Fort Smith Website to help our Online Community
Submitted by Shayne McKinney on October 30, 2007 - 9:49am.
This is a project Kirkham System has been working on for a long time. Many of the components of the YEL website was based on our work on www.thecitywire.com. Let me tell everyone what this project is and how it will affect everyone in our area over the next few years.
Right now if you want to find something in Fort Smith you probably don't turn to the internet. It is difficult to find what you are looking for in Fort Smith with basic Google searches. If you were to search for "fort smith plumbers" or "fort smith lawn service" your results will be very poor and will give you very little information about what few companies you might find. This is because Fort Smith as a community doesn't have enough information available in a Google friendly design for Google to be able to return good results. I know this sounds geeky but please hang in there for a few more sentences and this should all make sense. Fort Smith websites as a whole have been very poorly designed over the years. They do not present information in the best possible way for Google to create good databases. Google may be able to give you a phone number for a few plumbers but you could already get that from the phone book. The City Wire is intended to become an entire Google friendly website feeding information out about Fort Smith businesses, events, food and even people. The objective is to make every business and every event in Fort Smith benefit from the internet. Then company websites won't just be out there hoping someone finds them, but will instead become a tool for reaching out to the large number of people using the internet in our area. Best of all this entire site will be free. It will be free to list a business, free to list events, free to sell cars and other stuff in the classifieds, free to create a page about yourself.
This site has just gone operational a few days ago and we will be working and improving on it over the next few months. What we need in order to make our vision a reality is for as many people to list events, and businesses as possible. Also if you see something you know you like be sure and rate it or leave a comment talking about it. All the information submitted will be available so other website visitors can learn from your experiances. Think of how much more useful it will be when you look at plumbers online and you see who is the highest rated and has the best reviews instead of who paid the most for a big ad in the yellowpages.
If you think of something the website needs please feel free to suggest it we are working very hard to make this the best site possible.
IMO
Submitted by Kelly Kastel on November 9, 2007 - 10:09am.
My honest "opinion" on the bus benches is they are just plain tacky. Yes, we need to provide decent seating for those that utilize the transportation system, but why does it have to the first company that comes along with a solution that is unattractive and detracts from our long term mission and current efforts to develop the appearance of our city?
The website and the bus benches are connected in the fact they both indicate a disregard for meeting needs that FIT with Fort Smith. FSM needs more incremental improvements over incremental changes. Our city is on the national histroic register; we have civil war history and are the new site of the US Marshall's museum. It is up to us to manage the definition of our importance and make incremental improvements that fit with the vision, history and passion of our city.
» reply
I Love Fort Smith
Submitted by Shayne McKinney on November 9, 2007 - 11:14am.
I think our city is a great place. And I think we are moving in the right direction. However I don't think we should lose track of what we really are.
Right now we are a city with outdated drainage in violation of EPA standards. An Economy based mostly on manufacturing that is eventually going to move overseas, and higher than average sales taxes.
We have the potential to be a Mercedes, but right now we are a work truck. Painting flames on the side and putting an extra lift on it doesn't change the fact that the engine isn't quite there yet.
If we need something like benches and someone offers a solution that doesn't take much revenue from the other necessary projects such as drainage, then lets take them up on the offer. In a few years we can always replace them with something nicer. Making downtown nicer has been very helpful for the city and needed to be done. I'm not against that, but I am against not accepting a solution that fills a need because we are trying to be something we are not.
Don't get me wrong on this I think the benches are ugly, I also think the city has wasted money on many things (387 libraries for a town with 80,000 people when everyone lives within 10 minutes of the main branch, there is public transportation to get to the main branch and a bookmobile service. In an age where the internet is quickly obsoleting the traditional library.) I would rather see the city use ugly benches than waste more money on benches instead of addressing the old problems. Anyway I'm kind of rambling right now so I'm going to stop now.
Shayne Mckinney
» reply
My honest opinion, this is
Submitted by Kelly Kastel on October 31, 2007 - 3:43pm.
My honest opinion, this is just another unbranded Fort Smith website that really doesn't give a cohesive image of the town working together to fulfill a need that is a one-stop source of communication for this town. And another, the word River Valley is also going against the recent campaign that was launched to bring this region together based on the TIP Report, which YEL is a product of. The Greater Fort Smith Region is the official name that needs to be utilized when possible. As a part of YEL and a member of the LC, which is supported by the Chamber, I would think that you are in a position to help grow this initiative.
And also without proper promotion and visibility, how will people know this site exists? There are a ton of Fort Smith websites, but no one knows about them because there again, is not one joint voice working together to promote our town and region. Maybe you can advertise this site on the beautiful plastic bus stop benches that adds to the quality of place in our region.
» reply
We are starting with a mild campain
Submitted by Shayne McKinney on November 1, 2007 - 8:47am.
The purpose of the current adds are to attract the business, and organizations that make up our community. We are targeting ads (not plastic bus benches) at that goal. The purpose of this site is not to be another Fort Smith Site, but to drive information to Google to build up each individual business in Fort Smith's own website. We don't want to steal traffic but to build traffic for the companies.
That being said it will be benefitial for any business to set up a free listing on The City Wire that links back to their site.
Shayne Mckinney
» reply
"Fort Smith websites as a
Submitted by Kelly Kastel on November 1, 2007 - 8:57am.
"Fort Smith websites as a whole have been very poorly designed over the years. They do not present information in the best possible way for Google to create good databases. Google may be able to give you a phone number for a few plumbers but you could already get that from the phone book. The City Wire is intended to become an entire Google friendly website feeding information out about Fort Smith businesses, events, food and even people."
