My site sucks. What should I do?

[914turboford]

I have had engineconversions.org up and running for 2.5 years now. Its appearance/performance is way below what I had in mind. I had/still have visions of it becoming a successful site. I am hoping that I can get it looking as professional as d-series.org, Cumminsforum, or even 4BTSwaps.com. What do I need to do to get there? I can barely get a photo to show up in the header. I can't size the photo to fit the available space. I've got Google AdSense up and running but this also causes problems with the spacing. I have contacted a couple of webmasters but they want thousands of dollars to "fix" my site. I've tried reading on this site and vbulletin.com but it all seems over my head. I'm no dummy (I've got a degree in Mechanical Engineering) and could program in BASIC and FORTRAN at one time. Where is the best place to start?

Brian

[93Corvette]

Originally Posted by 914turboford

I have had engineconversions.org up and running for 2.5 years now. Its appearance/performance is way below what I had in mind. I had/still have visions of it becoming a successful site. I am hoping that I can get it looking as professional as d-series.org, Cumminsforum, or even 4BTSwaps.com. What do I need to do to get there? I can barely get a photo to show up in the header. I can't size the photo to fit the available space. I've got Google AdSense up and running but this also causes problems with the spacing. I have contacted a couple of webmasters but they want thousands of dollars to "fix" my site. I've tried reading on this site and vbulletin.com but it all seems over my head. I'm no dummy (I've got a degree in Mechanical Engineering) and could program in BASIC and FORTRAN at one time. Where is the best place to start?

Brian

Goto VBskinworks.com and buy a skin. Then pay $30 for the to make a logo for you. Total money out $70. Then your on your way....

what you need ?!

money and wills.

draft your site like you want it to be, evaluate the idea to hire a coder/designer that will help you get what you need...

you can not start today with no knowledge of the engine and think you will have a perfect forum in two weeks... it takes time, even when you're good at coding. you also need to know your market by heart, with all your competitors at the corner of the eye.

[Biker_GA]

You're going to have a hard time competing with the existing Dodge Diesel sites (there are two VERY popular ones out there). You're going to need to find a niche that these other sites don't fulfill.

[benny92000]

I recommend a portal with your site, that way the forum is not on the homepage. No picture like the one you have at the top of your site now will look good on top of forums.

[Powlo]

Do you know how you want your site to look?

Just changing the style might be all you need (oh and doing something with your header cos thats well bad) you dont need to fork out a fortune, theres loads of free styles here.

[Shelley_c]

Am I missing the obvious? For a site that's been up for 2 and a half years you have next to no content. What's the point in paying for a style and a coder when there's no content that prompts guests to even want to register.

Your two and half years work can be read in a space of 5 minutes pending the content is worth reading. Maybe you have the better areas hidden from guests?

Point being (pending you don't have more areas filled with content) you can't expect a forum to pick up and runs itself if you think posting once maybe twice a month. Nobody will bother visiting your site if they see the owner can't be bothered themselves and it's looks to me that you either can't be bothered putting in the time from the amount of content posted.

It won't make a blind bit of difference if you get a spanky new style. You'll need to have some motivation and the knowledge with the niche you have entered into.

[tipoboy]

i run a car forum too, but its kind of dead also, i admin on another forum and have just reskinned it. There's pleanty of car forums out there and IMO the irst thing you need to do is get it looking good and then work out CONTENT. Content is the key to any site i remember when i started my site i just posted anything and everything to do with cars just to make it look like the forum was busy, unfortunately i thought the forum would continue to grow, and i had to take a few months out due to work commitments, when i came back the forum was dead.

Just showed me if i wasnt there and didnt post, no one else was going to bother.

If you want some more tips just PM me

[Blackheart_72]

I would remove the ad you have in the header so people dont have to scroll down just to get to the forum.

Car based forums take time to get going since there are so many, have you advertised the site anywhere.

[914turboford]

Originally Posted by tipoboy

i run a car forum too, but its kind of dead also, i admin on another forum and have just reskinned it. There's pleanty of car forums out there and IMO the irst thing you need to do is get it looking good and then work out CONTENT. Content is the key to any site i remember when i started my site i just posted anything and everything to do with cars just to make it look like the forum was busy, unfortunately i thought the forum would continue to grow, and i had to take a few months out due to work commitments, when i came back the forum was dead.

Just showed me if i wasnt there and didnt post, no one else was going to bother.

If you want some more tips just PM me

I really appreciate the advice and I'm going to act on some of it. I'll try buying a "skin". I agree with you, tipoboy, I think I have to get to a minimal appearance level to attract other users.

I recommend a portal with your site, that way the forum is not on the homepage. No picture like the one you have at the top of your site now will look good on top of forums.

What is a portal and what are the basics of establishing one?

You're going to have a hard time competing with the existing Dodge Diesel sites (there are two VERY popular ones out there). You're going to need to find a niche that these other sites don't fulfill.

I'm not interested in competing with them. Dodge Diesels are not my niche. I think I have a niche, a general engine swap site. But I guess general and niche shouldn't be in the same sentence. When I go on other sites and advertise in my signature, I get people that want to join who are very excited about my site. I believe there is some enthusiasm for what I am trying to do but perhaps not enough. I don't think I know the answer to that yet because I haven't given it a decent shot yet.