Aug 15 2007
DigitalPoint Keeps Webmaster Forum Marketshare Through 2007
By Jeremy Schoemaker
66 comments 
If Alexa is good for anything its comparing niche websites. Especially when the traffic dips and spikes are mirrored.
I first noticed last fall that DP had overtaken webmaster world and it looks like it is holding onto its marketshare through 2007.
- 66 Comments. What say you?
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I think size is not a very accurate measure of a site’s quality. Sure both WMW and DP are huge and have a ton of traffic. But is that traffic quality traffic? Lots of people surf through there that have no clue what the heck they are doing. Congrats to DP though. I imagine this is a tough niche to tackle. I however will stick to the smaller webmaster forums where people actually have some clue as to what they are talking about.
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absolutely incredible how the spikes and dips are mirrored. my personal opinion is that DP is full of more people who have no idea what they are doing and new to business on the internet than wmw
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DP hold the record most likely because of the Buy, Sell, & Trade forum. Even though I think all of DP is great, but I tend to get more guru advice from WMW and I tend to Buy, Sell, & Trade on DP.
I also found that Google favors DP - as they crawl it constantly, I’ve seen DP post reach the top search results for keywords on Google within a few hours.
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I like using compete.com There numbers arent ususal correct but are decent for comparision.
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I’m wondering why that HUGE spike 1 line after 2006…
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I gotta say I dig DP way more than WMW, more insight from members’ posts.
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Yep one of the few uses for Alexa alright, I would say the comparison is pretty fair. DP wins for me every time just because the mod’ing/anti-spamming measures are top. Plus a great online marketplace also.
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By the way, the image pokes into the sidebar in FF. Just thought I’d point it out…
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That is an interesting spike. Not sure what could have caused it.
The decline back to ‘06 levels is a bit odd. You’d think the graph would show a progressive incline with the amount new people getting online combined with the percentage of people using broadband (longer visits).
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Wow, a 200% jump in what looks like one day for both forums, What happened March-April 06?
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I think that is when a lot of Digg users banded together and downloaded the Alexa toolbar to bump up the Alexa rating of Digg. Obviously a lot of overlap between Digg users and webmasters. In fact you’ll see a similar spike for many tech related sites.
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The best thing about Dp isn’t the advice or the quality of the discussions. Its the liquid marketplace that it provides. You can sell nearly anything on there.
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I think much of what you see with Alexa as far as trends dips and spikes (especially when 2 sites track similar patterns) is changes in Alexa toolbar usage.
I see a downward trend in Alexa when I look at some of the major affiliate marketing sites. For example here’s my 5 Star Affiliate Programs site compared to Affiliate Tip.
I know for a fact that our traffic isn’t going down and I doubt WMW and DP traffic is going down either.
I suspect it’s largely due to less people using the Alexa toolbar. Something to do with the toolbar is probably responsible for that big spike they both had at the same time too.
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DP is way better than WMW. Everyone around DP is so friendly and willing to help out. God forbid you ask something at WMW. Anything I seem to ask, I get my head bitten off by the cocky posters.
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Even though the two sites are in the same niche, I find their demographics very different. To me, DP seems to be dominated by newbies and webmasters outside North America & Western Europe (that probably explains the dismal AdSense EPC). WMW seems to be the polar opposite.
A newbie or anyone who likes to helps newbies would certainly get more out of DP.
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take down your new set of pics
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WMW has too many restrictions. And Brett Tabke thinks he invented the internet.
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DP is bettter than WMW.
I’ve been a active member on both forums and DP has the better webmaster community.
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Two very different forums. I visit both, but spend most of my time and effort at WmW. DP is clearly less regulated, which offers some advantages, which some folks take full advantage of. There’s some very smart folks who hang out at DP but they’re far outnumbered. The mix at WmW strikes me as a bit more professional. Decent advice at both places. Far more noise at DP but that goes with the rules or lack thereof. Still, in a busy world, you gotta sometimes make choices and I just don’t have much time for filtering out the noise. Noise is not the same as “noob”. We all like to help the noob. It’s more the promotional or “money, money, money” chatter that limits my time at DP. Not a bad subject to talk about. Just not all the empowering.
