DocAndersen
I apologize for the upfront. The intent of this post is not to upset anyone. No one is specifically mentioned, talked about, or in this post. I haven’t been posting about things we can do for our community for the last two months on purpose. I am trying to find ways to improve the overall views on the site (we need external views for when the ads return).
The reality of views is that they have been down since November 2019. We are now heading into the 6th month of views being down. They are down between 10-12% overall. There are several things that we can do to get pictures back up. The number one thing you can do to help other authors is shared on social media. Many have reasons why they don’t, and that is their decision. But, our site is dying, and a massive part of dying is no external or low external views. The best thing you can an author can do is create titles that have catchy Search Engine Optimization or SEO. I talked about that quite a bit a few weeks ago, posting and sharing several ways you can attract external viewers.
If you love the community here, and many do, the time has come to change our behaviors. I watch and track the posts that I read. I see a whole lot of posts about writing sites. They never do well. I have had four other authors join me in my quest to find and share old posts, and I have a lot of useful data now for people to consider social media sharing.
Facebook – new posts 20-25 views per share.
Twitter – new posts 30 to 35 views per share
(please note all numbers are averages. In some cases you maybe get much better responses)!!!
Old posts
Twitter – 20 to 25 views
Facebook – 20 to 24 pictures.
Now, for those of you sharing, sharing old posts that have high views – will get two and three times the response rate of past jobs that are 100 views or less. I pick an author every week and go back and share their old posts (usually 10-12 of their oldest posts). That helps that author, but also when you encounter heavy SEO posts (generally with 400 or more views) sharing those again, will have an excellent response for the site overall.
In the time of quarantine, we need to help each other!
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Question of
Not everyone shares, but you can go back and read authors old posts, right?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Or you can do like CarolDM does – her project was sharing the posts (older) of authors as embedded links!
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Virily has many rules now, becuase of a number of things, right?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you worry that Virily will be gone soon?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
It is ok to be frustrated, just don’t take it out on other authors, ok?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Let’s get back to a happy virily community Ok?
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Yes
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No
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I just keep pushing on, hoping that everything will work out for us here and them as a site. I like it here, and would love for it to flourish.
so would I! my goal is keep trying different things something has to work!
True. We need more happy posts, and I think the coffee talk is killing the site. It’s putting such a negativity spin on everything.
i suspect you are right on that front.
We do, Carol, you, Illeana, Dawn, Ellie and so many others (Vidocka, Lado) bring such a happy and positive energy to the site!
I agree, and so many others… Our family here! 🙂
and so many others! i always feel like we need a connection for everyone somehow….
Unfortunately we cannot do more than what we do now. If Virily admins want to close the site we can do nothing to save it!
then we have to save our community! we (a bunch of us) migrated here from Niume!
Well, I will post here when I can I do like being on Virily a lot. So here is one view.
i love all your posts!
How is the new place? Are the two of you settled now?
Thanks Doc the new place is lovely a lot better than the old one but had to work hard to get all right here.
we have moved 1/2 way across the US so I know the pain of getting the house right.
Hopefully the 3 of you are doing well with this virus around us!
Well, the ground here is as hard as concrete, so growing things will have to be in pots until we get rain.
I suspect that will be frustrating for you. I know the garden (and butterflies) are a hobby that takes some of the stress away.
Q: NOT EVERYONE SHARES, BUT YOU CAN GO BACK AND READ AUTHORS OLD POSTS, RIGHT?
Yes (10 votes) – 91%
No (1 votes) – 9%
Q: OR YOU CAN DO LIKE CAROLDM DOES – HER PROJECT WAS SHARING THE POSTS (OLDER) OF AUTHORS AS EMBEDDED LINKS!
Yes (9 votes) – 75%
No (3 votes) – 25%
Q: VIRILY HAS MANY RULES NOW, BECUASE OF A NUMBER OF THINGS, RIGHT?
Yes (9 votes) – 90%
No (1 votes) – 10%
Q: DO YOU WORRY THAT VIRILY WILL BE GONE SOON?
