jwromick
09-07-2007, 12:20 AM
Originally Posted by Administrator in "Introduce Yourself" folder:
Lets just say that some people are more chatty than others
We would love for more people to post (and we have been trying to find ways to encourage it)! Please let us know if you have some ideas for improvements or changes.
We just hope that people find the info they need to make riding safer or more enjoyable.
Thanks!
My wife and I are pretty new to motorcycling, having bought our first bikes at the beginning of the summer. We've both taken the MSF class and gotten our licenses. We're interested in finding out more about the motorcycle community in metro Atlanta (specifically in our area of Coweta Country). So we were very excited when we found this site. My biggest disappointment with the site is the relatively low amount of activity, so here are a couple of suggestions:
Kill the folders that have little or no activity. The last post to each folder is listed right on the main forum page and some of them are so old that it highlights the low level of activity on the site. People come by, see no one has posted in many of the folders for months and think the forum is pretty dead, so they simply move on. Some of the folders could be moved from post-able forums to lists, like the "Sponsors" (no new posts in nearly a year, since 10-11-06), "Dealers/Shops" (last post: 06-20-07), "Bike Friendly Places" (last post: 04-20-07), and "Clubs & Organizations (last post: 06-21-07).
I love the idea of the member list, but to be quite honest it's pretty useless since you either have to already know the user name of a member to find them or browse the entire list. You can sort that list by last post or user name but what would really be useful is if you could sort it by city, that way you could find riders in your specific area.
The biggest challenge is getting people to find and use the site in the first place. I really don't remember how my wife stumbled upon it, but it was pretty accidental. We've done searches for forums and clubs and groups in Atlanta and Georgia and Coweta and this site did not turn up in any of them. Have your web master do a little research on how to improve your listing with the major search engines.
There are at least three national publications that have "local" Georgia editions that are available at many bike shops for free (Full Throttle, Thunder Roads, and White Line Monthly). I'd contact each of them to see if you could trade ad space in their publications for an ad on this site, or at least do reciprocal links on their websites to let more people know that this site exists.
I'd also actively seek out clubs and organizations to let them know about the site and offer them links or calendar space if they'd spread the word to their membership and provide a link on their club's web site. I know you already offer club listings, but if you wait for the clubs to find you that's going to continue to be dead folder.
I hope you realize that I make these suggestions because I do think you have a wonderful idea with this site and it could be quite useful to riders in Metro Atlanta. I don't mean any these things in a negative manner, and if I have come across that way I apologize. Thanks for the opportunity to put in my two cents.
Lets just say that some people are more chatty than others
We would love for more people to post (and we have been trying to find ways to encourage it)! Please let us know if you have some ideas for improvements or changes.
We just hope that people find the info they need to make riding safer or more enjoyable.
Thanks!
My wife and I are pretty new to motorcycling, having bought our first bikes at the beginning of the summer. We've both taken the MSF class and gotten our licenses. We're interested in finding out more about the motorcycle community in metro Atlanta (specifically in our area of Coweta Country). So we were very excited when we found this site. My biggest disappointment with the site is the relatively low amount of activity, so here are a couple of suggestions:
Kill the folders that have little or no activity. The last post to each folder is listed right on the main forum page and some of them are so old that it highlights the low level of activity on the site. People come by, see no one has posted in many of the folders for months and think the forum is pretty dead, so they simply move on. Some of the folders could be moved from post-able forums to lists, like the "Sponsors" (no new posts in nearly a year, since 10-11-06), "Dealers/Shops" (last post: 06-20-07), "Bike Friendly Places" (last post: 04-20-07), and "Clubs & Organizations (last post: 06-21-07).
I love the idea of the member list, but to be quite honest it's pretty useless since you either have to already know the user name of a member to find them or browse the entire list. You can sort that list by last post or user name but what would really be useful is if you could sort it by city, that way you could find riders in your specific area.
The biggest challenge is getting people to find and use the site in the first place. I really don't remember how my wife stumbled upon it, but it was pretty accidental. We've done searches for forums and clubs and groups in Atlanta and Georgia and Coweta and this site did not turn up in any of them. Have your web master do a little research on how to improve your listing with the major search engines.
There are at least three national publications that have "local" Georgia editions that are available at many bike shops for free (Full Throttle, Thunder Roads, and White Line Monthly). I'd contact each of them to see if you could trade ad space in their publications for an ad on this site, or at least do reciprocal links on their websites to let more people know that this site exists.
I'd also actively seek out clubs and organizations to let them know about the site and offer them links or calendar space if they'd spread the word to their membership and provide a link on their club's web site. I know you already offer club listings, but if you wait for the clubs to find you that's going to continue to be dead folder.
I hope you realize that I make these suggestions because I do think you have a wonderful idea with this site and it could be quite useful to riders in Metro Atlanta. I don't mean any these things in a negative manner, and if I have come across that way I apologize. Thanks for the opportunity to put in my two cents.