How would you improve 43rumors?
Our goals are:
- create new content (reviews, comparison, videos,…?)
- increase traffic volume
- increase the interests on four-thirds and microfourthirds products
Do you have some ideas?
Please comment this post and let us know what you want.
c_dere
4 years ago |due to the lack of m43 lenses, I think it will be wonderful to have a section in which explore possible combinations of camera and other lenses via adaptor, like the use of voigtlander lenses or similar: there’re a lot of lenses out there, and a lot of out-production lenses which can be purchased in the used market for a cheap price. the problem is to find every of them and to understand how it could fi our m43 cameras.
Snowbird_UT
4 years ago |Solid reviews of product would be a sure way to increase traffic but requires a capital investment and a lot of time. Maybe a link page to all the reviews for 43 and m43 product that you come across would be better. You have lots of links to reviews when you post a rumor. A collection of all those links by catagory (i.e.Oly, Panny, Lens, Body, ADaptor, Etc.) on one page would be nice.
mk
4 years ago |You need to improve the RSS feeds so that they are the full articles instead of summaries. The main issue is just that the summaries are formatted really horribly and are difficult to read in Google Reader.
Full articles in the RSS feed reward your consistent readers, instead of making us have to always view advertisements and interrupt our reading by visiting the site in full. Also, it means that instead of being turned away from reading an article completely by a confusing summary on RSS, I can read the whole post and I’ll be more likely to visit the site and leave a comment, like this, encouraging users to interact. It works well for sites like engadget and 90% of blogs. I suggest this.
Also, cut down on the advertising. I find it a bit crazy how much there seems to be on the blog. It really takes away from the site and it would probably be beneficial in the long run to have less ads everywhere and increase readership.
admin
4 years ago |Now you have full text! What kind of advertising would you cut?
emergo
4 years ago |The site is arranged well, and I appreciate the design overall. It is easy to read without too much clutter or poor color choices. If you’ve ever visited fourthirds-user.com you’ll know exactly what I mean.
I agree that a separate reviews section apart from the rumors feed. Perhaps they could reside in a sidebar if not on their own page.
I do not feel that there is too much advertising on the site, especially since it is relevant to the hobby and it pays for the information your are distributing. Speaking with a marketing expert to determine the most effective placements for advertising may lead to better layout and reduced repetition. Perhaps a single sidebar advertising pane is more effective than having two – perhaps the top of the page like you have it offers the greatest exposure.
To increase your reach, it pays to advertise yourself. You’ve already created links between 4/3 Rumors and other rumor sites when you site article sources. Cultivate those relationships. Partner with Nikon Rumors or Leica Rumors to offer permanent links between one another. Capitalize on the community you are creating by encouraging members to link to you via their personal web pages.
You have asked if people were interested in a 4/3 rumors forum. I am no expert on the topic, but I have seen fora composed of people with similar interests become growing, thriving communities. If you start down that path, it would be best to keep the forum or message board on its own page – do not incorporate it into your main rumors page. However, many of us are already members of e-p1.net. Instead of creating a competing forum, you could forge a partnership with e-p1.net (or at least advertise each other) that expands both communities together.
Exclusive content is also a possibility. Go from reporting the news and rumors to conducting interviews or Q&As with those at the camera manufacturers. Anything exclusive could be linked to from other websites driving traffic your way.
okay, I’ll stop now.
erik.
rooky
4 years ago |May be just change first banner on top of blog (heavy to load) in a simple menu with links to relative pages… This could be done in taking idee of c_dere about having a page about possible body lens combination to be more up to date and complete than:
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/lense.html
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/lense.html
That means a complete part of your site dedicated to existing things (no more rumors) to be a reference of 4/3 world with all links categorized (official roadmaps, existing lenses, bodies, tests, …) in pages and not only given in the blog.
Because you are a really good source for me!!!
Thanks
mk
4 years ago |@admin
Thanks for putting full articles in the RSS feed. It’s well appreciated!
In terms of advertising, I recommend reading this article:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/03/online-advertising-and-its-impact-on-web-design/
E.g. reduce the repetition of having two lots of the same advertising and making it less ‘in your face’, rather than trying to fit advertising in every spare space on the website. White space is important in making a website easy to browse. Put the ads where they are most effective.
mk
4 years ago |P.S. If you are worried about advertising revenue being lost, also think about maybe putting one small Google text-advertisement at the bottom of RSS posts. I’ve seen it in several RSS feeds, e.g. http://feeds.gocomics.com/uclick/poochcafe/
Enche
4 years ago |interview with 43 / m43 photographers, or company executives will be very nice.