Poker1 status report #004 (Caro blog)

  • By Mike Caro | Exit
Poker1.com default content graphicEntry #16 (2010-09-08)

My intention was to add this report five days ago, but I got sidetracked. That’s typical of my lifestyle. Not proud of it. Just sayin’.

If you missed the announcement, the official opening date for Poker1 has been pushed back to October 21, 2010. Previously, it had been tentatively announced as September 1. The change is explained in New opening date set for Poker1 (Caro blog).

I’m toying with the idea of pushing the date back another 10 days. This wouldn’t be due to development delays, though.

Easier to compare

I think we can meet our current schedule. Rather, it would be done because starting on the first day of a month (November) would make it easier to compare monthly statistical data. Otherwise, we’ll be dealing with one month (October) that spans dates falling both before and after the official opening. I’ll let you know if this change happens. Meanwhile, we’re still targeting October 21.

Traffic has continued to increase, despite the termination (two months ago) of a brief experiment with Goggle AdWords, the absence of major public announcements, still-pending search engine optimization (SEO), no syndicated content, and no link exchanges. Most or all of that will change as soon as we officially open.

Meanwhile, I greatly appreciate your early visits and will continue to keep you updated on our progress. Don’t forget, I’ve made the internal daily to-do list and change log available to the public, with links on the home page.

September has started out even stronger than August, with just over 7,000 average entries read daily and 1,658 visits daily. Here are the numbers (scroll down to see the August statistics)…

Poker1 traffic during development (update for August, 2010)

Once again, the new month (September) has started off at a faster-than-expected pace, with both site visits and the number of entries that were seen scoring higher than the August averages.

March, 2010 (16th and after)
— Average daily site visits: 714
Average daily page visits: 2,830

We opened up the site without fanfare on March 16, so anyone wishing to witness our progress and mistakes could do so.

We had 716 visits that same day, probably generated through word-of-mouth curiosity. (There were 13 visits the previous day. Most likely those were associated with development efforts.) On March 30, we had 859 visits (the highest for the month — low for post-public opening was 595 two days earlier). We had anticipated an average of 200 visits per day during the development phase.

Total site visits (16 days): 22,132 prorated (11,423 actual)

High day: 859 (March 30)

Low day: 593 (March 22 — except for 15th and earlier)

Total page visits (16 days): 87,716 prorated (45,273 actual)

April, 2010
Average daily site visits: 1,016
Average daily page visits: 3,249

Total site visits: 30,486

High day: 1,895 (April 12)

Low day: 799 (April 2)

Total page visits: 97,489

May, 2010
Average daily visits: 1,359
Average page visits 5,651

In May, we began with 847 visits on the 1st and haven’t been under 1,000 in the 31 days since (including June 1).

Total site visits: 42,153

High day: 3,461 (May 25)

Low day: 847 (May 1)

Total page visits: 175,206

June, 2010

— Average daily visits: 1,362
— Average page visits 5,321

In May, we began with 847 visits on the 1st and hadn’t been under 1,000 in 52 days, until June 23 (988 visits).

Total site visits: 40,869

High day: 2,951 (June 30)

Low day: 847 (June 23)

Total page visits: 159,652

July, 2010

— Average daily visits: 1,366
— Average page visits 5,605

Total site visits: 42,368

High day: 2,197 (July 24)

Low day: 1,072 (July 9)

Total page visits: 173,776

August, 2010

— Average daily visits: 1,540
— Average page visits 6,313

Total site visits: 47,776

High day: 4,475 (August 15)

Low day: 1,160 (August 6)

Total page visits: 195,711

Remaining tasks before grand opening

(Below: Tasks marked “Postponed until after opening” will be mentioned within “Coming soon” notices in “About” sections below main menu tabs. Some menu items will be temporarily removed, until the related content is ready.)

