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Alright, so there are rumors swirling of imminent changes here, and I am here to say these rumors are untrue. However, the owners have been recently discussing the idea of a name change, among other changes. There is one thing I can guarantee: Nothing if official. Nothing is set in stone. We're only discussing ideas on how to move forward, and how we can make this forum bigger, with more activity. About 1 week ago Shaggy & Iceman contacted me privately, which we do from time to time, and they asked me some basic questions. My commitment to SI, how do I feel about the IPB Software, would I be open to changing to another software, etc. Then came the big question - "What would you think about a name change? Keeping the same IPB but changing Sportzin to something else, like SportsForums.com?"
I was honest. I said I was 50/50 on a name change because for starters it's not my decision to make, and I told him the reason we're still chugging along is because of the core group of guys. The members who have been posting here for 5+ years, some even since day
1. If they're not on board with a change of identity, it won't work.
2. It has to be a good name, something unique. An then I told him the best idea would be to start a website - could be attached to SI as a "main page" or be independent, and if it was working after a year, then you attach SI to it, and THEN consider changing the name.
Turns out we were thinking along similar lines. Shaggy & Iceman own other forums, and their idea for a while has been to start a website, and use that sort of as a hub for all their forums. Forums they currently own, and forums they plan to create down the road. Their idea is to name it something like SportsDriven.com, which isn't too bad. It's a bold idea, and I like it. And he admitted it may not work, but they want to go for it.
Then we turned things over to the staff. I mentioned that we have guys on staff, most notably Pugz, who have been here for a long time. If you want to gauge how a name change would be received, that's the place to get your first impression. And again, it seems like the staff is 50/50. I also told him to ask the members here before making any final decisions, because what's the point if the majority of the users aren't in favor of it? This isn't a Ricktatorship, it's a democracy. If we decide on a name, we'll vote. If the staff approves it, then we might go to all of the members and have you guys vote (I say maybe. I can't speak for the owners).
The idea is to bring in more traffic. A name change is one way. I'm sure there are others we could explore. Shaggy's feeling is that a name like SportsForums or The Sports Forum would show up higher in google searches, etc. He also told me he is open to suggestions. I don't know anything about SEO, I really wish I did.
Personally, I don't know if a name change will work. I feel like we could change the name, but it should be unique. And the best way for it to grow is by networking - by people hearing about it. "Hey, you should check out yada yada, great place to debate sports". Pushing it on social media platforms. Acquire other dying forums to bring in their members, even if only 5-10 stick around. Using weekly/monthly email newsletters to possibly bring back members who haven't been on in months or even years. Podcasts (again, social media), etc.
It won't change over night, but with hard work, after a few years it could work out. There are tons of examples of websites that blew up. One off the top of my head is Barstool. The writers are morons, there's no editing, content gets repeated - just a bunch of bros who started up a blog years ago and they sold 1/2 of it for millions. That's incredible. It took time, but it paid off. I'm not saying we'll make millions from this, but if you work hard and push the website, market it on social media and so on, it can be successful.
This thread is for an open discussion on ideas. What are your thoughts. Do you think a name change would bring in more traffic? Do you have suggestions for other names. We're open to hearing suggestions on names or other ways to bring in traffic. We value your input.
PS. It could be as simple as changing from "SportzIn.com/forums" to "SportsIn.com/forums". Someone goes on google and searches "Sports Forum" we show up right away. But with that Z, we don't.