Yes (8 votes) – 73%
No (3 votes) – 27%
Q: IT IS OK TO BE FRUSTRATED, JUST DON’T TAKE IT OUT ON OTHER AUTHORS, OK?
Yes (10 votes) – 83%
No (2 votes) – 17%
Q: LET’S GET BACK TO A HAPPY VIRILY COMMUNITY OK?
Yes (9 votes) – 90%
No (1 votes) – 10%
Why there are no ads on Virily????
i wish I knew. I would love to see them back. when (if) they come back we have a fighting chance of surviving as a site.
I have tried Doc, but I think the site owners need to do more now. They approve posts twice a week, they haven’t done much on fixing things here, they haven’t got the ads back.. we can try but it won’t work until they clean up their act.
I suspect they are working on the issues. I notice subtle changes to the site ever single day.
The approving twice a week is a problem. I didn’t realize they were down to that lower number.
I hope so, to me it seems like they are going downhill everyday.
i have been looking at old posts on verily. Some of the ones with great SEO, have 1000 views or more.
I still have hope for the site!
We tried. We did our best. That’s all I have to give.
you have done a lot. You are a huge impact (positive) on this site. Thank you for everything you do!
that is so very true. I enjoy reading your posts. Thank you!!!
I too love reading your posts and of other members.
Let’s hope things come together! i would miss virily.
Way too technical I just write, right, right?
hey that is ok we are a community and you help us all!!!
And your efforts really are appreciated.
thank you and so are yours!
I don’t know what to say. I’ve been feeling bad since November. I hope the site doesn’t die.
i have as well trying to keep things moving forward positively!!!!
Dude! You’re preaching to the choir.
But I have to say that there are some things that might be discouraging members. You can’t fix this because it’s happening in the “back office” and only the site owners can handle it.
(1) You are a verified user. That means your posts show up as soon as you hit the publish button.
I am not a verified user. That means I have to wait 1 to 3 days before I see my posts.
I have patience. But some people don’t.
(2) Another thing is the “Edit” button. I was OK when there was no edit feature AFTER a post had been approved. But to not be able to edit when you’re drafting a post?
I draft in a document, proof read, copy and the click publish. Since I don’t have the dit button, I have only have one shot to make it right.
Again … I have patience. But some people don’t.
(3) As far as I know, no new members are being registered. The site’s doors are closed again. There are people who want to join but they can’t. How does that translate? They came. They saw. They left and are not likely to come back. That’s a traffic source that just got kissed goodbye!
So when you talk about views?
I social share, visit old posts, etc. But there’s only so much that members can do.
Not angry. Not bad-mouthing anybody. I’m just telling you what I think. It’s what I think but you probably already read some of this in the “Coffee Talk” posts. 🙂
i haven’t read any of the coffee talk posts. But I do like your point about patience!
that no new members one makes me sad. we need some new blood writing here!
All we can do is all we can do. I will try sharing posts, but so many options are gone now. I can still share the url to the older posts in a different way. Thanks Doc.
i really think your idea was helping. I’ve been sharing old posts like crazy.
I just hope it will help keep us alive here.
i think the reality we are in right now is we are near the tipping point. Good or bad, that is to be determined.
I try to read as many posts as I can and keep being active, but I honestly don’t feel like walking the extra mile anymore.
that is completely fair. I don’t know how much longer I will either.
The thought of Virily dying just kills my drive to do much.
i am so sorry about that – let’s see what we can do as a positive group!!!
I do believe they really need to add more writers, or at least 15 to 20 legit because we are losing writers. I have encountered pages with no content that have upvoted my posts. My thing is, if they have been around for a year and have not shared any content, then they probably won’t. Virily should delete those profiles for inactivity
Good authors, contributing good content would be a great addition to this site!
I sometimes share others writings on my WordPress which then gets sent to my Twitter, then it goes to Bloglovin. What I do to make it catchy at times is add a quote and place it as the title because it shows what is being mentioned.
that is a wonderful thing to do – thanks for chipping in and helping!
I share my new posts. I will try to share in old posts both mine and other participants.
i’ve been getting good traction sharing older posts!