The VG Press as it is started November 2, 2008.  Since then, we have increased 725% in unique visitors from 476 in November to 3931 for September, and 429% in bandwidth usage from 2.62GB in November to 13.87GB this month, though podcasts play a factor here.  This is not a sudden change or anomoly; in fact, it has been quite steady.

Month	Unique visitors	Number of visits	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
Jan 2009	713	3198	189399	327010	3.60 GB
Feb 2009	1925	4728	257868	470217	4.45 GB
Mar 2009	1556	5837	304228	539653	4.63 GB
Apr 2009	2099	6491	367720	664350	5.40 GB
May 2009	1350	8196	243476	426265	8.77 GB
Jun 2009	1714	7964	105057	252112	9.90 GB
Jul 2009	1671	6610	88315	204346	9.16 GB
Aug 2009	3312	9865	121933	281587	11.51 GB
Sep 2009	3931	10383	135349	317342	13.87 GB
Oct 2009	0	0	0	0	0
Nov 2009	0	0	0	0	0
Dec 2009	0	0	0	0	0
Total	18271	63272	1813345	3482882	71.30 GB

While optimizing has played a role in improving performance and handling the increased load, as was the top concern from the start, there is still the issue of growth going forward.  Obviously the goal here is not to become a huge massive Internet power or anything silly like that, we would like to build the community.  We can do a lot of thing to attract new users here, but it doesn't do much good if we cripple the site in the process.


So what is this all about?  Well, I'm looking at trying some simple text ads on the site just to see what the result is.  Looking to further in the future, the ideal here would be to get around $20 in ad revenue per month, as that would cover the cost of much better hosting that would essentially eliminate any server concern.  If it's insignificant, then they will disappear.  If they're obtrusive, they will disappear.  If there's any harm to the community in any way, they will disappear.  And if in some bizarre happenstance there should actually be profits, it will go back to the community.  This is everyone's site, not mine.  This is an experiment I think is worth trying, because honestly I have no idea how this will work.


Just a heads up on what you may see something you may see in the near future.

It must have been the arrival of Kaz and Iwata that brought them.

Go back to Japan!!  Go release SMG 2 already, BITCH!

I am both amazed, and at the same time extremely weirded out, that nearly 4,000 people are creeping on the site while only about a dozen regularly post (or have posted at all.) Aspro has a point... we need a way to convert thousands of stragglers into active members. I'm not sure what kind of initiative we could undertake to do this... maybe if the advertising revenue is wildly more successful than anticipated ($50-$100 per month), you could do a monthly give-away like a game or a book or something to new members. Maybe have some sort of "MVP" system, where a new member of the community who has contributed the most will get a prize.

Alternatively, you could make some content such as reading blogs or downloading podcasts only available to members who are signed in. Keep the news and stuff accessible to everyone, but just have some "premium" content that requires at least the commitment of signing up. I don't know if this would drastically cut down on visitors or not. Do you have a number for how many accounts have actually been created?

I am both amazed, and at the same time extremely weirded out, that nearly 4,000 people are creeping on the site while only about a dozen regularly post (or have posted at all.)

I have been watching the stats closely for a long while trying to understand exactly what the real traffic of the site is outside of the posters, and just haven't been able to make sense of it.  We have ~150 podcast downloads per month as well, according to the site stats.  I'm willing to try this because I'm simply baffled.

The only thing that would be valuable enough to flaunt as "premium" would be GG Weekly, and that would just be impossible to explain without using anyway.  The podcasts are on iTunes, so that's another no-no.

In the site's history, there have been 75 accounts made.

The other route would be to use PayPal to fund the site, which I'm more than happy to do.

In terms of the site as it is, we're well covered so that won't be necessary.

I'm all for the ads.  Just as long as they're not any funky flash ads that for whatever reason never get along well with my computer.  And congrats on the growth of the site.

Definitely a nay on anything obtrusive.

^Ah, well-played, good sir.

^That would go a long way toward getting more members!

(pun intended )

Hey, that was a fair question!