Getting New Members...

[wagon_wheel]

This place is so slow and doesn't seem to bring alot of new people in. I have noticed that when you type in teen help or something that it doesn't come onto the first page on most search engines. Is there a way to get this on the first page??

I really want to advertise but don't want to spam.

I have been going through peoples forwards and emailing EVERYONE on them about this site....I've probably emailed at least 1,000 people already...so hopefully we get a few new people over the next few days.

Does anyone else have any ideas on how to get new people to come and post??

[OverDrive]

Unfortunately, search engine optimization is not a simple thing and it's really a science on it's own. MSN catches us the most, followed by yahoo and google.



Unfortunately, each of these spyder bots work differently and our site is optimized for a general audiance, not specific to 1. The other thing is, the way these search engines search changes sometimes daily, weekly and usually monthly. Back 5 years ago, Meta tags with keywords was the thing that got you into high ranking, then it was the text of the site that got you into search engines higher, now it's a combination of those + how many other SEARCHED sites link back to you (searched meaning their site is searched by the search engine and the search engine sees a link back to HelpingTeens).



The following are the top search engine spyders for the month of May according to our website statistics to which I read at least 3 times a week.



MSNBot

Inktomi Slurp (Yahoo)

Alexa (IA Archiver)

WISENutbot

Googlebot



We also have the "recommend us" section on the site located at http://www.helpingteens.org/recommend.html so you can recommend us to your friends.



I'm so happy you are trying to help as it feels that it was only the admins trying to get this working again. I've spent an awful lot of time learning about search engine optimization and trying to make this site grow. It needs time and it needs an advertisement to a group of people to get people here. Once they come, they may put a link on their website or tell a friend, and then someone may find that link or that friend may come here and do the same.



It's very difficult to advertise this site for free, and it's quite time consuming for 1 or 2 people. I really do appricate your efforts and they are not un noticed. I am also glad you don't want to spam. I'm in the Internet business so I do know that spamming works, however it probably causes more trouble than it's worth for a non-profit site.



Something that I havn't told you all is that about 4 months ago or there abouts, I sent a mass-email out to a list of about 740 principals that a few people did collect from websites of schools. I addressed it to each individual prinicipal (through a script I made) and sent it out. I've noticed that a few have given it to their councelling department and they are now referring students here. Not many yet, but more people will come.



The letter read:

Subject line: HelpingTeens.org - A website for your students



Dear Principal Name,



My name is Adam Marshall, and I've been running HelpingTeens for 2 and a half years. I have been a member of the site since 2000, and in my time at HelpingTeens, many positive changes have occurred in my life. I have learned how to deal with daily occurrences in a positive and healthy manner and I attribute much of this to the excellent support I've received. I feel the need to spread the good word about this wonderful teen resource because of how much it has changed my life.



As a school administrator for teenagers, you know how day-to-day occurrences can affect your students. Because of the trials and tribulations of teen life, teenagers need reliable emotional and academic support. As a result, we've created HelpingTeens.org.



The website is a community of interdependent teens that give advice to one another based on personal experience and morality. There are many outlets for emotional support on this site and this provides different ways of receiving the advice that one needs.



Live Chat - Live Chat takes place on HelpingTeens.org's own Internet Relay Chat server. Chat can be used for light-hearted conversation when someone is feeling down, or an instant response to serious questions if someone is in need. There's also a caring, supportive staff constantly monitoring the chat to make sure no destructive advice is given and that everything is running smoothly.



Articles - These "articles" are thorough answers to common questions that have been asked frequently in the past. If a user feels as if they can contribute anything to fellow teens, they can submit articles to give inspiration hope or support to others. Once an article is approved by site administration, it will be posted for the benefit of others.



Support Groups - The Support Groups section of HelpingTeens seems to be the most popular among our users. The Support Groups are forums that contain many sections that always prove to be useful for any type of problem or concern a teen might have. These forums cover a wide range of topics including but not limited to general health, suicide, self-harm, friends and family, relationships, homework assistance, sex and sexuality and even current events. There are over 3500 registered members of the Support Groups.



Safety and responsible advice are the foremost concerns on the site. The staff is constantly overseeing the Support Groups. Each forum has up to three experienced moderators who always ensure that peace is kept and our important rules are followed.



