Guest fountainhall Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Seeing the viewing numbers for the 'Model Photoshots' thread steadily climb, I checked this afternoon to see if the number of views had finally overtaken those for the Obsessions Lady Boy Bar in Pattaya thread. This as many will recall had hundreds of photos. Currently, the Photoshot thread is less than 500 behind, and I imagine will overtake it very soon.It made me think, though: which are the dozen most viewed threads? So I did a very quick and unscientific survey. As there are around 230 pages of posts, I could only dip into a few dozen or so – mostly from 2006 as they ought to have been the most read over the years. Imagine my surprise after this random check to discover that the most viewed thread by far is this one with 22,002 views –Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men (started August 18 2010)*The others I found were –Dream Boys in Bangkok – 18,583 (started 28 March 2008)Adonis Men for Men Massage Bangkok – 17,931*Babylon Sauna and Massage – 14,599*Obsessions Night Club Pattaya – 14,365 (started 17 July 2011)Some Model Photoshots – 13,880 (started 16 Feburary 2013)The 500 baht virgin – 11,749 (started 25 October 2006)THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN PATTAYA – 11,694 (started 5 November 2006)Aqua Spa Club – 11,057*Boys Bangkok – 10,830*Sawatdee Gay Thailand – 10,399 (started 17 October 2006)Balcony-The Fun Pub – 10,512*What I totally failed to understand is how the Pattaya Thai Massage thread above gained so many hits! It only has the OP and 16 responses, and is basically about one masseur who happened to be known to 2 or 3 posters.Then it struck me. The threads marked with an asterisk also appear in the home page under the Gay Business Listings. Anyone clicking those establishments is automatically routed to the thread in the main forum. Most of these were started and posted by Scooby – to the bewilderment of some posters who thought they were advertising, although I think it is a great way of giving curious newcomers a better idea of each establishment.So, with that knowledge, it’s clear that views for the 6 threads marked with an asterisk have largely been driven by visitors to the Home Page. And, I think most unfortunately, the heading of the ‘winner’ is quite misleading. For I suggest most of those checking the home page and seeing a general heading “Thai Massage” will almost certainly assume it is a site which offers information on a variety of different types of massage establishments. It is only when routed to the Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men thread that readers will realise it is just about one guy offering normal Thai massage.This is a case where I feel the title of the thread is hopelessly wrong. More than that, it's also misleading.. Mind you, that single masseur must be laughing all the way to the bank!! Quote
TotallyOz Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Also, please remember that many people come to the site through search engines and they often find the site through them. I remember a few years back that I did a thread on Ping Pong Pussy Shows in Bangkok and after about a week or two, I saw there were over a few hundred people reading the thread at one time and then I did a good search for Ping Pong Pussy and it was number 1 in Google for a few weeks. That brought in tons of traffic. I agree with FH that the front page listings get a lot of views and I have been told by more than one person that if they want to find a gay place in Thailand, they first look at the front of this site. That is great for the site and for the community. IMHO Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Would it not be appropriate to change the title in the Business listings and that thread title? It seems to border on favouritism to route most of those looking for massage to a Thai Massage thread which is just one guy? Something like "Specialist in Thai Massage" on the front and "Thai Masseur Service" as the thread? Quote
Guest Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Would it not be appropriate to change the title in the Business listings and that thread title? It seems to border on favouritism to route most of those looking for massage to a Thai Massage thread which is just one guy? Something like "Specialist in Thai Massage" on the front and "Thai Masseur Service" as the thread? I have changed the front page of the site to Ef Thai Massage. I'll be leaving the title of an old thread the same as that is the title of his website and we took that directly from the website as we did with other venues. Thank you for pointing out the confusion on the front page with the name. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 25, 2013 Posted June 25, 2013 I wonder if the readership of the gaythailand site is changing slightly. In the past, as I recall, threads on gay bars, massage, gogo etc. would garner most of the readership. Yet if you look at the first page of threads now, who'd have thought these subjects would gain so many readers -* Starbucks Plans to Double Number of Stores in Thailand - 3949 views* Smugglers drive Thailand's grim trade in dog meat - 2347 views * Ashes to Ashes - 1801 views - and yet these would be trailing behind?* Screw Boys Monday 27.05.2013 - 1691 views* Update on Suriwong Bars - 1531views Start dates of threads obviously come into play. But I'd still have thought that the more obviously gay threads would be garnering more readers. Quote