Based on that information, I would think you are marketing this as a city portal website....making this...another poorly designed city website. If the purpose is to go online and find Fort Smith Businesses, what sets this apart from say yellowpages.com except for the fact its the local version? Looks like FSM's version of NWA's gopickle.com.
» reply
May I Cut In?
Submitted by Dawn Hreben on November 1, 2007 - 9:43am.
I get what both of you, Shane and Kelly are saying, but, if I may, I'd like to add $.02 here....
I've learned since I started my event planning service and since I constructed my own website, that the only way to show up on internet searches is to get visits.
- Shane, don't jump on me, but the only way I was able to get my head around the concept was to cut it in to bite sized pieces....here goes:
Google - a search engine- is fueld by information gathered on the internet. If the information does not exist on the internet, Google has nothing to offer the searcher.
The vendor that has a website should not expect to get visits by clicking the "launch" button on his server. He has to load information in to the interent. How? Well the more stuff...ANY STUFF, that contains your business name....negative or otherwise, can and eventually will be gathered by Google.
The point (for the vendor) is to get people into his site and/or store. He gets this traffic by joining free sites, search engines, posting blogs, message boards and even joining marketing assistance engines that Google, Yahoo and others offer.
I've been a member of "Party Pop" for 6 months now. Party Pop is an event planning search engine. One can search by city, state, vendor, occassion and more. It is, by far, one of the tackiest search engines I've run across, but a LOT of people use it...because it has the information people need.
The difference between Yellowpages.com and a local website is that with YP (yellowpages) you get one free listing that just has name and phone number with address. What if your business is web based? YP has an answer but it will cost ya! It's not cheap. There are different levels, one is that the website is mentioned and another if the link is live (meaning one can click on it to be taken directly to the site).
If a business pays for this service, through YP, the business is not guarenteed traffic because YP can only provide listings at that level...not information saturation. However, for a fee.....
Getting the picture, like I did? They all make their money some how, huh?
A free site, poorly designed or not, will generate information saturation for both Fort Smith and the businesses that call her home!
» reply
Your close to catching on
Submitted by Shayne McKinney on November 1, 2007 - 10:28am.
Let me tell you a story that might get you more in the ballpark of how we are thinking. Youtube was created to share video for free. They didn't sell ads, and they didn't charge for their service. 1 year later they sold for 1.65 Billion dollars (I think thats the amount). How can Youtube be worth so much without selling or charging for its services? When you figure out what the value of Youtube is then you'll understand more what The City Wire's purpose is. Just change video to local data.
Shayne Mckinney
» reply
Ya' Gotta Love The American Way! $1.65 Billion....
Submitted by Dawn Hreben on November 1, 2007 - 12:02pm.
Woohoo! I wish I had a "figure" like that!
I think I get it: innovation + information = recognition + profit
» reply
No not at all
Submitted by Shayne McKinney on November 1, 2007 - 9:21am.
The purpose of gopickle.com is to sell advertising to people who are visiting gopickle.com. Thus to get it's own traffic as high as possible.
The purpose of thecitywire.com is to feed useful information regarding companies and people in Fort Smith in a manor that helps google return good search results. It will have some of its own visitors for things like events and movie times, but the purpose of it is to legitimize the value of Google search for our local community. Of course if you don't like it thats fine. We have almost no features turned on so far since we are mainly creating the content right now, the other aspects will be turned on over the next few weeks and I think you might like it more then. This was just a preview for YEL anyway.
Shayne Mckinney
» reply
Good deal
Submitted by Kelly Kastel on November 5, 2007 - 2:58pm.
Great technology it sounds like, but I believe form and function go hand-in-hand. You mentioned poorly designed websites in your initial post and I think that is where I started. Maybe upgrading the design of the overall site will increase the impact the site has, as an innovative product incorporates all facets of design and how it impacts a products overall function.
Wish the city leaders tried to find something more innovative than plastic bus stop benches! Good luck with the site....
» reply
Official clarification
First, City Wire is 100% a private enterprise development. Personally, and professionally, I think the initiative is a great idea, it has merit, and I hope it succeeds. If the community as a whole will contribute content, perhaps it will catch on.
Second, I'm not quite sure what bus benches have to do with a privately-developed interactive website. In fact, I'm certain the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. But hey, it's late on a Tuesday evening. I'm on vacation. I'll take a stab at it.
Let's get the issue of innovation out of the way first. A quick wiki search turns up this definition:
Public transit riders in Fort Smith had a problem. More people are using public transportation. Older residents use the bus for doctors appointments, trips to the pharmacy, the library, or the grocery store. Younger residents get their children to child care and then go to work via public transit. I know this because I've ridden a complete route.
Each transit route makes dozens of stops. Few places are equipped with benches or sheltered areas. It's tough to stand in the heat and wait for a bus if you're 25, let alone 85.
Several months ago, a company came along and said, "We'll put x number of benches at your most high traffic locations, at no charge. We'll maintain the benches, we'll collect trash from any containers we install. All we want is the opportunity to sell advertising."
The program is relatively new, so we'll see if it works.
Solving a problem. Incremental changes.
We still need more covered waiting areas for transit riders. Hopefully, the city can maximize some federal funding and help increase the number of benches and shelters to supplement the public private partnership with the company currently adding benches.
Innovation.
By the way, any YEL member who would like to take a one hour spin -- or less -- on a Fort Smith Transit route, let me know. I'll hook you up. It's an eye-opening experience.