Please take the time to check out HelpingTeens at http://www.helpingteens.org. I'm sure you will feel as I do that this is a valuable resource for teen students, and I encourage you to pass this on to your Student Council for them to deal with as they see fit. Printable flyers in PDF format are available for you at http://www.helpingteens.org/posters.html, which I hope you will post in order to refer your students to the site. If you have any questions about HelpingTeens.org, I am always available for you to contact me with questions and concerns so I can address them to your satisfaction.



Thank you for your time, and please don't hesitate to contact me.



Regards,



Adam Marshall

HelpingTeens.org Owner

http://www.helpingteens.org/

Now what I did was not considered spamming because we did go and find the names and email addresses manually, not purchase a list, and such, but a targeted research and recovery of about 750 emails with first and last names of the principals.



Out of the 750, about half bounced back but we have generated some traffic from this letter, but it's all about referring and putting up flyers and such (flyers located at http://www.helpingteens.org/posters.html).



If you wish to help discreetly, print off a bunch of these flyers and hang them around your school when no one is looking (in bathrooms, and in the halls when the halls are empty, after school when no one is around, etc). You can even print them at school so you don't incur costs. The flyers are made for both black and white and colour printing and they look really nice in both methds.



If you are an artistic person, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE create more flyers or banners for the site (for the Link To Us page) and submit them to me so that I can add them. This is a way for you to get your name IMPRINTED on HelpingTeens for as long as the site lasts which is at THE VERY LEAST my lifetime (both on the page of sponsors and on the posters and flyers page) and only if you want to be posted on those pages (it's entirely up to you). You can also use this in your portfolio of artwork when applying to university/college or even prospective jobs.



We try to make everything available to you all to help with advertising the site because the admins can't do it alone but it is up to the individuals of the site, ALL individuals, to advertise it.

[Lena]

I would be happy to put up a bunch of posters around college, but the URL doesn't work, Adam.

[OverDrive]

it does work but the forum software put a ) at the end of it



http://www.helpingteens.org/posters.html



that works



I also fixed the link in the original post.

[Lena]

Thanks. I'll be sure to put a bunch up ASAP.

[Sam!]

Thank you Adam, for giving me no credit whatsoever for:



A) spending dozens of hours collecting principal's e-mail addresses

coming up with the idea for the project in the first place

C) organizing people to assist with the project

D) running the entire P.R. Department with little support for a few months



I could vomit.

[OverDrive]

as we discussed over aim,



here is your credit





Yes, Sam was the one who created the idea, and created the list with managing a small group of people that formed the public relations group that kinda desolved when sam decided to back out of HelpingTeens. I know he personally went to over 200 school sites and got at least 200 of the names and addresses himself, so a good thanks to him

[Sam!]

Thank you, Adam.

[jess_617]

Didnt adam make a topic explaining all that? Your name Sam, along with the rest of our names, was in it.

[OverDrive]

that get's you TH, not HT... try it

[angelviccy]

i have many websites myself that r very popular with teenagers and i know that many teenagers do use my websites and all differant posters r up on my sites for helpingteens some i have made for myself and some are from here. people have joined thu me.

i have posters around college that i have had to get permission from our head which was a big hassel but i achived as he did aprove of this website. I also have posters around my old secondenry school, i sorted that out aswell



There is many other ways in which i have helped, and i continue to, just yerterday i wrote to the headmasters of schools around me with sending some posters etc out to put up and hopefully they will be going up very soon.



i started all this in about january, i am continueing the work that i am doing.



Welldone to sam tho! just thought id point this out

[OverDrive]

Originally posted by angelviccy@Jun 6 2005, 10:38 AM

i have many websites myself that r very popular with teenagers and i know that many teenagers do use my websites and all differant posters r up on my sites for helpingteens some i have made for myself and some are from here. people have joined thu me.

i have posters around college that i have had to get permission from our head which was a big hassel but i achived as he did aprove of this website. I also have posters around my old secondenry school, i sorted that out aswell



There is many other ways in which i have helped, and i continue to, just yerterday i wrote to the headmasters of schools around me with sending some posters etc out to put up and hopefully they will be going up very soon.



i started all this in about january, i am continueing the work that i am doing.



Welldone to sam tho! just thought id point this out

[right][/right]

That's great - would you mind listing your sites that have the banners and posters and such, and can you submit your posters and banners for others to use as well



I'm very happy that others have taken this under their arms and your effort has not gone unnoticed



TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More