Forum Moderators: not2easy
The site is quite busy ~1000 unique visitors per day, comes up in top 15 in google for topicname and frequently article pages are #1 for more specific searches.
I think that I'm at my peak of search engine traffic (the sites above me are university and institution pages >=PR8) so what I need to work on is so called "stickyness".
The site currently has ~80 articles and half were written by me and the other half by numerous authors (people who emailed me after I requested articles on usenet and one-off freelancers) back in 2000/01 when I set up the site. Most of these authors, like my visitors were once off.
I'm looking for advice in how to best recruit authors and keep them as repeat authors?
I'd imagine contributors to be voluntary, how do I "sell" them the idea of contributing?
Most of the people who replied to my newsgroup appeal way back when were crackpots looking for a mouthpiece for their views!
Any help would be appreciated.
But seriously think of ways you can pay them back. If they have websites, give them links. Most people that write free articles are hoping to gain visitors from the article and mentioning their own sites in the credits.
Search the net for articles already published in your industry that you may want to include on your site and contact them for permission to use it.
Do you have a forum? If not I would recommend launching one and those that send you a lot of articles can becomes moderators. In addition, your traffic will increase from forum pages being indexed in search engines.
The site currently has ~80 articles and half were written by me and the other half by numerous authors (people who emailed me after I requested articles on usenet and one-off freelancers) back in 2000/01 when I set up the site. Most of these authors, like my visitors were once off.I'm looking for advice in how to best recruit authors and keep them as repeat authors?
I'd imagine contributors to be voluntary, how do I "sell" them the idea of contributing?
Most of the people who replied to my newsgroup appeal way back when were crackpots looking for a mouthpiece for their views!
Everybody wants free content, and there's no shortage of other webmasters asking for it, everywhere from newsgroups to writers' forums. This request is depressingly familiar to anyone who has spent time in any online community for writers, so your appeal will have to be special to stand out.
With content writing you get what you pay for, so it's not really a surprise that your previous experiences were not all positive. Your best bet is always to offer money if you want contributions from serious writers, people who know the correct use of an apostrophe and can engage with your audience in an appropriate style.
Even if you can't bring yourself to part with money, there may be other things you can easily trade. Links and banners may be enough for some, but with some people avoiding sitewide links you may find yourself running into the same problem as before, of people writing once and not coming back because they only feel they need the one link from your domain. You could also offer critiques and ego-massaging, giving some writers titles such as "five star reviewer", that sort of thing. Or you could offer payment in kind: freebies to do with the site like promotional pens or mousemats, or you could help your writers with their own sites, whatever you are best at.
I'm starting to assemble information for a website based around one of my hobbies. This hobby has a professional counterpart, the way cooking, fishing, or boat building have.
There is also a considerable amount of research going on in relation to the commercial versions of the field.
Few of the websites out there cover the research going on for the hobbyist. In fact there is a lot of disinformation being put out by the companies that market to the hobbyist.
I just mentioned to a couple that I know, that I was thinking about putting together a website like this, that covered the research, but at a level aimed at the hobbyist. Then point them to the deeper research if they want to learn more.
The couple just happen to be PhDs in the field, and they not only encouraged me, but offered to write articles on their specialties, and help recruit others to do the same.
I'm giving them a site to get their information out there, to a group that they wished they could reach. That is the selling point for them. It also makes a difference that the goal of the site is to provide good solid information.
I really don't think I would get such an offer if I did not already have a decent reputation with them, nor would they have offered if I already had a load of articles with a questionable reputation.
With my review site, reputation makes all the difference as well. We don't accept just any old thing that you write up (the way most review sites work) you have to meet certain standards. Reputable people want to be associated with reputable things. Make your site something that people will want to brag about writing for. As someone else mentioned, make it good for their ego. Be the NY Times Op-Ed page and you will have lots of offers of free content.
Most people don't mind if you make money off their work if you are providing value to them or others. But if the site seems to be all about making money for you, then you will have a lot more trouble recruiting without paying.
