It’s said repeatedly and debatably that “content is king” for a website. Despite the desire to add interactive, user-engaging features such as games, profiles & forums (thereby increasing the duration of their visit), I think that content’s importance is central to the success of any website – and especially a community.

Not only does web content increase relevance and therefore search engine rankings and results, “static” content – here, defined as articles, tutorials and other text-based information – reinforces the community’s central mission. In other words, it is valuable information that serves to interest and enrich the reader with utility and meaning.

Members of an affinity audience want to anchor their presence and participation. For example, locals want a place to call their online home. Followers and fans of a band choose their favorite “space” and invest their time there, adding songs, photos and more to their page. Digital video professionals congregate where FAQ and reference material is available 24/7. Good content makes this possible: When these same users also find useful articles, news, links and reviews, their attachment to their chosen site is strengthened.

Therefore, the more relevant, topical content that web publishers add to reinforce the uniqueness & value of their site/community, then the better it is for everybody – for users, advertisers and owners. Content creates value over time (so don’t unpublish anything!). The challenge is to find out how to create & present your special content in a special way that truly adds lasting value.

Why integrate a calendar in your online community? I highly recommend that publishers, especially those that serve a geographically local area, add an events list or calendar to their site. In addition to giving users yet another reason to return to your site, Calendar Hub lays out the user benefits quite clearly:

Stay Organized – reminders and deadlines for social, business and special events, including editorial & advertising closing dates.

Coordinate Your Team – to-do lists, tasks, milestones and to see what everyone else is doing and coordinate better.

Promote Yourself – special offers, limited-time sales & discounts and announcements, from groups & businesses.

Inform Your Audience – school dates, federal & commemorative holidays, meetings, festivals and more!

Stay in Touch – RSS, iCal and vCard standards can help you get reminders or import events into your own, private calendar , cel or iPhone.

There are many choices to add a calendar to your site – too many in fact – but I do have some requirements for any calendar that is to be integrated into a community before selecting among the many available options.

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With web development becoming more user-friendly and accessible yet more complex, it’s important to remind myself of the importance of the user experience – that is, the elements that make visiting & using a site so much easier and enjoyable.

I’ve put together a quick, non-inclusive list of five questions to ask myself when adding a feature to a web community. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight I’m closing rozzo.org, which I created 2 years ago not only to create something for my family but also to improve my skills for Joomla-third-party software integration. In deciding that the time had passed for this domain, I thought it useful to suggest several reasons to stop development of a site – and turn off the lights.

The most obvious: no traffic. If your site is not generating “sufficient” traffic by “core” users in your target audience – all terms that are subjective and that have been defined at the outset of your project – then you either need to work to generate traffic & use, or to stop investing your time, money & sweat.

Another not-so-obvious reason, and one that even I resist admitting: some has built a better mousetrap. Yes, it’s possible that a similar site exists, and if you cannot compete or cannot develop a unique selling propositin that distinguishes your site from others, then admit defeat and move on.

The web and technology render many sites, domains, business models and pricing obsolete. Although it’s essential to constantly update, redesign and/or evolve your site, it may be untenable or just plain exhausting to maintain competitive.

In the case of rozzo.org, it’s been a case of all three: only a dozen family members registered, no one (me included) desired to create and maintain an online genealogy, online services are free and really good (!), and although I considered re-inventing the site for anyone with the family surname (quite a bit bigger, international, multi-lingual responsibility), in the end I decided to pull the plug on this project. The domain expires next January.

I think it’s good to do a post-mortem: try to comprehend the causes that do and don’t make your site work, take the lessons that you’ve learned, and move on.