Guest Posted June 25, 2013 Posted June 25, 2013 The dog meat and Starbucks stories are of potential general interest to anyone who goes to Thailand. I guess the Bangkok gogo bar stories are only of initial interest to people who might consider visiting those specific bars, or have been to them recently. Obviously the story does encourage people who start reading to continue to do so. However, I guess not everyone chooses to open the thread. Then people who haven't made a recent visit to the bars mentioned may have no opinion on them, therefore they don't reply. Many people have something to say on dog meat. I suspect threads referring to more popular gogo bars would get more replies, as more people have an opinion. In the unlikely event the bar allowed pictures to be taken and published, that broadens the appeal further. Quote
Rogie Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Something has changed quite dramatically within the past year. Seeing the thread Myanmar Update languishing at the bottom of the RHS list of recent topics, I took a look at it to remind me what it was all about. In a nutshell, very little. There is just the OP, no further posts added to it, but what was impressive was the number of views . . . no less than 4,590! I then suffered a severe bout of deflation after a simple comparison. A thread I had started Report: May 2012 which I had spent a lot of time getting together, and in addition has received 11 replies, has managed to date a meagre total of 1,213 views. To compound my perplexity, the Report: May 2012 thread was submitted in May 2012. The Myanmar Update was nearly a year later in April this year. So, despite having a head start of a full year, the older thread has had less a than a quarter of the number of views. I am sorry to say, my conclusion is that some time within the past year the number of views for new topics has somehow been massively bumped in comparison to that prevailing before. I'd love to know what's going on here. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 Rogie, I can't see that there is any problem here. I am certain that any thread which appears on the right hand list is bound to attract a lot more hits from new members and non-members than older posts which have dropped off that list. It's not a question about the quality of a thread and the number of responses; much more how recent it is. This would be especially true - I think - in the case of a country like Myanmar which not so many posters may be interested in visiting - yet! It's doubly unfortunate that the post which appears on the list is merely a very short request for information! But I'm sure the software only detects dates of threads - not the value of its content. Quote
Guest Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 Google usually seems to be in the list of visitors at the bottom of the first page. Am not sure what's going on there, so perhaps one of our IT expert members could enlighten us? Can the google information gathering machine increment the counter every time it checks a thread? Quote
Moses Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 Google usually seems to be in the list of visitors at the bottom of the first page. Am not sure what's going on there, so perhaps one of our IT expert members could enlighten us? Can the google information gathering machine increment the counter every time it checks a thread? It depends on how is configured setup of counter. But usually no. By the way, as a writer ot "winner" header I can share secret why so many hits on Ef's massage post. Just cus I used there good keywords - many visitors come to there directly from Google search result page. Now, when it is changed - forum will have less visitors. But Ef's website still has about 1500-2000 visitors per month from Google. Quote
Rogie Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 I see what you mean: instead of Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men we now have: Ef Thai Massage. so if I have understood correctly two 'key' words no longer feature men and Pattaya Quote
Moses Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 I see what you mean: instead of Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men we now have: Ef Thai Massage. so if I have understood correctly two 'key' words no longer feature men and Pattaya No, "men" and "Pataya" are hi-freq. and hi-compet. keys. This post collect visitors by "Thai massage for men in Pattaya". Low-freq. and low-compet. But it was enough to be "winner" at 3 years after posting. Quote
Rogie Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 Moses, I assume when you use the word 'compet.', that's short for competition. Am I on the right track here: http://www.google.com/competition/howgooglesearchworks.html (not that I understand the smallest fraction of it!) Quote
TotallyOz Posted July 2, 2013 Posted July 2, 2013 Now, when it is changed - forum will have less visitors. Reading this thread, I looked at your post and see it is not changed at all. The post is the same as always. What changed is the front page of the site and it says, Ef's Thai Massage. Nothing in the forum has changed. Quote
Moses Posted July 3, 2013 Posted July 3, 2013 What changed is the front page of the site and it says, Ef's Thai Massage. Nothing in the forum has changed. Yes, but in past it was "Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men". I don't complain - it is OK for me and for Ef. But main page lost a small part of the semantic core - keyword "Thai massage for men in Pattaya". Quote
TotallyOz Posted July 3, 2013 Posted July 3, 2013 Yes, but in past it was "Thai Massage for men in Pattaya by men". I don't complain - it is OK for me and for Ef. But main page lost a small part of the semantic core - keyword "Thai massage for men in Pattaya". The Front Page was never Thai Massage for Men in Pattaya by Men as that is too long and the system was not built for character phrase that long. It was always Thai Massage ONLY. Of this, I am 99.9 percent sure. Quote