Here is our in-house, unedited to-do list of what still needs to happen before we can announce our grand opening…

  • Open forum and seed with at least three posts from me to stimulate early discussion
  • Add at least three one-minute audios to begin the series
  • Add at least three one-minute videos to begin the series
  • PARTIALLY DONE. Add at least 200 more archived entries (about 100 to go)
  • Format and add poker statistics from existing MCU tables (only five are complete so far)
  • Put into place a plan for grand opening announcements and other ways to drive traffic to Poker1
  • Contact other poker, gambling, and general-topic sites about link exchanges and offer syndicated columns or audios to generate traffic
  • Plan Yahoo!, Bing, AdWords opening day blitz
  • Add all three Mike Caro vs. Doyle Brunson heads-up videos
  • DONE. Make all indexes work (except for those with asterisks under INDEX tab in main menu)
  • MCU Gym – add explanation of what it is with possibly one or more training exercises in place
  • Add links to next entry at the bottom of all lectures and tests that are in a series
  • PARTIALLY DONE. MCU library in main menu – complete links and indexes for articles and audios (Dictionary page now functioning)
  • Put up free online books, possibly including large portions of the original Book of Tells
  • DONE. Finish making Wiesenberg/MCU poker dictionary fully functional
  • Add rule books from casinos and other entities with permission to use
  • Create a pending section for MCU official poker rules that will be completed one-by-one with public discussion invited
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Poker history articles – add entries and links to other recommended on-topic sites
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Poker history museum – add pictures of ORAC (my artificially intelligent poker player, circa 1984) with accompanying explanatory entry
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Poker history timeline — create and publish
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Poker people / MCU Monuments of Poker — Add first three entries
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Poker people / Poker profiles – begin with a dozen in-depth ones at grand opening
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Yet More MCU – add something to get this started
  • Shop – fill in “about” and add all current products in categories with credit card processing functionality
  • Write and publish page or entry for Brain Trust methods section
  • Call experts  into session to create first new Brain Trust odds
  • Announce and publish first group of current Brain Trust odds
  • Add to older Brain Trust Odds section – legacy articles and audios for historical purposes
  • Write and publish “About” for Zone 2
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Complete for Zone 2 (starting content): Current events, Press Releases, links to happenings
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Complete for Zone 2 (starting content): Current News (updated daily with links and short descriptions of stories)
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Complete for Zone 2: Gallery – Photos submitted by others, subdivide. Include MCU campus photos
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: In Gambling – basic dictionary and say that it’s “going to grow”
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Gambling encyclopedia – say that it’s pending, but add two entries to begin
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Complete for Zone 2: Gambling games and rules — descriptions and rules all major forms of gambling need to be added before launch
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Gambling history – brief overview; link to entries from sites
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Complete for Zone 2: Gambling odds – create and link, also, to poker odds
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Gamblers and gambling-related people – capsule bios with possible links
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Gambling strategy – begin with at least 10 entries and provide links to other sites
  • POSSIBLY WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Inside Mike’s Mind — thoughts from essays, articles, and columns (include “Shadows in the Tent,” not actual title, plus selections from old “Caro on Gambling” book), two new commentaries on life
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Articles — two new entries
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Audios — two new entries
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Videos — two new entries
  • Create for Zone 2: Links — choose ones to add from still-operating sites on the old Poker1 list and new recommendations
  • Complete for Zone 2: MCU Press Package – add questions most frequently asked, link to bio, opinions, quotes (with links to entries discussing what I mean), contact information, artwork (including photos) for download, endorsements of me, MCU, and Poker1, and interview aids (topics I’m ready to discuss, with my likely answers to common questions)
  • POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER OPENING. Create for Zone 2: Yet More Zone 2 – add various things, including Table Rock Lake description and why I moved to the Ozarks
  • DONE. Select and add content or special widgets for right sidebar to make it approximately equal in length with left sidebar
  • PARTIALLY DONE. Fill in all pages, entries, or other gaps in main menu, so structure is complete and some starting content is in place for each selection (Dictionary page complete)
  • You’re up to date through the end of August, 2010. Although not much was done on the list above during August, many refinements were added. You can see the history of these in Poker1 log of changes and additions: 2010-08— MC

    Published by

    Mike Caro

    Visit Mike on   → Twitter   ♠ OR ♠    → FaceBook

    Known as the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Mike Caro is generally regarded as today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU). See full bio → HERE.

     

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