Discussions
Win an iPod in the BlogCatalog Member Idea Contest
Posted by TonyB • 3/20/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: bc ideas, contest
BC is looking for your feedback, input and ideas on what you would do to improve BC in the following 2 areas.
What would you do to
1. Make BC more engaging and useful for bloggers and
2. Get blog readers to engage more with BC? BC receives around 12 million visitors/readers a month looking for content. What would you do to engage them more on BlogCatalog so that they come back more often and read more of your blogs? That is, how do we make BlogCatalog more interesting and helpful for readers? Would you create reader profiles? Would you show more of a blog post and not just snippets so that they can learn more about what you are writing and be able to rate posts in a way that enables us to get better at recommending similar posts to them? Would you display entire posts on the site and then share part of the ad revenue on the post pages with members who have adsense accounts? Any other ideas?
The person with the best ideas and most thought out plan for doing this, as chose by the BC team, wins an iPod.
If you have ideas that are best explained by designing them, feel free to design them and link to your designs from the discussions.
User Comments
-
If you could give a general outline of existing visitor behaviour it would help a lot with coming up with ideas. eg. where do most visitors land, the home page?-
A large % of visitors arrive at the site through the topics search pages and blog post tag pages and blog detail pages. Visitors who arrive at these pages typically will look at 1 or 2 pages and then leave the site. Another aspect of this question is how does the BlogCatalog community best serve these visitors so that they continue to visit BlogCatalog to find useful blogs and connect with bloggers.
-
Thanks. By a bizarre coincidence polybore has been pondering over how the BC traffic works because, for a while, they have been thinking about modelling it in a 3d animation (well it seemed like a fun thing to do).
In the mind of the Polybore BC has two distinct forms of traffic, the members and the anonymous visitors, each with very different reasons for visiting BC.
So Polybore is thinking along the lines of making an anonymous users BC experience very different to that of a member.
Going to sleep on it and adapt the animation flow chart to, well just a boring old flow chart, to help illustrate the point.
-
-
I think the discussion usually has a high bounce rate for visitors because everyone comes to this zone a lot. But a lot of social chat here are hardly relating to the blogger's main genre.
The blogger groups are not utilised and not receiving any readership except spamming exercises.
So It would be great to incorporate the BC groups with the discussion area somehow. Blended in or metamorphed...
Another idea is about running ranking of posts like post of the week for particular area with votes.
It also seems game is popular. Several styles of games could be started in the forum here with a specialised section.
-
Oops, I just activate all my blogs. The statistics loooooook soooooo cool!
-
Should I load them? -
@alanweinkrantz
Yes! The real time stats program rocks! There's another thread on it here
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/good-news-bc-members#comment_861107 -
Any ideas?
-
-
Feedback: Page mash of common interests/members
Some how combine the members with the sites they have in their favorites and/or that they click through to or comment on. Make it quicker and easier to find members with similar interests in order to help them network more easily. It would provide focus and a targeted audience so it leads to expanded discussions.-
That would be a really cool feature TT. The problem is though that BC members are probably the last people that BC want to ask for advice about this. Because invariably we are going to ask for more member services.
Polybore does not know, but imagines that member related traffic is less than that of people who have arrived by search engine. Would that be right TonyB? So in a way BC would be better concentrating not on it's members but their transient visitors.
Something polybore would suggest is getting together a focus group of non members, asking them to search for whatever BCs top keywords are, then asking them for feedback on their experience. Not sure an online survey would be applicable here. -
@polybore, you're correct. member related traffic is substantially less than that of people who arrive by search engine so the question becomes how do we make blogcatalog more valuable for these readers so that they come back to blogcatalog and visit member blogs?
-
-
1. Downloads Section. Here we can find user shared themes, graphics, images, codes, apps, tutorials, etc, that are helpful in developing user blogs.
2. a. "Poll" feature is still missing. There's a lot of questions in the discussion that needs a poll feature.
b. Run contests like this weekly or monthly to attract users to go to the forums. say Best post of the week, Best header, best layout, Discussion of the week, etc. We might also consider to introduce reputation (rep) points for the users. (and -reps for offensive posts. :D) -
I know it's against the rule but we all know that lots of members are participating in threads where they can post their URL or links from their post. They only want to show off their blogs or want to be linked. How about making a Visit Member Blogs Day. The day where each members have to visit and put the link of the member who is next to him.
