Ideas To Get New Members?

I thought this should be addressed seeing as how it really is the main problem thats been going on with this site for a very, very long time. There are no viewers. Its not that there is something wrong with the site, but this place is just unheard of and to be frank, a bit barren. And thus the reason for this thread was born.

So first I ask you ( the grand total of 5 people who view this site ) what should we do to get viewers/members? There are thousands of sites just like this one, why should someone stay active on this site instead of one of the others? And more importantly how are we going to make it where they can find this site in the first place? These questions need answering pretty badly.

Well, as said above there are two main problems, getting people to stay and getting people to find this place. I suppose I'll address the staying part first seeing as how if people find this place and don't want to stay it defeats the whole purpose. I think the staying part partially involves other members and an active community which will grow slowly, but the main thing is the site itself and not the forum. All forums are supported by the site they revolve around, with this one being no exception. So, we need the site to:

A) Look nice -- Which it does
B) Appeal in some sort of interactive way to the viewers -- Videos, articles, ect...
C) Be constantly updated -- So when a person looks at the first article it doesn't say it is two weeks old.

These are just the obvious things that the site has to do. If these things are done we can actually consider it a site, that doesn't mean people will show up and stay... Here comes the hard part, we have to make this site more interesting, creative, useful, fun, informative, and just a plain overall better experience than other zelda sites, or we have to at least make it a horse race if we want viewers to even think about staying. Im going to throw out some ideas and feel free to tell me what you think about them.

1) Summary Tab -- I think there should be an overview tab for each zelda game on the main website. I mean nothing is going to turn a viewer off more than going through to see all of our links are down and we have nothing but a title screen on the site. I think that each of these should give a brief overview of the game and tell a bit of the overall story-line ( no spoilers ), and it should also say what makes that zelda game unique. maybe some facts thrown in as well? Like when it was released and anything else interesting we could find? Pictures would be a must, at least one or two for each game section.

2) Poll of the Week -- This really isn't a suggestion, but the poll of the week idea is really good and I commend whoever thought of that, unless you just took the idea from some other site, in which case I frown upon you xD

3) More Content -- We should have just more content! Like the zelda quizzes and some more things in the links Shora has saved, I for one plan on starting back up the video walkthrough of a link to the past, sit down one weekend and just finish the game and record it all. Anything that we could put on the site that is complete would really help out a lot.

4) Contests -- Host contests, of course this would come after we have at least a decent amount of people, and they would be easy contests at first, but they would be fun and interactive as well. Also you would have to have prizes like letting the winner become a mod or something, but alas this would need a whole other thread to cover everything that needs to be said and it will be a while before we get enough people to do that.

5) Whatever else you guys can think of! ( We really need a lot more than what I mentioned... A lot more... )


Next, is getting people to find this place... I have a few ideas that seem appropriate and may or may not work as well as I would hope them too, but I think before I share I would love to hear what you guys think, seeing as how its your opinions that really matter anyway. So, what are your opinions on how to get viewers/members to come and stay?

Well thats it, thanks for listening to my rant

Best Regards,
-Zim

**PS - Can someone sticky this thread? I feel like it is important, at least for the time being anyway, thanks**

Yeah those are are really good ideas and stuff. Maybe there could be a fan-art section of some sort which could contain art (well duh) and maybe if someone plays an instrument they could post themselves playing a zelda song on it or something. Creativity can attract people sometimes. Oh wait I just had another idea while typing this. We could come up with a weekly comic for zelda ^^. Hmm but first I need to think of ideas......
*steam pours from ears*

Oh and for finding this place I have absolutely no idea other than what Raxit is doing and putting a link to this site in his signature.

Yup, that would be awesome, though I don't really draw xD that well anyway haha, and I have a few ideas... I have a youtube account with over 300 subscribers... thats not a lot but its a place to start, I've been away for awhile but I may tell them about the site and maybe a few will come from that... I don't know... I'm sure we can come up with something We gots to gets more contents first though ^^

I was intending on implemented a CMS, like WordPress.

Anyway, I may merge this. As it is a sitely suggestion. Because SD is more for other things. S/Q/F is for this kind of stuff.

Done.

But, the suggestions seem great, but I just think that nobody knows about the site, and thus do not apply. And I think that is makes this lack of content. But, we will work on it.

