IT geeks like Ginger -- What can we do to help ITR boost its online numbers?

[MWC]

Ginger mentioned something about how important a web site's "hit" count is important in some techno way ... but it's buried in a bad juju thread, and I wanted to winnow this bit of wheat from the emotional chaff.

Could somebody in the know rehash what she said, so we can take productive action to help out ITR? Is it better to log on and off, leave then come back, or what?

I can't do much in terms of patronizing goods and services ... but I can click, baby!

[eddie tabor]

Originally Posted by MWC

Ginger mentioned something about how important a web site's "hit" count is important in some techno way ... but it's buried in a bad juju thread, and I wanted to winnow this bit of wheat from the emotional chaff.

Could somebody in the know rehash what she said, so we can take productive action to help out ITR? Is it better to log on and off, leave then come back, or what?

I can't do much in terms of patronizing goods and services ... but I can click, baby!

Hi am not an IT person like Ginger but the more folks that learn about this site the busyer it will get. I have tried to spread the word on other Playa sites for folks to come on over and check out the interactive map its a start. Its something no other site has up and running.

[John]

Martha-

As always, we appreciate your support of our little website.

I believe what Ginger was referring to was the wealth of information available on other, more mature sites. This is something that grows organically with time. The search engines slurp up the content off all your posts and indexes them. If someone does a search for the information and the search engine determines that we are a good choice, they will display us as a link. In this way, people who didn't know we exist are able to find us and hopefully find useful information.

Simply put, the more users there are, the more content that is created, and therefore, the more likely random people will find us. Even random off-topic posts, or posts with spelling errors eventually helps to build traffic. So, just keep doing what you are doing, Google's watching you.

Another way to help, is like eddie mentioned... word of mouth. Chances are good that you found out about us through someone else. Spread the word.

And, for the record, forum operators can benefit from all the traffic that is generated - whether it be by selling paid advertisements, getting name recognition, or even the ability to book a vacation rental or tour for you. Currently, we make enough money with advertising to keep the servers up and running (although recently, not very well. ). For the moment, this is "fun" for us and not a business.

I have bigger plans for the website, but those plans will only come to fruition when I have a chance to work on them, usually after the day's work is done or on weekends. Want to do my real work so I can play all day?

Hope that was un-techie enough for you. I'm a geek and sometimes have a hard time expressing myself.

[Libby]

Martha, You are so kind to even think of this. John made a lot of very good points. I just want to point out that there is no need for you to login and logout or repeatedly click on links. A whole heck of a lot of people would have to do that to make even the tiniest bit of difference.

The more information we have on our website, including the forums, the better chance people will have of finding us. Many people do find us through the property listings we have. Often people find what they are looking for and leave without exploring the rest of the site. But then they find us again through another search, and then again later on. Eventually, they remember our name and we build up brand recognition. It takes time, but it will happen.

Now with the addition of our forums, we have yet another source of rich information for newbies to discover. So, keep up the good work guys. And if you have a website, feel free to link to us. I know many have already, and we appreciate it!

[melliedee]

I also think the more trip reports posted the better. That medium combines the best of forum content: the fun of off topic, with the information of those planning their own trips to playa.

Plus, I love reading them!

[TnTWalter]

I'm new and have to say the more on-topic, the more you'll get visitors. Most people want to know about PDC and find out the cool off the beaten path stuff, best restaurants, all that stuff. self edited

[Tony&Cheri]

We really love this website and hope that it becomes very successful. There are several things that we've been doing to bring it and the forum to more people's attention. Some of them can only be done by the folks on this forum who have businesses in Playa, but some form of them can really be done by anyybody. They are:

• In the Roo is listed on our blog as a link. We also did a blog entry about it. Anybody with a blog can add them to their blogroll, make them a link on their blog (or website) or talk about them. Using lots of key words (e.g., Playa del Carmen, Playa del Carmen forum, Playa del Carmen restaurants, etc.) will help them be found by others.

• When we can't accomodate guests at the hotel, we have a standard paragraph that we send back to them referring them to this website--not only for information about hotels on the site iteself, but to join the forum to ask the opinions of others.

• Get the word out on the larger generalized travel sites. Somebody on TripAdvisor had already posted how wonderful this site is, and we added our agreement. The more people that talk about it, the more people will come to visit.

• As John already said, don't just talk about your favorite restaurant on a thread, post a review on the review section of the website. Every hotel, restaurant, business, etc. is a link on In The Roo and leads to a section for reviews. Use it!

• Talk the forum up in Playa. When you go to a restaurant, take a tour or book a hotel, tell them you heard about them on In The Roo.

• Like Libby said, post on the forum. The more you talk about Playa, the more people will find such information in search engines.

Maybe these will give others some ideas.

[PlayaWithMe]

Is a Multi Media section coming for this site so peeps can put thier pics in it of their trips to Playa and the surrounding area's? I know that you guys were thinking about something......

[John]

Originally Posted by PlayaWithMe

Is a Multi Media section coming for this site so peeps can put thier pics in it of their trips to Playa and the surrounding area's? I know that you guys were thinking about something......

Yes, we've love to add at least a photo gallery. I am holding off on installing it until the upgrade version of the forum software comes out. It is in final testing, and should hopefully be released in the near future.

John