Like for example, I will visit braincatcher's site, leave a comment and put the link of his new or last post on his blog/site here. The one who's next to me will do the same...In that case, we can know that somebody really visited the site. We can also check out the other link posted that we find interesting. More traffic, more link and more participants, I think. -
I would like to see more clarity as to member groups and have the general discussions boards divided into topics. Right now, the Personal Blog group is really just a dumping ground for Link Dropping. There is no actual discussion or any real community building going on in that group. I think groups that only serve to Link Drop should be eliminated as it does not actually benefit the members.
Dividing the general discussion boards into grouped topics would be a great development. There has already been some that happening with the separate political discussion and religious discussion boards. Unfortunately, the political and religious keep making their way onto the main boards. I think you should divide the main boards by similar interests. When you hit the discussion tab, you will see icons for each discussion board: Politics, Religion, Just for Fun, Technology, Lifestyle. Everytime you hit the discussion tab, you will be redirected back to the discussion homepage (with icons). Also, you can list top discussion topics on this page per grouping.
Also, allow threads to expire after there has been no commenting for a period of 42 hours. Once the thread has expired, it is locked. You can still read it, but you can no longer comment on it. -
If new visitors are popping in through search engine results, and are hitting profile pages of members (and then bouncing), why not try to tempt them into further investigation of the blogs, and blogcatalog by linking up to relevant discussions ("discuss this!" or perhaps a comment feature linked to your profile above and beyond reviews) combined with a more interactive profile that will suck people in.
So, let's say someone googles something and lands on my profile page. They see a list of blog posts, with a snippet of the post (that's good), they see my reviews (also good), my profile statement, and my rank (good as well, although perhaps meaningless to outsiders).
What if they could also immediately see or search my conversations on the forums, perhaps some pictures of mine, and/or use a live comment or "wall" or "blackboard" feature? Like our personal profiles, only on the basic profile (main) page with an option for the member to delete any spammy comments.
See, when visitors hit the main profile page, they won't know how to navigate to the more personal stuff, the stuff that might tell them a bit more about who I am, what I do, and why I'm here. Even though you can state much of that in your statement, people refer to visual aesthetics as a quick reference, and generally want to have a quick look at basic opinions on various subject matters.
Or more simply, combine the main profile page with the one we see when we click someone's avatar here. One page = more info at a glance.
Sucking them in in that way would not only drive more traffic to blogs, but also create new (possibly paying) BC members.
You could also possibly create a membership for avid blog readers (who don't own a blog). I dunno how you would do that, but you could.
OK, that idea would take a LOT of programming wizardry, but it's a thought, anyway. -
I think the problem is limited screen real estate. I think a bloggers favorite blogs would be a useful addition to the blog page (outside of the "related blogs" in the sidebar) but there isn't really a space to put it that would be noticeable. Perhaps below the reviews?
I often find blogs that I like by looking at the favorites of my favorites, and I think that it would help people who land here on one blog to see that people not only list their own blogs but interact with others (plus people may be more likely to click through to other blog listings rather than bouncing out of BC altogether). Give visitors more places to go from an individual blog page. -
okay, feedback will arrive ! -
www.flyingsolo.com.au/p217880976_How-to-make-visitors-stay-on-your-website....
simple-fix.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-make-visitors-stay-longer-at.html
these articles do add a lot more to say ! -
Great ideas
-
Ok Tony, here's my idea to ponder with.
How about individual(personal)video enabled on profile?
Option to upload one video with embeded code on your profile. Member can discuss what their blog is about or how they came to picking out the topic of their blog etc... The viewer is seening a real person behind the blog optional. They can discuss the benefits of why to be a BC member or why they became a BC member optional. Discuss to check out what is offered inside the BC community like groups or discussion board or share about their group etc... If you don't want to reveal your actual self in the vid, you can always use images and audio inside the vid. Get creative! Limit 1 video upload max. per BC member with a limitation on how big the file is.
and or
How about individual podcast enabled on profile?
Option to add or upload a simple podcast. Podcast are audio files that are recorded for those who don't know what a podcasts is. There's plenty of podcast servers available offsite. If BC can handle 12 mil visitors per month, they should be able to handle hosting its member's podcasts, correct? Offer only 1 podcast max. per BC member with limitation on how big the file to be.
