Believe it or not, this coming weekend will mark a full half year since the switch was turned and this website transitioned to a new modernized look and feel. It was an update whose time had come after riding out a previous design for longer than what would be typical at a time where the internet, tech and specifically mobile devices had gone through so much change.
While there was some early turbulence that necessitated a number of tweaks and bug fixes, I’m quite thrilled to see that the user base has made the leap to the new setup in large numbers. I’m happy to share that by the time we reach the six month mark this weekend we will have also reached 75,000 confirmed classified ads over that half year (a number which doesn’t include previous expired ads that may be extended from month to month).
When taking a look at usage of the new site, one small surprise has been the growth of the events calendar. Events saw arguably the biggest revamp of any in terms of deviating from what it was in the past with updates that make it easier to view events and post/manage events in ways that make it more consistent with the classifieds. Since re-launch, traffic in the section has grown by 74% when comparing May of last year to May of this year.
With almost 6 months of posts in the buzz section, we aren’t far away from what one could refer to as an archive. What started with barely enough posts to fill the buzz area on the front page in December has slowly snowballed into over 300 posts. At some point in the next half year me thinks there’ll be a need to add search functionality to this section and add further ways to connect and categorize the content. Very much appreciative of how many sources are starting to take the initiative to share their stories with me and give a chance for items to be shared that I feel might be of interest to folks that use this site.
The relationship between the discussion forums and buzz section has been fun to watch evolve, with many discussion threads serving as the basis for buzz posts that are further shared and in that way generate further discussion in the community offline and online.
Thanks to all who make eBrandon a stop in their day and for your part in helping make it what I feel is a truly unique service in the role it plays in the community!