Suggestion Re-branding?

[Damo]

Hello everyone,

I'll keep this short, the forum isn't doing so great in terms of new visitors or regular visitors we use Google Analytics to measure the amount of sessions, users, page views etc... And we seem to be nose diving for whatever reason that is. I'm thinking of eventually adding a blog to the forum based around the plant based lifestyle on which my opinion doesn't really work with the domain "veganforum", I'm contemplating re-branding to something a little more creative but I'm wanting your thoughts and help with choosing of a new domain.


I had "veggiehuddle" in mind, there's a lot of domains that are taken out there so if anyone else has any ideas, lets hear them?

Also I'm wanting to reintroduce a vegetarian section on the forum if we go for the re-branding, hopefully this would make the website more appealing to new people.

(not that we're in any danger of closing the forum, just wanting to experiment and it's quite sad to see the forum plummeting in traffic)

 

[HappyRoxy]

Hello everyone,

I'll keep this short, the forum isn't doing so great in terms of new visitors or regular visitors we use Google Analytics to measure the amount of sessions, users, page views etc... And we seem to be nose diving for whatever reason that is. I'm thinking of eventually adding a blog to the forum based around the plant based lifestyle on which my opinion doesn't really work with the domain "veganforum", I'm contemplating re-branding to something a little more creative but I'm wanting your thoughts and help with choosing of a new domain.


I had "veggiehuddle" in mind, there's a lot of domains that are taken out there so if anyone else has any ideas, lets hear them?

Also I'm wanting to reintroduce a vegetarian section on the forum if we go for the re-branding, hopefully this would make the website more appealing to new people.

(not that we're in any danger of closing the forum, just wanting to experiment and it's quite sad to see the forum plummeting in traffic)

I'm new here, and don't really have a lot of input, but I think it's a good idea to make the forum as attractive as you can to those looking to embrace a plant-based lifestyle. The word "vegan" can seem quite militant to some, I suppose. My yoga instructor is also an ayurvedic medicine practicioner, and eats a mainly plant based diet (except for ghee), and therefore doesn't call herself a vegan. She simply says she likes to follow a mainly plant based diet.

 

[ThaiVegan]

first of all, its realy great that you tell it how it is, very open and frank. that gives other ppl a fair change of chiming in.

okay. i think its not a matter of the name. you can change the name but current users might be alienated and yet it might not attrackt new users. and actually, the name veganforum is spot on, it tells exactly what it is. thats good. and compared to 1 or more decades ago, the term "vegan" has now become mainstream.

why are numbers going down? current users are not coming back or no new ppl visit the forum? dwindling visitors and users of blogs and internet forums, only this forum or is it a trend? how are other (mainstream non vegan) forums doing and dealing with decreasing visitors?
arent ppl nowadays more and more on social media and less on the internet?

 

[Lou]

I thought it was just a "summer thing".

Like the traffic around here. In the summer its lighter than during the school year. Because at any one time there are lots of ppl on vacation.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I think it would be a great idea to have a vegetarian section. There are a lot of ethical vegetarians who are vegetarians for some of the same reasons that people are vegan. I think there would be more robust discussions about ethical issues for animals and the environment if we invited vegetarians here. I also think some people are "almost vegan" except for backyard eggs or their addiction to cheese, and those people still have a lot to offer to a forum like this.

 

[Damo]

The word "vegan" can seem quite militant to some, I suppose.

My exact thoughts, thanks for your feedback.

arent ppl nowadays more and more on social media and less on the internet?

True, "apps" seem to be more of a go to than websites in today's online world.

I thought it was just a "summer thing".

Like the traffic around here. In the summer its lighter than during the school year. Because at any one time there are lots of ppl on vacation.

See, I figured the same but take a look at this PDF...

I think it would be a great idea to have a vegetarian section. There are a lot of ethical vegetarians who are vegetarians for some of the same reasons that people are vegan. I think there would be more robust discussions about ethical issues for animals and the environment if we invited vegetarians here. I also think some people are "almost vegan" except for backyard eggs or their addiction to cheese, and those people still have a lot to offer to a forum like this.

I have a vegetarian friends and her mindset is the same as mine but she'll eat to the occasional egg/cheese but vegan substitutes for everything else.


We'll give it until the end of the year to see if anything changes I think. ?‍

 

[Emma JC]

Is there something in the new format that has changed the rankings in the search engines? Its seems to start the most divergence on the graph shortly after the changeover to the new format.