How about both video and podcast options?
Why these these two options?
Many people have interest in either of these two types of media. Examples are YouTube which hosts vids and iTunes tm which host podcasts. Both are successful and get many visitors (popular sites). Thus, my two ideas can get its visitors to stay longer, interact with BC members and read more blogs. Then you can have both directories as well as what is already here at BC. You have the scripts and ftp upload resources. Should be an easy one for the developer.
Hope these two sound good. Win an iPod gave me the idea for the podcast idea. -
GetSmart, those are both really interesting ideas.
-
I like it. Great ideas!
-
Thank you.
I also came up another interesting idea. How about a blog tools area for its members?
tag generator
blog ping system
text cloud generator someone mentioned
meta tag generator
banners and text we have
widgets we have
When I blog, I need those two tools. Is there a way to create a BC pop-up tag generator, a BC Ping system for BC Directory? I have to say they would work like blog magic.
At my blog hosting we have 3 ping system service in my member's area. 3 Ping 1 submit and it's like a blog post on steroids. When I create tags, I usually have a link that a window pops-up and I generate my blog tags for my post. Make BC tags generator available, then it wow on member's blogs and BC Blog Directory.
This blog tools area would be get daily hits by the minute. This would get BC members not to ask questions in discussion as how to get more traffic to their blog(s). We've got plenty of traffic, but the use of tools would get some good natural search. Does this make sense?
So those ideas above and these listed here are what I thought of for BC. Thanks for reading. -
I like this idea, and I think she's cute! -
Podcast on BC will be interesting.
-
-
Sure TT.
If BC had a tool area as mentioned above, when new people come here, they see the plus in benefits here as to maybe to join or read. If you read many of the discussions about blog help with traffic, they could get the help here at BC, thus not having to ask those types of questions. These tools that I mention help in getting BC members natural search from the SE, not just traffic from BC. Say a blog reader came to your blog, you would have the BC tags in the post, relevant BC tags. The reader would come to BC to see more blogs relevant from those tags if they want to read more from another relevant topic blog. This help BC Blog Directory not to look elsewhere.
Hope this is a little clearer. -
TT please stay on track with this thread. This isnt about cutting down other people's ideas just because you dont like them. It's a place to let all ideas flow. Saying why someone's ideas won't work simply results in draining the energy from this thread.
-
@TontB
I was NOT negating the idea. I did NOT understand the idea. And there's a BIG difference between the two. There is no animosity between myself and getsmart.
-
-
i'm a new blogger, and i found BC very interesting with it's widgets. Aside from a widget with discussion, it could also be good to have a widget that can accompany a blogcatalog chatroom in the blogsite of the blogger. -
Woohoo..
My Friends, Recent Viewers, can go in the sidebar.
Favorite Discussion which is below the shoutbox seems to be less important.
Addition of Random Post/Popular Post generator at My Blog section will be something..
Looking for ipod LOL
Nothing important -
The recent visitors and button add as an intro/gateway to BC from my blog and I often invite people thru message to my group and profile plus write post with link on my post.
It will be great if BC can provide A guest message box and a notification alert message in user profile and group for first time visitors so that they can hang on for a while and taste a bit of BC plus know more about the blogger, and see the recent post feed.
I don't think most guest visitor stay for more than a minute. So my suggestion is to give some interaction for the guest visitors.
Many of my traffic come from BC, and I will not be wrong to say that most of the people are not members of BC.-
How would the guest message box work?
-
-
I think - that when I came here the first time, I was looking for a specific KEYWORD.
It showed me a BLOG GROUPING when I got here on the entry page....
Instead, I think a SHOWCASE page would be efficient. You could showcase the TOP BLOG from the search result in a large area - with a another grouping directly beside it or below it, saying something like: More Blogs Like this ---->>>>
FEATURE BLOG OF THE DAY/MINUTE/HOUR:
I think there should be a FEATURED BLOG (randomly selected) that shows in a widget with a brief description, updated maybe every few hours? It could be on the side of every page - and/or you could generate a different blog every few minutes on every page. It could have the blog thumbnail and a brief description under that - people could then click on the link.
That would showcase more people - and it would make those who come here for blog promotions much more interested in staying.
