** To My Website Visitors **

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

I work very hard to make my website attractive, interesting, entertaining and informative -- not only for steel guitarists, but also for other musicians and the general public.

I had a hit counter installed 12 weeks ago, and it has shown over 1250 hits during that time: that’s over 100 hits per week. However, visitors seldom sign my Guest Book or email me regarding the site. So, I need your help -- especially if you are a regular visitor to the site.

Please email me or sign my Guest Book and let me know what you like or don’t like about the site, and give me your suggestions and ideas on how you think I could improve the site.

My email address is:
Roy@RoysFootprints.com

And the link to my website is:
http://www.RoysFootprints.com

Thanks
_________________
Pioneers of Western Swing HOF, Seattle 2005
Western Swing Music HOF, Sacramento 2006
International Steel Guitar HOF, St.Louis 2007
Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Brian Kurlychek · From: Maine, USA

Roy, I would say that most people like to remain anonymous. The hitcounter stats should give you insight into how popular your site is, and I would take the lack of complaints as you are doing it right.

The thing to focus on is your amount of returning visitors vs ones that look once. Also, how long are folks staying on the site. What is their path? Which pages get the most hits?

You can tell alot about how to improve the site on your own just by studying these stats.
_________________
We live to play another day.

Walter Stettner · From: Vienna, Austria

Shame on me! I have visited several times before, w/o signing the guestbook. Well, at least that is a mistake I can correct easily.

Thanks for the great site!!! Smile

Best Regards (and a big hug for Laurie), Walter
_________________
www.lloydgreentribute.com

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Brian,
Thanks for the tips, but I really can't afford the cost of acquiring the stats you mentioned. Just adding a counter for each of the eleven pages would cost me $785 per year ($5.95 per month per counter). Being the cheapskate that I am, it's easier and less costly to post the question here and see what kind of replies I get. Smile

But I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to reply and your thoughts on the matter.

Walter,
Your Lloyd Green website is one of the best I have ever seen. You have set the standard for which I am striving. I sincerely appreciate your reply here and I'm honored to have your name in my Guest Book. Smile

_________________
Pioneers of Western Swing HOF, Seattle 2005
Western Swing Music HOF, Sacramento 2006
International Steel Guitar HOF, St.Louis 2007
Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Don Sulesky · From: Citrus County, FL, Orig. from MA & NH

Roy
You have a great site and I have signed in twice.
I just went over the 10,000 mark on my site this past week.
Now my web host is dropping its accounts so I'm searching for a new web host.
I get several emails saying they are interested in my material and are sending me the money.
Then I never hear from them again.
It's very strange indeed, but that's the way the world turns.
I sometimes think they are just phishing, so don't let it bother you.
You are doing great and have a wondefful site.
Your pal,
Don

Brian Kurlychek · From: Maine, USA

Roy you can get a free stats counter http://www.statcounter.com/
_________________
We live to play another day.

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Don,
Thanks. I have been to your site 3 or 4 times. It, too, is nicely constructed. Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your web host. I use "Network Solutions"; a bit pricey but easy to use and has almost unlimited capabilities. I hope the company is not negatively effected by the declining economy, as Lautie has my account paid 5 years in advance. I offer CDs for sale on my site, but the site's main purpose is to make information regarding the steel guitar and its players easily available to the public in a somewhat interesting and entertaining way. You might even consider my site a hobby of sorts, as I spend quite a bit of time on it and enjoy doing it.
_________________
Pioneers of Western Swing HOF, Seattle 2005
Western Swing Music HOF, Sacramento 2006
International Steel Guitar HOF, St.Louis 2007
Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Brian,
Thanks. I'll check it out.
_________________
Pioneers of Western Swing HOF, Seattle 2005
Western Swing Music HOF, Sacramento 2006
International Steel Guitar HOF, St.Louis 2007
Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Jeff Hyman · From: West Virginia, USA

Roy, very nice clean website. Easy navigation. I tend to keep hit counters out of public view. Believe it or not, it may give a false value to your site... especially those that consider a counter as a factor on how worthy a site is to visit. I know of companies that start off with 100101 and count from there. As far as a quest book is concerned, I very very rarely sign them... and you should absolutely NOT take it personal if folks don't sign in. It really doesn't matter if you think about it. If you're getting traffic to the site, consider yourself successful. I think you're on the right track.

You're not being treated fairly from Network Solutions on the hit counter. I'd go to google and search for "web hosting". There are companies that give a free counter if you host with them. No harm in asking NS to match a competitor. Only problem you may encounter is if you locked yourself into an annual agreement. Either way, I've found NS to be a reasonably fair company. I use them in some of my business dealings. I also use godaddy & pactec.

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Jeff,

Thanks for the complimentary remarks, and for the advice regarding web hosts and fees. We have been with Network Solutions for a few years and have always been pleased with their rates and services. I find their tech assistance to be excellent. For example, I reported a problem yesterday via email and they had it corrected within the next half hour. The counter is the only item we felt to be unduly high priced. We had it added about 3 months ago to get a feel for whether the number of visitors was sufficient to justify the time I was putting in. Actually, I was surprised to learn that the average was about 100 hits per week. To me, that level justifies keeping the site going. We purchase the basic hosting package on a long-term basis, but have authorized credit-card payments for the counter on a month-to-month basis. So, we have the options of: (1) keeping the counter as is; (2) discontinuing the counter; or (3) hiding the counter.

Again, thanks to you and the others above for the thoughts and advice.
_________________
Pioneers of Western Swing HOF, Seattle 2005
Western Swing Music HOF, Sacramento 2006
International Steel Guitar HOF, St.Louis 2007
Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Brian Kurlychek · From: Maine, USA

Neat thing about the link I posted above for the free counter is that you can choose whether you want a visible or invisible counter.

On a site I am a webmaster for, I use it with a visible counter on the main page, and invisible on every other. Now I can track what page people come into my site, and also what pages they visit. I can tell if they are unique/first time visitors, or returning, for every page. I also can see where on the web others have linked to my site and how much traffic is driven from each site. The only way you could tell the counter was there would be to view the source code.
_________________
We live to play another day.

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