Why so many visitors and not members?

[BDSC]

it does.

I guess I'm a little late!

Thanks!

 

[The Chairman]

The people who VISIT ScubaBoard for the incredibly voluminous and valuable information here outnumber registered users 5-10 times. We only have 120,000 users and yet we average well over a half million unique visitors each and every month. No other Scuba media comes close to reaching the vast numbers of divers we reach on a monthly or yearly basis!

Our users are our News Department, our editorial department, our classified section as well as those who write letters to the editors. Our visitors are the peeps who feel content just to read the info the rest of you have worked so hard to provide them with.

FWIW, we don't count the bots in our user/visitor mix. We don't have as many either, now that we provide them with the data they need on a nightly basis. If you check out www.Alexa.com you will find that we are the best ranked scuba site out there. No one comes close!

 

[The Chairman]

In so many cases people won't join a board because they're afraid of all of the spam that comes along with it.

As our beloved Kraken points out right after this: WE DON'T SELL OR SHARE OUR DATA BASE. We never have and we NEVER will. It's my solemn promise.

 

[The Chairman]

So I was wondering if there was a way the software could recognize a visitor from a member and say something like,

It does just that!

 

[Keith & Sharon]

A lot of times when I log in to ScubaBoard, I'll scroll down to see how many people are on the site. I guess I'm just curious. It seems every time I check, there are way more visitors than members. It usually seems to run 3 to 1 in favor of the visitors. It's been a few years but when I joined, it only took a few minutes to do so and it doesn't cost a dime and you don't get flooded with any type of spam from it.

I know there are a lot of members here already and I'm sure a lot of visitors checking the site out isn't a bad thing, but I just think it would be nice if more of the visitors would join. I guess a lot of people just prefer to stay on the sideline and read and learn but I think they would get a lot more out of it if they would contribute as well.

You make a good point regarding visitors vs. members and it got me thinking. I have been surfing this site several times a week for over a year, have enjoyed making new friends in the diving world, been educated by the many members with years more experience, have really enjoyed some good debates and always look forward to the next dive with friends. So tonight, because of this thread and the past year of benefit, I decided that being a member just wasn't enough so I signed up as a Sponsor as I believe in the good Scubaboard brings to the diving community.

Keith

:sblogo:

 

[BDSC]

If you check out Alexa the Web Information Company you will find that we are the best ranked scuba site out there. No one comes close!

I totally agree and I can see why! I've visited a couple of other scuba sites but this is without a doubt the best organized/designed site out there. And by far the most active.

 

[HowardE]

The simple explanation is: on average (based on our current statistics) - 62% of our daily traffic is actually from Google and Yahoo search engines, which gives us a large number of searchers or as it's sometimes referred to statistically, "Passers By" - why is this? Because ScubaBoard is as NetDoc said the largest and highest ranked Scuba related website in the world. Therefore we rank highly with google searches et al. In general, when people search for Scuba related questions, the answers are here on SB, if they're not... people can post their question and get real answers . People can then either join, or just continue to read (lurk) and enjoy without being a poster, or a "regular" (in some cases and "addict").

When you add this incredible volume of searchers, plus the numerous websites that link to scubaboard, and then those who may be members, but don't log in to post something - you end up with a ton more visitors than members.