A LOT of people are very shy about promoting themselves - or don't know exactly how to do it. A lot of people lurk in the discussions - but do not comment.
This would give the perfect incentive for those too shy to comment to JOIN BlogCatalog in order to get people to visit their Blog...
Random Favorites --- Or even BLOG OF THE MOMENT --- Random.
MORE CATEGORIES:
I think that there could be more discussion categories - because coming here - and visiting the first time I was VERY curious as to why there were only a few categories.
DID THIS BLOG HELP YOU - HOW ABOUT TRYING THESE:
How about a "WAS THIS BLOG HELPFUL?" poll for those who come in from Searching... Which could then lead up to the: IF you found this blog useful - you might find these Blogs helpful: _______
ENTRY POLLS or other POLLS:
People like interaction. They like to feel like they are in control of their experience.
How about an entry poll based on their search words?
A search narrow down... Meaning First layer search - then a search within these results?
STATS ON BLOGS:
And then of course - people like to see how a particular blog is doing --- It would be kind of cool to see a traffic stat on the blogs. On the Profile pages -- and maybe a TOP TRAFFIC STAT on the main pages -- to see who is doing the best... etc.
CONTESTS:Sweepstakes
Contests and Sweepstakes are a BIG DRAW... And they don't have to be big things. But people hate ONE PRIZE contests. They prefer having the chance to win one of a group of prizes - (more chances).
In that contest you could also offer pro services as a prize.
Show MULTI SITES COMPARABLE:
OK - people signing up - I think that when you sign in --- and you put your blog together --- IMMEDIATELY they should be shown sites that are similar to the site they just put in... So that they get the INSTANT CONNECTION. (based on keywords). Which gives them the sense of community.
INTERVIEWS WITH BLOGGERS:
As with the RANDOM BLOG idea - you could also put up INTERVIEWS with BLOG OWNERS... Randomly pick Blog Owners to answer questions regarding BlogCatalog Services, their own blogs, interactions, etc. Send about 5 or more out a day - and show them in Widgets on the sides of pages...
Add Member's commentary on the side - in "quote" fashion. It could be random Quotes from their profile page, the shout boxes - the discussion forum --- or more.
Oooohhhh - about the AD share --- THAT IS AN IDEA...
YOU DO KNOW THAT BY BEING ON BLOG CATALOG -- IF MEMBER'S GET THEIR BC PAGES VIEWED - and AD CONTENT ON THEIR PAGES BRINGS IN REVENUE --- maybe you could develop a program that allowed members to "get" some money from the advertisements on their profile pages, etc.??? I mean that would certainly up the community - because people would come here to EARN MONEY - and they would also SPREAD THE WORD... And --- as a bonus - you could make PRO BC and FREE BC different - so that PRO BC members could make a LOT more money than FREE BC members....
Again - just thoughts. I dunno - I'm just brainstorming - if I think of anything more... I will drop them off here...
WagerWitch-
"Add Member's commentary on the side - in "quote" fashion. It could be random Quotes from their profile page, the shout boxes - the discussion forum --- or more."
I missed the LABEL for that - it was supposed to be:
MEMBER QUOTES RANDOMLY SHOWN THROUGHOUT SITE -
RANDOM COMMENTS --- meant like this:
"Hey --- I Like BLONGS... They make me feel kinda funny tho..."
WagerWitch - found in: BLOG DISCUSSIONS
They could be random funny or thought provoking or helpful Comment snippets - designed to get the reader to visit that post/page/link.
I hope that makes more sense --- It would be cool to see them in Thought Bubbles - randomly thru the site.
Or randomly keyed to KEYWORD searches. -
And the more I think about it - Interiews with Bloggers is a really cool idea - cause you could get more people involved with each other's blogs, lives or whatnot.
Just my brainstorming again. -
WW ... how would you do the interviews? Podcasts? Video? Text? Would you have a separate section on the site or would the interview show on a member's page?
-
You could actually do ALL of those - Depending on the BLOGGER - I mean - You could do a 2 way cam like a Yahoo Video or something - IF the Blogger has the capability - TEXT linking --- kind of putting interesting snippets of the Interview in Bubbles for people to click on - leading them to a page... that would open up the interview - and then of course, links to the Blog Page of the person being Interviewed. PodCasts too - depending on Blogger Capability --- I WOULD NOT LIMIT YOUR POSSIBILITIES --- in fact - I'd offer all of the options to the INTERVIEWEE - and let them make the decision.
