Ok, based on the feedback from the first round, here is an updated poll with some different names to choose from. You can vote for multiple names.

lol its a draw so far

 

How about (The) Aquarists?

aquarist = aquarium keeper... but it's not as much of a mouthful

 

1 hour ago, oto said:

lol its a draw so far

 

Not anymore. ?

i like the current one!!!

I've spent a fair bit of time over the past few weeks bumping into SKF in Google searches ... and largely ignoring it.  I had forgotten/didn't realise it was Australian, as there's nothing to indicate that. 

So that's the first point - localisation is important.  I could have been here ages ago.

A much more critical difference between SKF and other forums is that SKF does not display content to non-logged-in visitors who find it in Google.  So many times I was lead to a topic by Google, only to find myself blocked from viewing it when I clicked on the link.  So I learned to ignore SKF entries in Google. It was just annoying. 

This is the most critical issue to resolve. Rebranding won't help if this is not tackled, and may make things worse.  SKF is already a good name/brand, as it says what it is.  There are plenty of established generic fish forums with a critical mass that will be very hard to compete with.  

However, if you really want to go this direction, then one of the first three names above will be best.  The first two are actually great; the third is more niche-descriptive.

I just think that fixing the issue of viewability of content by new visitors is far more important, performance-wise.

 

 

Edited August 19, 20169 yr by Finley

Locality can be an easy fix by grabbing a au domain but we aren't just an Australian forum. If we limit ourselves to just Oz we will miss out on info on the awesome shrimp available offshore and also breeding progress by overseas breeders on the same stuff that's available here. That said, out large native content kind of gives it away that we are predominantly Aussie based. ?

With respect to content, that was an intentional decision we made a little while ago to limit guest views to 10 per day per guest. Otherwise you end up like a lot of dead forums with 100's of guests viewing and only 1 or 2 logged in members. We can always look at increasing the limit.

I see, that explains it.  I thought it was intentional as I've seen it once before (on a forum that nearly died so changed its mind).

If you are relying on advertising, then limiting the viewability of content is a grave error that works against the interests of your sponsors and will reduce your income.

I would say, too, that my experience was that I just could not view content - from one day to the next, not per day.

 

@Finley, can you do me a favour and post the feedback in this thread:

It will prompt me when I look at the rebranding.

Also, for everyone else, I'll give some additional context to my previous posts which will hopefully dispel some of the current myths around us being Oz only and people not coming here via google because of the URL.

These charts are comparing from the month I took over to last month.

2yrs ago, yes we were mostly an australian based forum with 96.3% of members being based in Oz (the blue chunk). Today, it's a very different picture and we are indeed a more global site. Yes we still make up the largest chunk of users but collectively not by much.

When I took over, the name was what brought members to SKF as it was a closed forum, no google indexing, zero access to guests and overly complicated registration process. The green represents direct access via name, the blue is via a search engine, the others are a mix of other platforms. As you can see, in addition to opening up the forum and doing a whole range of things in the backend, the majority of people are still coming here via a google search because most of those search results are on the first page of results. What our name is doesn't impact where it ends up in the results list as much as all the other SEO related things I do.

I have a ton of analytics that I have used to get to this point with the rebranding but that info is not really for public consumption as our competitors could use it to get an edge on us.

SKF Aquatics taking the lead. Will close this out Sunday night.

Last chance to cast your votes folks, get in and pick your favourite.

Suggestion:  Don't feel pressured to make the final decision by the vote, especially if you have a bad feeling about the global relevance or marketing value of the favoured one. Just use it to inform, then make the decision yourself based on your research and insight. A good decision is always better than a popular one. 

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by Finley

Don't worry, the popular decision is probably to not change the name but it's a good decision to change hence why "no change" isn't an option in the poll [emoji3][emoji1474]

I don't mind SKF Aquatics so it's cool. My personal favourite was Shrimply Fish lol [emoji23]

Looks like SKF Aquatics it is.

@Finley, I disabled the guest view restriction this morning so don't worry about posting in the other thread.

Hi all, I like to stay with current one, regards

Ultimate Aquarist.

 

Don't worry, the popular decision is probably to not change the name but it's a good decision to change hence why "no change" isn't an option in the poll [emoji3][emoji1474]

I don't mind SKF Aquatics so it's cool. My personal favourite was Shrimply Fish lol [emoji23]

What about Shrimply Irfishible [emoji28]

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1 hour ago, Cloudwarrior said:

Shrimply Irfishible

It's imaginative, but too much of a tongue twister, and almost seems like I have a speak impediment saying it out loud.

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by jayc

I think skf aquatics is a good compromise change. It keeps the traditionalists happy and still it gives scope for the forum to broaden its appeal.

Love n peace

Will

It's imaginative, but too much of a tongue twister, and almost seems like I have a speak impediment saying it out loud.

Good thing I was only joking

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6 hours ago, Cloudwarrior said:

What about Shrimply Irfishible
 

I would have voted for that!  Just so I could get a good laugh every time I opened the page...

On 21 August 2016 at 8:39 PM, Finley said:

Suggestion:  Don't feel pressured to make the final decision by the vote, especially if you have a bad feeling about the global relevance or marketing value of the favoured one. Just use it to inform, then make the decision yourself based on your research and insight. A good decision is always better than a popular one. 

As @Finley states the global relevance maybe add global into the name, 

"SKF Global Aquatics"

Food for thought happy either way as an enthusiast will hunt out info from any source available to them. Maybe "SKF Global Aquatics Journal/s"

SKF Aquatics is locked in already ?