 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
3 October 2009
Overall use of the website since its inception:
2002 - 7,170 page requests
2003 - 44,320 (84% increase over previous (part) year
2004 - 93,410 (53% increase)
2005 - 108,500 (14% increase)
2006 - 135,840 (20% increase)
2007 - 143,630 (5.7% increase)
2008 - 172,800 (20% increase, largely due to interest in 60th anniversary reunion)
2009* - 155,100 (10% decrease - * estimate, based on 103,400 page requests for Jan-Aug 2009).
Website traffic for 2009 is expected to fall compared to the previous year but the longer-term results show traffic continues to rise although the annual increases are becoming more modest.
The 2008 traffic figures surged late in the year as a result of interest in information and pictures about the 60th anniversary reunion. This year the figures have returned to what I would regard as a more normal level.
Additional programs to monitor the use of the website became available in late July and it is now easier to see what information is attracting attention. But the majority of website users are viewing pages with aircraft pictures/information, with a significant percentage (about 18%), looking at news pages, particularly the page listing information about reunions.
While website traffic increases, the Association is making less use of the website. There is now very little Association news published, possibly reflecting that Slipstream and Divisional newsletters cater for this need. But the Association might like to consider being more proactive in using the website to get information not only to members but to the wider public. The website's reunion information page is a good example of where information is frequently updated, then users will keep returning to check for new information.
The 'Making Contact' section of the website - which is open to all - continues to be used but not as frequently as in the past - only 9 messages were published in the year to the end of August, compared with 46 for the whole of 2008.
Administrative changes
The National Executive agreed earlier this year to a shift of the website to a new hosting company, and this was done in July. This has halved the cost incurred by the Association and has provided additional programs to monitor the use of the website. There are two costs to maintain the website -
(1) The cost of re-registering the domain name www.faaaa.asn.au - this happens every two years with the next charge due in July 2010 with an expected cost of $40 (previously $120).
(2) The charge to host the website - this is an annual charge and for 2009 was $129 (previously $330).
No charges are made for the actual publishing of information.
Harley Dadswell, Webmaster
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