Simple idea - but you're the ones with the Coding stuff...
-
-
yeah guys we need your suggestion
-
How bout a updated cool looking widget that would attract readers?
introduce A mascot widget perhaps? a colorful button? etc....
bloggers drop them on their blogs ppl click thru..land on BC with an updated re-designed front page. you could offer a redirect Go here, Go there, etc...
with Easy to follow links, such as the discussion boards,
how bout blogger chat? with sub categories~
I did not release the discussion pages existed? until, a year later...ha! nothing stood out..
the new side bar you currently have is much more user friendly..since the revamp.
I am at BC front page now and I still think it should have a cooler lookin front page~ that's just me...
make a visitor want to enter the website. Visitor, may want to join or book mark the page- with a great looking front page..
I Do like the "Get Started" search..
use words that will want a reader to stay. Come inside look around,chat with other bloggers in real time. I'm just throwin this out there..
I would add more features to the front page..
seriously, this is all I would do.. Front page re design, new blogger BC widget button or Mascot-cool, coloured graphics.
Key words to entice a reader to enter or search "Come inside look around" "chat with other bloggers" "blogger friendly" "hippest social webby on the net"
etc etc
blogger chat-discussions
more cool features on the front main page
--------------------------------------------------
I love this place!~
hb~-
hb.... really great insights.
-
@tt, let the discussion flow. Asking questions about ideas and saying why they arent good deflates the idea process. Allow people to share ideas without questioning them about how they use the site. Once all the ideas are in we will look at them.
-
-
Polybore's idea is this. BC needs to pick up that a user is not a member and the search term that brought them to BC. BC then needs to give the anonymous visitor an environment totally different to that of members and geared towards search.
BC should ditch the existing search facility and use Google Custom Search (defined to just BC. www.google.com/coop/cse/
There is a version that combines adsense with custom search.
Tried to find a BC user from blog URL today a number of different ways with BC search with no joy.
Found the BC user name from blog URL first time with google.-
@polybore
Did you use this? www.blogcatalog.com/directory
and then use the "browse by user" link found on that page www.blogcatalog.com/user -
No, not sure if that feature is working, can't see how to browse users. Polybore had the persons blog URL and wanted their User name. Tried a few different permutations of the BC search each drawing a blank. Got the info required first time with Google.
-
@polybore
Hmmm ... that's weird. Whenever I want to find a blog and I have the url I use www.blogcatalog.com/directory
When I only have a username I use www.blogcatalog.com/user
Example:
I got results in 3 seconds for both of these using the Directory links I posted above.
"onecoolsite" www.blogcatalog.com/topic/onecoolsite/
"timethief" www.blogcatalog.com/topic/timethief/
-
-
"Picture it Man, Just Picture It." "Clear the mind." Ok enough blah blah, blah. Here it is by detail below.
Visitor - Blog Reader Membership
Visitor's Area
Search Blogs: Customed-Search can be set to help the reader locate blogs of interest and or recommending blogs.
On the left side:
Video - Welcoming Visitor Tour and Introductions to Blog Catalog.
Below Video:
Visitor Avatar - Photo of the visitor
Visitor Profile - About the visitor.
Visitor Category Select - 6 Keywords for blog 2 types preferences.
Visitor Follow Blog Feeds.
Visitor Visitor Friends - Visitor friends
Visitor Blog Friends - Blog member friends
Visitor Who stopped by - Everyone that enters.
Visitor Blog recommendation - Up to 5 Most Favorites.
Visitor Personal Blog Reviews - Content box for writing reviews.
Visitor Rated Blogs - Shows blogs they've rated.
On the right side:
Dashboard - Where they can edit profile & select visitor preferences.
Visitor Shoutbox - visitors and members can communicate.
Visitor Blog Cloud - text grows of blogs they visited.
Visitor Favorite Blogs - List their favorite blogs.
Visitor Discussions - Visitor can interact with bloggers.
Visitor Favorite Discussions - Which discussion visitor liked most.
Visitor Reads - Visitor read that blog also read this blog
Instead of broadcasts, also have podcasts. Only blog members can upload a podcast to the visitor podcasts area. and Visitor can hear their podcast. With save and delete option, maybe share option.
