Request Forum Traffic - Building Up Interest...?

[Aviador]

How does everybody feel about the forum news panel down the side of the site?

The idea is to drive traffic to the most recent news or forum activity hopefully building up more interest for new members along with providing existing members with headlining news.

I'd be interested to know if people are using the links.

 

[Aviador]

Also worth mentioning is if anybody feels their local airport is being missed off the news panel, send me a PM and I'll create a news link.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I think it's potentially a good idea to attract new members. Someone browsing might see the latest news about their own airport and be encouraged to dig deeper on the site.

I tend to read all the posts submitted - I'm lucky to have the time - but I know that many members often concentrate on their 'own airport' or a small group of airports, and there's nothing wrong with that. Seeing a headline about another airport might arouse some interest in that airport.

 

[Aviador]

A while ago somebody requested forum car stickers. This is still happening but it will be a while longer before I can order them due to the costs involved. I'll let everybody know as soon as they're on order.

 

[Ash]

Was wondering how the forum is coming along as a whole? I have certainly noticed a lot more activity on the BHX section recently, but don't tend to follow other sections of the forum. Has there been a steady growth in members?

 

[Aviador]

Was wondering how the forum is coming along as a whole? I have certainly noticed a lot more activity on the BHX section recently, but don't tend to follow other sections of the forum. Has there been a steady growth in members?

Hi Ash

The forum is coming along nicely and the BHX forum is doing exceptionally well. The site is running on around 140,000 page views per month and still growing steadily. The majority of the forum traffic is coming from search engines with people finding snippets of information that they're looking for. Our interest based inbound traffic is still on the low side hence the need to increase the number of people taking part in the forum. There's not a great deal I can do to get people to post. All I can say is if you're a member of the site reading this and you want the forum to continue to grow, one of the best thing you can do is to mention us when you're out and about around the airport. You can also help by adding to one of the discussions in one of the quieter forums.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I echo Aviador's comments. BHX and LBA are easily the most followed airports in terms of posts on Forums4Airports with MAN and BRS also fairly popular.

Other airports do have one or two fairly regular posters but there are some that feature much less often: Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton and the Scottish and Irish airports for example.

I read every post submitted (I do the same on AAR on the Dried Plum but I do have the time and am also a very fast 'scan reader') and have learned a lot about airports around the country and around the world. It can also put into context one's own local airport or airports.

However, I realise entirely that not everyone has the time or the inclination to do this.

Ideally, if each airport or group of airports (say Southampton and Bournemouth) in the British Isles had a key poster to generate topics then others with an interest in that airport or airports might be tempted to join in.

Sometimes events outside the control of F4A come into play. Several years ago CWL had a strong posting presence but then forums were opened in Wales that concentrated on the Principality's aviation scene and we lost most of our regular CWL posters who migrated to those other forums. I'm pleased to see that one of those members has been posting this week in the CWL threads after a long absence. I hope he continues to do so - he has a wide knowledge about CWL and Welsh aviation matters and can always be relied upon for a balanced approach.

 

[Aviador]

Lots of new people registering with us today. Has somebody being putting a good word in for us somewhere?