Are people putting in "tags" (keywords) etc when starting a thread? do most people even know what that means? I went and took just a brief look at the General Forum's latest new threads and at least 75% do not have tags. Maybe some education for old and new posters on this would help?

"Summer" was my first thought too but the graph does show it may not be the answer.

Emma JC

 

[Lou]

It hasn't changed year to year but the percent of new users that return seem really low.

 

[HappyRoxy]

My exact thoughts, thanks for your feedback.




True, "apps" seem to be more of a go to than websites in today's online world.

You're welcome

Speaking of apps....I originally tried to access this forum through the Tapatalk app, but it kept coming up with an error message and wouldn't allow me to even view the forum. Just thought it might be something worth you knowing,

Also, is this forum mainly populated with members from the northern hemisphere? It's winter Down Under, where I am.

 

[Lou]

I'm sort of making this up as I go. Let's call it thinking out loud. I haven't even completely thought through this. But maybe there is a good idea here and maybe the forum could do a little group think on this and develop this idea.

I was reading the news this morning and there was another article on another meat-free product. Anybody who has been sort of kind of following the news is probably aware that meat-free products are totally hot. Also plant milks are one of the most rapidly growing markets in the food industry.

I think its pretty clear that vegans aren't fueling this stuff. Oh, sure we drink plant milks. but the number of vegans isn't increasing at anywhere near the rate of the production of plant milks. Also, vegans welcome the advent of all these meat-free products but I think we are a minority when you look at the purchasers.

I'm not even sure who the majority of the purchasers are. And it might be that it's different for each segment of the animal-free product spectrum. I don't think the meat-free purchasers are motivated solely on personal health concerns. Maybe for them its more about the environment. I think the plant milk purchasers may be more motivated by health. Or maybe taste? or maybe in New York and London its all about style.

It might be possible to tap into this growing interest in plant-based foods. After a person enjoyed their first Beyond Burger or an Oat milk latte, they would like a place to learn more about plant-based foods. They may not want to be vegan or vegetarian. but they are interested in exploring more plant-based options and learning about the health and environmental benefits.

The vegan members of the forum would have to be on board with this. We don't want any shaming or sermonizing that might send the mildly curious running. Also, I don't have any idea how to name or describe this thing so that new vegans would be interested in joining, too.

But I can see it providing a stepping stone for plant-based curious. For instance, they could come here looking for which frozen meat-free burger is healthiest and leave with some recipes for bean burgers you make from scratch. They might come here wondering if milk and eggs are bad for the environment and learn something about how milk and eggs are bad for cows and chickens.

Anyway, it sounds good in theory. Not sure if there is a way it could work.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I'm new here, and don't really have a lot of input, but I think it's a good idea to make the forum as attractive as you can to those looking to embrace a plant-based lifestyle. The word "vegan" can seem quite militant to some, I suppose. My yoga instructor is also an ayurvedic medicine practicioner, and eats a mainly plant based diet (except for ghee), and therefore doesn't call herself a vegan. She simply says she likes to follow a mainly plant based diet.

I'm sort of making this up as I go. Let's call it thinking out loud. I haven't even completely thought through this. But maybe there is a good idea here and maybe the forum could do a little group think on this and develop this idea.

I was reading the news this morning and there was another article on another meat-free product. Anybody who has been sort of kind of following the news is probably aware that meat-free products are totally hot. Also plant milks are one of the most rapidly growing markets in the food industry.

I think its pretty clear that vegans aren't fueling this stuff. Oh, sure we drink plant milks. but the number of vegans isn't increasing at anywhere near the rate of the production of plant milks. Also, vegans welcome the advent of all these meat-free products but I think we are a minority when you look at the purchasers.

I'm not even sure who the majority of the purchasers are. And it might be that it's different for each segment of the animal-free product spectrum. I don't think the meat-free purchasers are motivated solely on personal health concerns. Maybe for them its more about the environment. I think the plant milk purchasers may be more motivated by health. Or maybe taste? or maybe in New York and London its all about style.

It might be possible to tap into this growing interest in plant-based foods. After a person enjoyed their first Beyond Burger or an Oat milk latte, they would like a place to learn more about plant-based foods. They may not want to be vegan or vegetarian. but they are interested in exploring more plant-based options and learning about the health and environmental benefits.

The vegan members of the forum would have to be on board with this. We don't want any shaming or sermonizing that might send the mildly curious running. Also, I don't have any idea how to name or describe this thing so that new vegans would be interested in joining, too.