Visitors can make friends with other visitors and bloggers.
Blog Members can make friends with bloggers and visitors.
Blog Members can upload podcast per person with amount and size limit per day per blog member. This will eliminate tons of podcasts being uploaded by one person to many and also prevents crashing.
Example: Visitor read a blog. The blog member can send a podcasts message to that visitor. It can be thanking them personally, it can be about a future post, come by and offer a review, introduction, invitation to read a blog, etc...
Also they can help promote BC with Visitor type widgets and buttons and text. Just an Example: I'm a blog reader inside Blog Catalog, I read alot of feeds inside Blog Catalog, I'm hungry for feeds inside Blog Catalog, They feed me inside Blog Catalog - I'm still blog hungry, I love to read blogs inside Blog Catalog, I find the best blogs inside Blog Catalog, I'm Jane Visitor & I met Joe Blogger inside Blog Catalog Discussions, I review blogs inside Blog Catalog, A blogger really talked inside Blog Catalog, They welcomed me inside Blog Catalog, etc...
Tony, I can think of tons more, but this is a general idea of what I came up with included intergrating video and podcast in the mix. So what do you think of these ideas?
"Man, my fingers from typing are cramping and a big storm that hit it my brain." lol-
My God, what are you writing here?
-
@roentarre, lol, when you figure it out, let me know
-
@roentaree: So what! A friggn book!
This is a very well detailed visitor's member page including other ideas that I thought of. I'm not the only one here that wrote out long post of ideas.
Your sacarism was not necessary. Did you take time out and come up with one idea? Not! Keep this board following of ideas.
@Tony, "Ha, Ha making fun out of what I wrote?" I'm offended.
I'm trying to come up with the best idea. I took "My Time" to think of an idea, write them down and share them with everyone here on BC. I spent enough time on this. Roentarre shouldn't make fun here. It doesn't matter how short or lengthy the idea is. -
@roentarre
This is what Tony says up above someone and now I say it to you.
let the discussion flow. Asking questions about ideas and saying why they arent good deflates the idea process. Allow people to share ideas without questioning them about how they use the site. Once all the ideas are in we will look at them.
_____________________
The discussion is not about taking criticism either. GetSmart
-
-
Lovely ideas.. I can see (ahmm..) t distributing ipods
Add more stylish BC widgets with fantastic features.
BC Stats counter button for blogs. -
How about Videos or Widget Capability for INDIVIDUAL MEMBER PAGES?
I would love to have a WIDGET on my page...
Some sort of DESIGN CAPABILITY for the PAGE DASH BOARD member...
I mean - maybe I like my page to be Pink... Or want to upload my own background...
I think when people search out something --- ANOTHER THING - that would be cool --- BESIDES seeing just the BLOGS that are available --- is to possibly show them DISCUSSIONS also that may be "related" (per keyword usage)
I think also ---another contest idea--- possibly a link that gives them a CHANCE to sign up for a FREE PRO Membership. That gives you an email address - (client listing) - to where you could send newsletters.
ACTUAL NEWSLETTERS about BLOG CATALOG.
How about offering member shares? This is an idea that could be expanded (purchase stock offer, shares in certain parts of BC, etc.)
Upon entry - people need to be made to feel like "THEY'VE FINALLY COME HOME" That this IS the RIGHT place for them... So things crafted for search words, key words.
FOR EXAMPLE: (only because I do casino promotions) SEARCH WORD was for CASINO BONUSES.
Person lands on BC Page from search engine with TOP Site showing, links to other sites that are related... Discussion Links that are related, possibly cited comments that are related and possibly interiews that are related.
Then throw in a contest to win a year's BC PRO - or monthly BC Pro...
Then after harvesting email for the contests - MAKE SURE YOU GET THEIR FAVORITE KEY WORD SEARCHES (for me would be no deposit casino bonuses, free casino credits, etc.) - then tailor NEWSLETTERS with those keyword points to each individual showing the New or current TOP Blogs on those keywords...
Monthly newsletters should go out with more information - or with a SPOTLIGHT BLOG interview.
Also BC joining up with OTHER sites --- and offering their services as well... For example: LOGO makers - get a free logo when signing up to BC... Or whatever idea is available... If you had a lot of "sister" or affiliated sites - you could tailor the opening "offer" with keywords, as well.
