Forum Moderators: open
What's up with that?
on the other hand the current front paged cuil thread is at almost 500 posts...
What topics would you like to see on the front page?
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a Google fan site. Those topics practically dominate the front page.What's up with that?
I don't know about the fan part to be perfectly honest, I really don't see it. It seems to me that there's an equal, if not far greater, amount of Google whining, kvetching and gnashing of teeth as there is for adoring plaudits and accolades.
Maybe we just don't follow along with the same threads, but it seems to me that the hot topics, as a rule, has a lot more to do with Google problems than with kissy-face, "Google loves me".
Not necessarily the front page engine, but I would enjoy and appreciate, in general, more discussions here about what factors help sites to convert visitors (browsers, looky-loos and window shoppers) into buyers.
I've got a *theory* that what helps visitors have a pleasant, usable and informative visit to sites also helps with Google rankings. Maybe I've listened to and read and believed too much "Mattspeak" and "Googlespeak" but reading between the lines of it all, that's the message that always seems to come across.
I don't have a specific request for what I want to see on the front page. Really, anything that is news worthy, including the occasional Google snippet, of course. Just don't give them anywhere from 30-60% of the page. There's a lot more to being a webmaster than Google. In fact, in my current job I don't deal with Google at all.
Perhaps there should be a little less emphasis on *how to make money* topics and a little more on *quality of websites* topics. I like money :) but I take pride in my job, and I want my websites to reflect that.
But I'm just one guy, and unless enough people agree with me, I don't think Webmasterworld is going to (nor should it) change its policy on *front page worthy* topics.
Just my 4.2 cents (adjusted for inflation). :)
[edited by: sgietz at 2:19 pm (utc) on Aug. 11, 2008]
> I think it's overkill to have 4 out of 6 topics on top of the fold dedicated to Google,
Ya, I wish we could change the gravitational constant of the universe too. However, that constant is now Google. Their web dominance is staggering. Inch-by-inch, they are becoming as dominate now, as Microsoft was in the late eighties and most of the 90's. They are generating 75% of the daily news in the tech space right now.
Perhaps we SHOULD ignore them a little before their ego reaches the stratosphere. Again, there's more to building/maintaining sites than what Google adds to the equation. Don't ever give any one person or group of people that much power, even if they are that 800-pound Gorilla.
Then perhaps it should be called:
Googleworld - And other topics for today's webmasters
-------------------------
By the way, I don't hate Google; I love those guys. I'm specifically speaking about this board. If Google is going to dominate it, then that should be reflected in the name, or description.
For example, if I open a furniture store and 50% of my inventory is Lazyboy, you betcha I'm going to incorporate that into my tagline (e.g. Largest Lazyboy dealer in Central Texas).
Just a thought.
What of most all of your visitors come in looking for Lazyboy because that's what they want? Would you hide the Lazyboys back in the warehouse to give the other, less popular ones more of a chance?
No, I would advertise that I specialize in Lazyboy products. That way people not looking for Lazyboy items won't get confused (or upset) when they walk in and see half the store full of recliners. I'll also attract many Lazyboy aficionados.
I don't understand the focus on the front page. Brett's commented on how unimportant (to put it mildly) front pages are in the grand scheme of things and apparently it's still in practice here; I go there when I'm bored or something hits the news and I want to see if WW has front-paged it.
The "active/recent posts" page is my WW front page, and it's not Google-heavy, as the "Forum" column always seems to have a good user-driven mix.
We have to focus on the current hot topics, and, with that, any other subject may dominate.
I'm sure you're not proposing we rename the site each time a new topic dominates.
In general, we can't please all the people all the time, but I hope you are pleased at least some of the time.
Just so you don't feel we're getting at you, we welcome the feedback as a reality check.
I wouldn't ask you guys to change your name. I primarily posted this to make you guys more aware of this. I know how important Google is to many of us, but a little more variety would be nice :)
Let's take a pragmatic look at the issue. Go to the main forum page and scroll down, and see which of the forums here have topics that are widely covered in the press and are newsworthy enough for Associated Press distribution.
CSS? Very important, but not too much is newsworthy.
PHP? When PHP4 stopped being supported, sure it was important - but did it make national news?
HTML? There's no way to do a web page without it, but the wire services aren't exactly buzzing about the future development of HTML5.
Politics & the coming U.S. election? There's plenty in the news about that, but thank goodness it's not a topic that's discussed here. Thank goodness! It would probably take about a day (if that much) for me to get banned if that kind of topic got started.
I think what's on the homepage most of the time, percentage-wise, pretty much reflects the topics that hit the news and wire services that pertain to the topics of interest and concern to the particular audience and membership here.
There may even be other members who feel as you do, and there's a positive step that can be taken in that regard. If anyone (such as yourself) has other topics that have forums here that they'd like to see as featured topics, there's no reason not to sign up for news alerts that come in by email and start a thread to prompt a discussion.
And on another positive note, maybe there's a wake-up call for some of us to start threads on news items that we ordinarily wouldn't.
For example, Tiffany's is this very week appealing a court ruling regarding sales on Ebay, where the courts decided in Ebay's favor. I read that, but it didn't even occur to me to start a thread, and truthfully - while it's an interesting and newsworthy story, is it as interesting to most folks here whose lives and livelihoods revolve around search traffic and consequently, have a vested interested in what's going on in the search marketing industry?
I'd really suggest that anyone who feels that there are topics that don't get enough coverage or attention take a pro-active approach and sign up for news alerts and start threads on what seem like hot topics of interest. The acid test would be seeing how much of a response they get - but even if it's not much, it's still a service to other members and visitors who may be interested.
I agree with most of what you say. I disagree that we should focus on wire pieces. This is a webmaster forum. Besides the occasional applicable story, let the other news outlets worry about what's "newsworthy."
Anyway, I started the topic and had my two cents :) I'm sure there are many others whose opinion on this will never be heard, because this topic never made it to the front page :P
I'm kidding ... thanks WW for an open ear ;)
Now, I'd suggest that you sign up for GOOGLE ALERTS on your favorite topics and be sure to remember to share them with us. ;)
OUTRAGE! :P
As noted, see the cuil thread. We all pine for variety as much as you do. It's just that there isn't any variety right now. Any colour you want, as long as it's black.
>>> ... sign up for GOOGLE ALERTS ...OUTRAGE! :P