But I can see it providing a stepping stone for plant-based curious. For instance, they could come here looking for which frozen meat-free burger is healthiest and leave with some recipes for bean burgers you make from scratch. They might come here wondering if milk and eggs are bad for the environment and learn something about how milk and eggs are bad for cows and chickens.

Anyway, it sounds good in theory. Not sure if there is a way it could work.

Hmmm. I think there should still be an area for sermonizing. I think it's disingenous to have a veggie forum where you act like it's cool for people to keep eating meat. There can be sections for talking about other things, like food and health, that's off-limits to debates or hard conversations, but I think taking it off the forum completely turns this place into something that isn't really vegan or even ethically vegetarian.

The percentage of vegans in the United States and the United Kingdom have increased significantly in the past five years, so I'm not sure I agree with your assessment either that "vegans aren't fueling this stuff." Veganism has been steadily increasing in the West over the past decade, to a shocking degree if you go back ten or fifteen years instead of just five.

Yes, there are definitely people who are flexitarian, lactose intolerant, and paleo who drink plant based milks and flexitarians who eat Beyond Burgers. I agree that this is significant.

Honestly, from my perspective one of the problems on this forum is the emphasis on oil-free diets and diets for health conditions. The vast majority of flexitarians and new vegans, especially in US, don't want to hear that aside from cutting out meat and dairy, now they shouldn't eat olive oil or Impossible Burgers either. I went off about this more than once on the forum. I'm not saying everyone does it, or that even the people who do it, do it in some "rude" or "mean" way...but it's off-putting to average people who like to eat. Even if they might be interested in oil free or WFPB later on, I don't think it should be equated automatically with going vegan.

 

[SapphireLightning]

Celestia in Equestria, whatever you do, don't let it turn in to veggieboards, where you can't even bring up anything vegan in a vegetarian sub-board. I came here because it is more focused, and less of a mess like many of these "veg and vegans" sites. Then again, from my perspective there is little difference between the actions of a vegetarian and a carnist, as they both involve basically the same thing just in a different order, so what do I know...

 

[Forest Nymph]

Celestia in Equestria, whatever you do, don't let it turn in to veggieboards, where you can't even bring up anything vegan in a vegetarian sub-board. I came here because it is more focused, and less of a mess like many of these "veg and vegans" sites. Then again, from my perspective there is little difference between the actions of a vegetarian and a carnist, as they both involve basically the same thing just in a different order, so what do I know...

While I differ from you in that I do see the difference in an ethical vegetarian from a carnist because the ethical vegetarian thinks they're doing the right thing, care a lot more about animals or the environment in an active hands on way, have similar views, and may even belong to PETA or have a plant based diet with extremely rare exceptions...the carnist is still asleep to the truth or makes excuses or doesn't care...I agree with you about the veggie boards. It's dominated with a very ineffective kind of passivity that makes activists out to be devils.

That is why I strongly suggest rules or boundaries that prevent judgment or sermons in the health or food sections so newbies have a place to learn and transition slowly...but that areas like philosophy and animals are fair game for activists arguments as long as there's no name calling or cruelty.

 

[SapphireLightning]

While I differ from you in that I do see the difference in an ethical vegetarian from a carnist because the ethical vegetarian thinks they're doing the right thing, care a lot more about animals or the environment in an active hands on way, have similar views, and may even belong to PETA or have a plant based diet with extremely rare exceptions...the carnist is still asleep to the truth or makes excuses or doesn't care...I agree with you about the veggie boards. It's dominated with a very ineffective kind of passivity that makes activists out to be devils.

That is why I strongly suggest rules or boundaries that prevent judgment or sermons in the health or food sections so newbies have a place to learn and transition slowly...but that areas like philosophy and animals are fair game for activists arguments as long as there's no name calling or cruelty.

My biggest concern with veggieboards was that in their "vegetarian support subboard" as well as all other sub-boards that were not specifically the two vegan ones, no-one was allowed to correct a factual error if it could even be construed to be pushing veganism. Examples include a joke that went "Vegetarian, why not go vegan, its easier to spell" (which was seen as a huge affront), as well as vegetarians posting factually inaccurate information about how ethical the dairy industry (or egg or yadda yadda) was being off limits, which all I can think means that it creates an echo chamber where people think that such industries are somehow ethical. Oh and the reason why I all but left there, someone posted how they are vegetarian because "they felt they were doing enough good by being vegetarian" and I pointed out that doing less unnecessary harm is not "doing good", just doing less bad. That's it, just a simple statement. Never did I claim to be doing good... Well that one got deleted.

