The ADPS website report

www.adps.org.uk. 

by our webmaster John Horsey

 

The ADPS website has been upgraded considerably this year.  While the basic structure remains much the same, all the text has been revised to make the Society’s aims more clear.  Various pages have been restructured and are now more succinct and easier for visitors to read.  

 

On the technical side, the web pages have been converted from HTML (the fundamental language websites are written in) to Microsoft Word.  This makes them far easier to maintain as Word automatically deals with the vagaries of HTML. 

 

The website is attracting an average of more than 5 hits a day.    Furthermore, 90% of visitors progress from the Home Page to view the members’ advertisements.  Of these visitors, 95% are new rather than repeat visitors.  It follows that your adverts are being seen by over 1700 visitors per year.  I don’t know how much business that generates, but -------

 

·         Where else can you get that level of exposure for just £5 a year?    

 

·         If you haven’t already got an advertisement, please ask for one!  You don’t need to have your own website to benefit.  Just name, address and  phone number plus a bit about what you do and the ad could more than pay for itself.

 

Incidentally, 99% of visitors are from English speaking countries (if you count the other side of the Big Pond as speaking English!).

 

As part of the restructure, I have also enhanced some of the key criteria that the Search Engines look for when ranking websites.  As a result, the ADPS site is now on that critical first page in Google – for a worldwide search on “stamp dealers”.     We are ranked at number eight in Google (30th September).  That is excellent as we don’t expect to be ahead of SG anyway.   As a point of interest, we are one place above the ASDA (American Stamp Dealers Association) at #9.  Considering their size compared to ours, this is quite something!

 

Can we do better?  Yes.  Search Engine ranking also depends on backward links.   With more such links, we could raise our profile further.  Members with websites - please include a link to www.adps.org.uk.  Thank you.