I think BC joining up with other sites would give the other sites BC traffic - and BC would also gain their traffic. Could be a win-win for both or all locations.
Like --- say --- SUBWAY... Once a day - Subway could offer a FREE 6 inch sub... The person coming to BC would have to sign up to see if they got the service or product - and they would need to check in every week to continue possibly getting "freebies" from the other affiliated sites.
OK - if I come up with any more ideas - I'll let you know...
Hope I'm not boring anyone.
WW -
Do you still need more ideas?
I could try and rattle my brain for more... LOL! -
About the forums.
I'd like to see the forums separated completely:
(in any order)
Religion
Sexuality / Sex
Politics
General
Blogging Tips
Shameless Blog Promotion
General Discussion
Making Money
WHY OTHERS SHOULD READ YOUR BLOG - LINK DROP FORUM
Humor and Jokes
Sell me this
Philosophical Discussions
Current Events - Current News
Nice to Meet you - Introduce yourself
BLOGCATALOG QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
I think there should be a CLICKABLE CHECKBOX Next to each forum that you (the member or viewer) could click on - and then those would show up in your view.
You could click an all checkbox or just one - or a few of them.
There could be many more categories as well.
But I'd like the OPTION of being able to choose which categories I observe... and NOT observe.
Strict monitoring of the comments falling under the right category.
OK- come on - any more ideas?
WW -
Doesn't anyone want an IPOD?
sheesh -- I could totally use one - I know you guys have some brilliant ideas and could use an IPoD --- RIGHT?
Get up here and post your ideas to help this place out - come on - you can do it. REALLY - You can!
WW-
@wagerwitch
It would appear that approximately 50% of the traffic that arrives on this Blog Catalog site does not click through to blogs. I could be wrong, but I think that what's being sought out here is ideas that directly pertain to encouraging that milling throng to click into blogs. -
@timethief, its broader than that. It's how to get visitors to the site to engage more with bloggers and content. How would you change the site so that blog readers can find what they are looking for? The result will be that members receive more traffic and get more exposure.
-
@TonyB
How would you change the site so that blog readers can find what they are looking for?
I don't know
I find my way around without any difficulty.
I find the Directory easy to use and I also find the Search utilities easy to use. Therefore, it's difficult for me to understand why this milling throng is not clicking through into blogs. -
TT this is a thread for people's ideas. Just because you think something is "fine" doesn't make it so. Let people share their ideas. If you don't have any then don't participate in this discussion and discourage other people from sharing theirs.
-
@TonyB
Where are you getting this idea that I am trying to discourage anyone?
It just isn't so!
-
-
ALLOW for Blogs to Interact with each other...
I mean - you could ALSO --- provide a service or provide points or something for people who RATE blogs...
seriously - make it like a SKEEBALL thingie... Yanno?
Earn points by rating blogs... But the ratings have to be professional and more than one line... and they have to be valid ratings...
And then spend those points here on BC --- for services --- or heck - have a TiCKET Booth with things people could buy.
You could get sponsors to offer prizes that you could sell for the tickets.
That way people would visit the blogs more in-depth - because they would want the prizes.
And they would be more likely to interact. -
OR --- You could show the TOP blogs when the search comes in...
And then have a:
TALK WITH THE BLOGGER (author/owner/etc.) widget or link or something...
You could ALSO post snippets of the ratings at the search points.
You want the crowd to interact --- GIVE THEM REASONS TO InTERACT...
1) Bubblethoughts (snippets) of current publishes or current conversations --- posted randomly through the site... like where an ad spot is.
2) Interviews
3) Ratings - give people reasons to rate their blogs.
4) People are all about being in the spotlight - or putting someone in the spotlight --- Get a SPoTLIGHT category -- or shine category - for different topics.
5) Random Interviews - Podcasts/VideoCasts/Text (like Interview of the week or the day --- or whatever)
6) Ask ThIS Blogger --- Question and Answer (Volunteer for the spot - Have people send in their random questions - and the volunteer blogger for the day - answers them...)
7) contests - or awards (People's choice awards or something) for best blog, etc.
