My main strategy for growing Breeder Retriever in the long run is to do anything possible to attract new members that actually register and start making posts (those who do this already, well you know who you are :) are much appreciated).
I know there are several other dog forums on the web, and I thought it would be smart to ask YOU - the visitors who registered and started posting here.
]What changes would you like see around the forums?
What changes would you like to see around the main site? (www.breederretriever.com)
I could go on forever because there are a million sections that could be better so I'll stop here and let you continue.
Two main points when coming up with the kinds of ideas mentioned above:
Basically we're looking for ideas that would attract new members, and make those new members stick around to become a real part of our community.
As many of you know I am a PHP/MySQL developer, so I can make pretty much any suggestion you'd like a reality.
Some ideas to think about:
Games
Tools
Contests
Useful features ON our site (so people come back to use it again).
Continue to improve our search engine rankings.
But please don't forget I am very, very eager to hear about things on the site that you do NOT like. IF you don't like something chances are others don't like it either. By letting me know where we are weak I can quickly attack those specific points.
Thanks again, look forward to hearing from you.
siberianhusky101
01-25-2008, 06:19 AM
one thing im not sure i like is that there is a list of breeders but no tips on finding a responsible one all on the same page. people looking for a breeder will rarely go to a forum to see if they are going about it the right way. they will usually find their breeder, decide "yes, that cute $2000 puppy is for me" and never think about how healthy it is because it has AKC written all over some 10 cent copies of its 'pedigree'.
kkibak
01-25-2008, 06:21 AM
I just realized that I left out one of the most important points: I thought it would be really cool for visitors to contribute information such as guides, training stories or even what they went through at various stages raising puppies.
I would love to start an article/resource section, but to date i just don't have enough material. In other words, if you'd be interested in having your work published on our site (25,000 page views a day), we'd be happy to get you some exposure.
Eventually we could easily have enough information to start a full-blown Aricles/Resources Section that visitors could use to save time and learn from qualified members of the forums.
kkibak
01-25-2008, 06:25 AM
Good point. Any suggestions on how we could improve this?
one thing im not sure i like is that there is a list of breeders but no tips on finding a responsible one all on the same page. people looking for a breeder will rarely go to a forum to see if they are going about it the right way. they will usually find their breeder, decide "yes, that cute $2000 puppy is for me" and never think about how healthy it is because it has AKC written all over some 10 cent copies of its 'pedigree'.
21meg
01-25-2008, 12:24 PM
I love how the search automatically goes to what you searched. Sometimes on other boards it says :"you have to wait 60 seconds before searching", so this is good.
I can think of a couple cool puppy games. Me and my friend have come up with so many. One of them, for an example, is like one of those Mad-Libs. Where you create a funny story by filling something in? you could copy && paste the story, reply to that thread, paste it in the post and fill in the blanks with key words below the missing words like : 'adjective' or 'verb' or even 'noun.' Stuff like that. Only the stories are dog related and all.
If you're interested in any more of these game ideas you can ask.
I just don't know if these are the type of things you're looking for.
Well, I don't see anything wrong with the board, but if I had to say it's something it would be. . . hm . . well nothing comes to mind.
I know what you mean by ACTUALLY being apart of this board and all. =)
siberianhusky101
01-26-2008, 05:21 AM
Maybe have a section above the breeder search that lists what to watch out for in breeders. maybe some thing like in the format www.wonderpuppy.net list their information.
AnnaBella
02-27-2008, 09:28 AM
How about offering a small prize like a pet store gift certificate worth $10 or something, every week or month for the most informative post? If you could get a hundred or so good posts for $10 it would definitely be worth it.
hunter's pride
03-04-2008, 07:14 AM
I have to say I think you got alot of the basics covered. It would be nice to see videos on training, health issues or even sections for breed of dogs. This way owners with the same breed can share info.
bgechloe
03-21-2008, 06:20 PM
I would like to see a photo album of some sort so we can share pics of our dogs. It can even be a forum topic all in its own :) Maybe by breed?
oh so I found where I do that now lols however my breed isnt there? Duck Trolling Retriever. AKC recognises it
kkibak
03-23-2008, 08:36 AM
oh so I found where I do that now lols however my breed isnt there? Duck Trolling Retriever. AKC recognises it
It's listed as a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever :D
Bailey's mum
05-04-2008, 09:37 AM
Hi I'm a fairly new member here & I'm from Vic Australia. Here in australia we have a site called Dogzonline, which has been successfully running for 10 years. They usually have up to 200 active members online at once & numerous new threads & posts dailey.
I think this site has the potential to become as big as this (as I find it to be a very attractive & informative site ) with all the makings of something big, if you could just get members to start posting & visiting on a dailey basis. I have often visited only to find myself the only member online, & soon lose interest.
Maybe you could attract interest by:
*making a breeders section, for breeders to talk about, give advice & exchange stories on their breeding experiences.
*Have different breed forums,so people can talk about their favourite breed including registered ethical breeders for that breed
*Have a section on health, nutrition & grooming
*Have a section on showing your dog
*Have a section on Rescuing & fostering dogs from shelters
*Have an Off Topic section for members to talk about unrelated dog topics (members would have to make atleast 50 posts before gaining access to this section )
I hope some of these suggestions help
Have a look at www.dogzonline.com.au to get an idea how this very successful site is run, to get more ideas.