Sorry to ramble, but this is important to me, I also worry that we would get a lot more of the "we should promote a vegetarian diet instead of veganism, as one is a diet the other a philosophy that may turn people off" types. Which is a false dichotomy, which really just means we need to be more clear with people what the word vegan means, it basically boiling down to doing as little unnecessary harm as is possible and practicable. Something most people, if it was presented in such a way, would agree with.

</ramble>

 

[Forest Nymph]

My biggest concern with veggieboards was that in their "vegetarian support subboard" as well as all other sub-boards that were not specifically the two vegan ones, no-one was allowed to correct a factual error if it could even be construed to be pushing veganism. Examples include a joke that went "Vegetarian, why not go vegan, its easier to spell" (which was seen as a huge affront), as well as vegetarians posting factually inaccurate information about how ethical the dairy industry (or egg or yadda yadda) was being off limits, which all I can think means that it creates an echo chamber where people think that such industries are somehow ethical. Oh and the reason why I all but left there, someone posted how they are vegetarian because "they felt they were doing enough good by being vegetarian" and I pointed out that doing less unnecessary harm is not "doing good", just doing less bad. That's it, just a simple statement. Never did I claim to be doing good... Well that one got deleted.

Sorry to ramble, but this is important to me, I also worry that we would get a lot more of the "we should promote a vegetarian diet instead of veganism, as one is a diet the other a philosophy that may turn people off" types. Which is a false dichotomy, which really just means we need to be more clear with people what the word vegan means, it basically boiling down to doing as little unnecessary harm as is possible and practicable. Something most people, if it was presented in such a way, would agree with.

</ramble>

Yes I do see your point especially on a non academic forum. Because of my grad school project though I may very well have to play the "less harm" hand as part of my thesis. I have already had to read an entire book about salmon runs, articles about native diets including shell fish like abalone, and how ranchers worked with environmentalists on restoration projects. I will absolutely have to burst the local delusion about grassfed beef ranches, but there may be a a "show the other side" portion of my thesis where I'll probably be seen as less biased if I do argue local dairy is more sustainable than exploiting animals for their flesh and that native fishing is more sustainable than white Western commercial fisheries. Still the case I'll ultimately argue for is 100 percent plant based when possible and practical.

So from an academic standpoint I understand vegetarianism as an easier sell ...that being said in my personal life and as an activist I agree with you. Normalizing fish and eggs while painting vegans as extreme keeps the bar too low and leads to social pressure and ex vegans.

 

[ThaiVegan]

good idea to tap into the growing interest of vegan foods by non vegan people.
but i am sure if interested non vegans get an ice cold sermon instead of a nice welcome, they might vow to NEVER EAT OR DRINK VEGAN PRODUCTS.
Maybe make a forumthread named "flexitarians" where ppl who eat occasionally or regularly eat veg can post? With the strict rule absolutely no preaching from us "real vegans", and the understanding its THEIR subforum.
Also to make it more atractive to non vegans, and maybe also atractive to new vegans, is to make the forum more mainstream topics and less childish. (sorry dont know how to put it else)
Lastly, i think it would be wise to keep the name "vegan" for clarity. Anything else would only confuse potential visitors what to expect.

 

[rogerjolly]

Suppose a clock repair hobbyist wants to set up a forum for fellow enthusiasts. They might decide to have sub-forums along the lines of:
Weight driven clocks (= say, Animals)
Spring driven clocks (= say, Support)
Electric clocks (= say, Philosophy)
Pocket watches (= say, Food)
Turret clocks (= say, Environment
Clepsydras (= say, Health)
Metronomes (= say, Transitioning)

Or perhaps even:
Orreries (= say, Lounge)

They would certainly not under any circumstances consider:
Wind-up toys (= say, Vegetarians)
Blacksmithing (= say, Pescatarians)
Steam engines (= say, Flexitarians)
Stamp collecting (= say, Carnists)

Vegans appreciate that eating less meat is better than a plateful and that being a veggie is better still. But we need to keep our identity. We have to have a place to spread the message for when people are ready to receive it. I believe that these forums are by far the best place to do that.

It would be detrimental to our cause if we diluted the message in a doomed attempt to attract a larger foot-fall. Veggies have a multitude of sites for support and will come to us when they are ready. To quote Mom2vegan: “I get it! Finally!”

Roger.