Increasing Activity

Question

I see there was already a meta question regarding this but it was back during the private beta. The site is now in the public beta and still not very healthy with only 2.1 questions per day and a very low 219 visits per day compared to the recommended 1,500...

I'm not sure what happens once the beta ends but only 14 days remain and from what I've seen the numbers have not improved much at all since I've been a member here. I've thought about going to other areas and "advertising" the site but most places where one could attract members (reprap.org, various subreddits, groups on Facebook) are areas I feel we may be in competition with and it would not put the site in good standing if we were to do so.

I don't really know what the value here is over other forums other than the site being owned by a neutral party. The forums at reprap.org would probably be the closest thing to this site seeing as how they have no real ties to any one printer/design/company and moderation is quite lax as in you can post nearly anything 3D printing related and not encounter any trouble. The problem I believe is the site is trying to compete with other forums, one of which has been "the" forum pretty much since printing began and the main domain holds the majority of the information about home 3D printing.

I guess being new here I don't really understand the value in the site over the others or if there really is any other than being just another bank of information.

Currently, there hasn't been a new question in 2 days...

Answer 1

Firstly, the appeal to being a user on a StackExchange site is the general Q&A structure which differentiates itself from common forum-based websites. I personally find the structure of the StackExchange sites easy to navigate and appreciate the amount of moderation that goes into each site.

Search Engines

Most traffic will most likely come from search engines (ie Google, Yahoo, etc.) which can find the questions/answers easiest from the use of Tags here on StackExchange.

So, the first thing to keep in mind is ensuring the tags you use are plenty and accurate with each question you ask. This will help increase the chances of a search engine showing your question higher in its results list.

Another factor, with regard to search engines, is the title of the question. Generally people are going to be more attracted to a specific question as they feel it will answer their question better. For example:

Extruder keeps jamming as a question title will probably not attract users to view the question as it is very vague.

MakerBot Replicator extruder jams with new filament as a question title is more specific and contains more "keywords" that a search engine can find. Obviously, this can also potentially deter certain users (say Ultimaker users), but the hope is that the tag system will help offset this issue.

Etiquette

I agree with you in that I also find it difficult to "advertise" the 3D printing community on other websites. As it may be considered improper etiquette here on the StackExchange network to advertise or promote other websites, I wouldn't recommend "advertising" the community as a whole. However, if you notice, many answers on the StackExchange network include links to other forum or Q&A sites (ie MSDN, CodeProject, etc.). With this in mind, I personally feel that it is appropriate to post links to specific questions here on the 3D Printing community on another site if it can benefit the users on the other site.

If you are wanting to personally focus on bringing more traffic, you could participate on some of the forums you mentioned and try providing relevant links to this community. But, in the interest of maintaining quality on both websites, please remain respectful and courteous.

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Hopefully this helps

Answer 2

Your best bet?

Start Community Ads!

Community Ads! Let's make 2d ads for ourselves!

Community ads are served ads that you can display on any relevant site on the network! They are a great marketing tool, and makes your site known across the network, and attracts experienced users that can help your site grow.

Also, make sure to keep your community. Encourage voting, good questions will be distinguished from your peers, and may even end up in the Hot Network Questions List.