8) more polls
Are any of those helpful? -
@TonyB
This is NOT an idea. Something arose in another couple of threads I have answered recently that I want to share with you. In a nutshell, I have found myself speaking to some members who are not interested in clicking on links to related blogs; they are not interested in reading or commenting on blog contents at all. What they are looking for is chat rooms for specific languages like Spanish, Italian and Vietnamese. This gives me pause to wonder if some of the milling throng who hit on the BC site but do not click through to blogs could be seeking the same thing. -
Live Chat? Is that what you mean TT?
Live CHat based on topics?
Like --- ARE YOU STUCK -- Come talk to other Bloggers - Live chat? -
Polybore is going to collect together their thoughts on this matter and present them in this post.
Unique visitors via google are searching for something. Because they are not logged in to BC it is easy to differentiate them from BC members. They should be presented with an entirely different (from that which members view) BC web page format with navigation designed specifically to help them find the information they are looking for.
Polybore would suggest that BC use Google Custom Search with adsense rather than their existing search engine. -
You know - I click through blogs...
I see something that interests me in the discussion forum - then I go and look them up..
For me to get more interested in blogs other than in discussions I have to have a reason to click on them...
Hence Bubble Quotes - or Interviews - or RANDOM BLOG in a little square on the side... While I'm clicking through discussions.
New Idea:
DISCUSSION RELATED BLOGS -- to blogs related to the key words shown... People would be more apt to put keywords related to their blogs in their discussions... So that when a discussion is opened --- RELATED BLOGS would be put in the links on the right - instead of related discussions.
People would also be more likely then to make discussions that are relevant to their blogs.
Just another thought.
Sorry if my thought/brainstorming is too much.
WW -
It would be cool to add voice overs or sound bites to our profiles for other members to hear. For example adding a catch phrase to your avatar -
bump
-
eh, something like comment love embedded in the discussion forums, sort of like a signature. LAST BLOG POST: Title. That would slow down some of the link drop threads as well as make it easier/faster for others to see new titles instead of going to that person's profile, then blog, then new window.
As the others said as well, you could even limit the last blog posts to match with the discussion tags (sort of like the related posts feature). That would encourage better, more effective/accurate tags for discussion posts which in turn would make it easier for people to find both discussions and blogs related to the topic searched for in more organized fashion. -
Advertise on HGTV and PBS Stations ... and just see what happens. These are quality stations and you are offering them quality cyber space and raw talents. -
I would like to see BC become an online news magazine with a format that can be customized by each individual user to suit their reading preferences.
Just as large newspapers have sections (News, Finances, Sports, Lifestyle, etc.) our Directory has sections and I'd like to see the ability for reader's entering the site to design their own BC magazine page by dragging and dropping modules (Directory categories and sub-categories) onto their pages.
Within those categories and subcategories I would like to see a continual display of posts being published so the reader can hover over one and see a leader of about 25 words or so and then click through if they wish to read the full post.
In addition I would like to see a display of Blogs of the Day by categories/tags which are randomly selected, as opposed to being chosen by a select intelligentsia panel of members, or by Admin. -
I think you have to be forward looking. Design for the future. Get there first.
Blogs are changing, and so is the google. Content is now king.
The vast majority of blogs won't rise to the top, and provide the kinds of experiences blog readers demand. I am guessing these blogs also account for a majority of your membership.
Speaking solely as a dick head CEO, I would gear the site towards middle to premium content. Reduce the quantity and increase the quality. In this way you can "own" a valuable segment of a growing market, rather than competing with others who all try to be all things to all hits.
Get there first, and you will survive the changes that are going to engulf the web in the future. Owning a market segment also makes you more valuable in a merger or sale situation, as well as increase the brand value of your advertising space.
I agree with polybore that there should be two different experiences at the front door as each user has different needs.
Members want to network and build links, their side should reflect their needs and provide all the tools necessary, as Getsmart has suggested.
After all, the blog member is your product...or should be. You want the best product on the shelf at all times.
The searcher on the other hand, is looking for blogs and you are a directory. On that page you want to fully display your brand, and have your brand encompass the premium quality of your blogs, the cache to offer direction and advice, and the state of the art search and navigation systems the whole look of your page demands.
Then let me buy in LOL -
Today is the last day to enter.
-
Congratulations to GetSmart for winning the iPod.
-
What was the winning idea or was it a combination of all her ideas?
-
Add Your Comment
Login to leave a message.