You didn't move it Raxit, so I did it for you xD I'll also make it a sticky.

Alright, first of all. The site doesn't get 5 visits a day. It's at least 20 unique visits every day, according to W3 Counter (that's the little banner at the site's footer) But we really need more, it's been this way for months. About the summary tab, you've been here for the longest time Zim, so I suppose you know about my...old laziness with the Zelda game pages. But really, this should be done as soon as possible.

The Poll of the Week was not stolen from some other site. xD

Content, this is supposed to be my main focus now with the merge. There will be more, I can promise you that. And I will probably do more work on content areas this weekend. Now, I don't know about contests. How are we supposed to do that and what would the prize be? Making some random guy a moderator doesn't sound really safe. =P But I guess I'll think about that.

Ancient Hero's ideas seem good, too. Though I don't really draw either. By the way Zim, do share your ideas, we need any suggestion we can get xD

Also...

Quote :

I was intending on implemented a CMS, like WordPress.

Shora, I did. But I left a shadow thread.

Ah...okay.

Yeah, I certainly disagree with making some random person a mod.

Well, I must admit, getting viewers isn't easy.

But, from what I have learned, advertising, no matter how much of it you do, and no matter how many affiliates you have, means nothing, unless you have something that the viewers want.

So, that means you need more content. Bad. However, not any content will do. Sites like Zelda Dungeon, already have extremely high quality strategy guides and walkthroughs. While I do suggest having them, you need something else that makes your site unique, otherwise viewers have no reason not to just use Zelda Dungeon, where the guides are much better quality.

Also, I recommend getting a real Content Management System, as Raxit said, like WordPress or Drupal. While they aren't free, they are worth it. Also, if you have the money, a domain name is almost vital. Zeldalevel.com is available from GoDaddy for only 10 dollars a year.

Also, don't ever use positions on your site as contest prizes. Really, the best prize to use is a game, though it is expensive to give away. However, if you are going to do contests, that is a sacrifice you will probably have to make.

Anyways, just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Yeah. I was going to implement WordPress, as it is free. But Shora is against it:/

Quote :

Yeah. I was going to implement WordPress, as it is free. But Shora is against it:/

Totally Agreed with everything Pocodudeface said, except for the CMS. As for a domain name, well. I may get one when my parents finally allow me to buy stuff from the internet -.-

Raxit wrote:

Yeah, I certainly disagree with making random person a mod.

What do you have against making me a mod? just kidding

First off, them interwebz can steals your ID's so the logical solution is not to use them ^^...

Secondly, I'm with Random person, why can't us lowly people all be mods! Anarchy! We shall rise up and overthrow you
all!

Thirdly, thanks for moving it and sticky it Rixit and Shora, I never was a pro at finding where threads should go xD

And back to the topic at hand, I'm completely aware that letting some random guy be mod isn't a good idea, but I was more aiming at trying to get across the point that it would be best if we could find a way to give prizes that A) don't cost us money or at least in most cases, and B) help people be more active on the site...

Actually, while I'm on the subject, there was this one forum that I went to that had like these little points that you got for doing things, like helping someone out would be a few and so on, but then it was cool because the forum itself had this little like shop that you could spend your points at on different things ... I can't remember the details but would it be possible to implement that somehow, or maybe a simpler version of it? Because that would encourage people to be more active at least.

And continuing with that idea, I don't know a lot about forums, but don't most forums or some at least have some sort of leveling system thing that has something to do with how many posts you have and how long you have been on the site? I'm not sure... you can find an example of it over at Keeper Klan, just google it because the site won't let me post a link since I'm a new user

In this case its the little picture and name to the right of the post.

Anyway, enough of that back to what I wanted to say... would you believe that I really didn't intend to say any of that when I hit the reply button? But yup, I'm with what Poco said, a domain name would be wonderful! I mean that being of course if its in the realm of possibilities

And lastly are my ideas for bringing people to the site.... but seeing as how this posts is already too long, I think I'll keep them for later in the thread... I mean its not like they are useful until we get more content up anyway... Speaking of which I'm no writer, but if you want me to I can try and type up a decent summary of one of the zelda games Shora, only if you want me to

Ohh, I know what you mean with the levelling system. Actually, lots of Zelda sites have it, too. But I'm not sure if Forumotion has something like that, I'll look for it.

