the ones that are the most practical and sensible. You bring up an excellent point and I appreciate it.
My original intent has alway been to let the users dictate where we go with it. If the users in this forum want this site to grow, then eventually we'd have to move it to a higher bandwidth ISP, but we are not there yet.
Thank again.
 

500K_773

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
342
No, it's not my intention to spam anyone! I get up to 100 e-mails per day asking me if I want to "keep it up longer". This site is just for fun and I don't plan on making money on it. Spam is a large umbrella, but that's not where I'm coming from. I'm about bringing folks of like mind to the site looking at all possibilities and using the ones that are the most practical and sensible. You bring up an excellent point and I appreciate it.
My original intent has alway been to let the users dictate where we go with it. If the users in this forum want this site to grow, then eventually we'd have to move it to a higher bandwidth ISP, but we are not there yet.
Thank again.
When I found this site, some of the posts were days or weeks old, but now we get new threads and posts daily. I think this is a great resource for Bobcat equipment owners to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Once again, I thank Geoffrey for his efforts and agree with Team Fountain about getting the word out.
I would like to put a flyer up at my local dealership announcing the site to other owners. I don't want to put up a flyer that looks "hokey" and plan to put some time into creating a professional looking announcement. If others are interested, I would be willing to share this with them. I am open for ideas to include on the flyer. Once completed I could save it as a .pdf file that everyone else could open and print.
 

owensge

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Messages
326
When I found this site, some of the posts were days or weeks old, but now we get new threads and posts daily. I think this is a great resource for Bobcat equipment owners to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Once again, I thank Geoffrey for his efforts and agree with Team Fountain about getting the word out.
I would like to put a flyer up at my local dealership announcing the site to other owners. I don't want to put up a flyer that looks "hokey" and plan to put some time into creating a professional looking announcement. If others are interested, I would be willing to share this with them. I am open for ideas to include on the flyer. Once completed I could save it as a .pdf file that everyone else could open and print.
Cool, I'm interested!

Thanks
 

500K_773

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
342
Cool, I'm interested!

Thanks
I haven't forgotten about the flyer, but just have been real busy. I am on my two weeks off right now. I should have more free time when I head back to work next Monday the 19th.
 

cootbruce

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2004
Messages
8
I haven't forgotten about the flyer, but just have been real busy. I am on my two weeks off right now. I should have more free time when I head back to work next Monday the 19th.
I suggest that you start an area for discussing repairs. Do it yourself type repairs, on older machines. The old tractor site is used a lot for repair advice, in fact that is where I was going looking for help. I just pulled one of my axles out of my M600 as I have a leaking oil seal, I would gladly offer any advice or share my experance with this repair with others. Also, repaired my wisconsin engine, and soon, to repair my clutch and hyd. cyld leaks...... The site will get more traffic if it can be used to access information that is not available elsewhere. I come to the site everyday....to just see what is going on...
 

500K_773

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
342
I suggest that you start an area for discussing repairs. Do it yourself type repairs, on older machines. The old tractor site is used a lot for repair advice, in fact that is where I was going looking for help. I just pulled one of my axles out of my M600 as I have a leaking oil seal, I would gladly offer any advice or share my experance with this repair with others. Also, repaired my wisconsin engine, and soon, to repair my clutch and hyd. cyld leaks...... The site will get more traffic if it can be used to access information that is not available elsewhere. I come to the site everyday....to just see what is going on...
Should the repair questions be asked in the machine specific forum (ie.: skid steer or compact excavator) or do you think just a general repair forum? I suppose if you had a general repair forum, anyone could ask a question and you could get feedback from all different types of machine owners. I'm sure Geoffrey may have some insite on this and could create a new forum.
What do you think of a forum for new buyers? They could state the type of work they are doing and what machine they are looking at, then get feedback from people with real world experience in that type of work or with that machine. Just a thought.
 

owensge

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Messages
326
Should the repair questions be asked in the machine specific forum (ie.: skid steer or compact excavator) or do you think just a general repair forum? I suppose if you had a general repair forum, anyone could ask a question and you could get feedback from all different types of machine owners. I'm sure Geoffrey may have some insite on this and could create a new forum.
What do you think of a forum for new buyers? They could state the type of work they are doing and what machine they are looking at, then get feedback from people with real world experience in that type of work or with that machine. Just a thought.
I could create a forum for General Repair questions and put it out there for a while if you'd like. I think it's a good idea!
 

500K_773

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
342
I could create a forum for General Repair questions and put it out there for a while if you'd like. I think it's a good idea!
Just wondering what Bobcat dealers thought of this forum. I would think they would like it. It answers questions, informs other users of new products, and generates more interest in Bobcat equipment. I haven't heard from BobcatMel here in awhile, maybe things are real busy with the summer season? It would be nice to hear some good rumors of new product development from time to time. I hope overall traffic does not decrease too much this summer.
Has any heard from or even approached Bobcat about official endorsement of this forum and to allow a link from their website here?
 

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