Okay, awesome

And you want me to try and type up a summary of one of the Zelda games? Just to see if it would be worth having up on the main site?

Oh, could you do that? That would be awesome, thanks! Just drop me an email with it whenever you can

well these ideas seem to be working cause we already have 9 members

@Shora - Alright, seeing as how I have an hour or two I'll do it right now... which in europe time I believe means it should be ready by the time you wake up

@Random Person - 10 now! But then again I think the hacker you has also taken up a spot... but you know what? I kind of like him, he must be a really bored dude to hack an account for a forum that only had 6 people in it... I mean damn, if that isn't dedication to troll I don't know what is

Well, trolling is an art, it takes a while to master. And yeah, don't you hate that hacker? He sucks.

@Zim Awesome summary! It really covered most of the game without spoilers, too. Will be on 2.0 for sure!

And again, thanks!

Do you think we should have one for every Zelda game? Maybe just to introduce the game and have one for each little link? Actually I'll make a new thread and ask everyone to see what they think about it, and maybe we could even have submissions.. Oh, and that one that I gave you really needs to be revised and smoothed out before its ready... its still a bit clunky and jumps around a bit.

On a more on topic note, does anyone else have any ideas before I share my thoughts on how to get new viewers?

Not really.

It will forever remain a mystery

Rawr! First double post in ZL's history ( I think )... I will go down in history!!!

Anyway, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to tell you guys what I think we should do to get new viewers, so here it goes -

1) Well first off, the best way to get more viewers is pretty low in my opinion... from what I have seen in the past what works best ( for some reason ) is if you make a youtube account and go around and spam your site in really popular youtube videos about Zelda, but the way you spam is very important lol. You have to try and be both nice and not pushy at all when you do it. The main idea is to mention Zelda Level but most of your comment has to be on the video itself like saying how good or bad it was, so you end up just mentioning Zelda Level in passing. For instance, here would be a sample paragraph --

"Haha, when I did that I tried to do *insert thing*. Wow, now that I look back I feel really stupid. After I sat there and tried over and over again I looked it up on them interwebs and went to some tiny little zelda site called Zelda Level and found out what I was supposed to... its so sad that I actually had to look up how to do that. *facepalm*

That was kinda cheezy and it should be done better. I'm not saying we should do it because I really don't approve of advertising on someone's videos, but it does give you more viewers. The down side to this method along with it being obnoxiously childish, is that you generally get viewers who are not very loyal and only 1 out of every 20 will stay, but hey if you make enough comments on videos there are bound to be a few people who see it and will actually stay. And we have to start somewhere... It's up to you guys if you want to do this... I don't condone it, but if its the only way that works it may be worth thinking about.

2) If you are active at any other sites put a link to ZL in your signature. This would work well especially if you are active on other zelda site forums.

3) If you have any friends that like Zelda tell them about it. This one is kind of a duh, and I'm sure everyone who knows someone who would like to be a part of the site has already asked them... this is just in case you haven't already

4) Use Youtube, I know we have a tiny little youtube channel, maybe Shora should give the password to Raxit as well and perhaps just show yourself and comment on things, you don't even have to advertise ZL, I mean your name does it for you lol, but just making comments can lead to people finding this place, and upload the occasional video to show that the site is still alive, and people may very well trace ZL's youtube page back to the site.

5) I think Raxit is already doing this, but you can try to make profiles on like twitter and stuff for ZL ( mainly admins only should do this kind of stuff )... I don't think that this will be very effective and it would be troublesome to try and update, but it could lead to someone finding us that way, especially if we get some viewers to follow it.

6) Make more affiliates! I feel like those really do help, once again this is unfortunately more of an admin thing, but if we could get a ton of affiliates it would really help out.

7) And finally all links and stuff at the moment should point to the forums since the main site is down(ish) until 2.0 that way they can see that we are active

The funny thing about members is that they are like multiplication not addition. You always see those huge sites with tons of members or those youtube channels with tons of viewers, and the reason is that the more people out there who know about your site the more people will spread it around. Honestly the best sort of advertisement is just having tons of members. This stupid snowball effect makes it really hard for sites to get up and going, but once they do they generally can do well as long as they stick with it and the staff stays active.

I'll consider it.