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Wow look at that huge spike Q2 2006, any idea what caused that?
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Alexa really has become useless these days. But it is cool to see that these sites in the same niche stick together in terms of spikes and falls. Very interesting.
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There’s no doubt about it… as far as free forums go, DP rules the roost. I have learned so much from DP and have gotten much traffic from dp as well from my signatures.
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I also give out advice on what I have learned quite a bit too… i’m more than happy to give back and can’t wait to do it more as I learn more…
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wmw - quality vs dp quantity
I stopped to read dp only looking sometimes at marketplace . Too many newbies there and same lame questions again and again .
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As far as Marketplace is concerned DP has been great for that. I one of my previous online businesses privately but the new owner found it via Digital Point.
When I think of WW however I think of solid advice.
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On average the advice is crappy on both
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Its funny how the spikes seem to match up. Shows how much the internet is based on trends
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I am sorry to say, I agree. Way too many marketplace posts in particular. People selling links, domains, MFA sites, etc.
Quality has really declined IMO.
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I first saw compete on popuri.us and didn’t know what it was. Still don’t really.
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Dang, him and Al Gore should duel.
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I love digitalpoint. Its a great community and good advice (most of the time)
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dp is full of kids and broken English speaking Indians now asking the same questions over and over everyday (when is ypn coming to India?). WMW has more knowledgeable people that are in the business, not just wanting to start.
On a side note, I like DP, and it’s where I learned a lot, but it’s no longer desirable.
PLEASE NOTE - I’m not prejudice towards Indians or anyone for that matter. I’m simply just pointing out that a good majority of DP is now Indian users. That’s all…
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I think there was a big algo update that freaked people out.
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I visit DP mostly because I’m one of those still “starting”.
DP has lot of ideas, resources and of course, a fair dose of spam and nonsense.
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Long live DP. Heck, its like the NYSE over there. hey, wouldn’t it be cool if they would make a ticker for the being sold iteams in “realtime” ahla the NYSE ticker;).
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I’m not surprised. DP has so many users with like 0-10 post counts. almost everyone is new!
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yea DP is arlight, but I like other forums better when it comes to getting advice.
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DP is better, this comes as no surprise. Shawn must be pleased.
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DP is hands down the best. I have received a ton of great information from the users there. I find it amazing how similar the two graphs can be at times: rising and falling.
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DP is the best. Since i joined DP in 2005 it has grown so much and i love this graph.
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I stick to what i know. I found DP first, i use DP.
I’ve never really tried wmw. i’ve just looked at it now — the posts seem good, but the design of the site is very off putting. You get so used to vb and phpbb dont you
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thats pretty cool. I prefer DP
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Digital Point should do better because they don’t charge to be a member. They found a better way to generate revenue. I do like Webmaster World’s quick news blog though.
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The discussions are good, but you have to take everything with a grain of salt. I have learned a lot there, but if you didn’t know what you were doing you could get in trouble fast.
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I prefer digital point..
I agree there is alot of noise there and a lot of junk info going around but i find the ideas floating around a bit more cutting edge. Webmaster World is more about good old traditional SEO.
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webmaster world looks 2000, new webmasters will not embrace something that is behind the times.
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I am a DP guy, and always have been. For some reason I cant seem to use any other board like this. The members are informative, and are willing to help…
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I’m really not surprised. Wasn’t webmaster world the guys that totally black hated (the verb form of “hat”, duh.) millions of their pages and got tonnes of Google searchers very annoyed? Well, obviously they’ve lost that edge now.
No one really uses them. xP
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I guess thats just more proof of the “digg” effect.
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Gosh i never heard of webmaster world !
And i am not joking on that fact .
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True, very true. Some of the AdSense forum regulars have some dangerous advice for n00bies.
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“Gosh i never heard of webmaster world !” yea, wmw is like so web1.0.
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There’s a lot of self-proclaimed experts in just about every forum. I think the best way to learn is to read and learn from personal experience.
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I have been a member on DP for some time and those spikes are definitely from the Buy, Sell, trade section. There is so much commerce going on on the forum that it is crazy!
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I have only recently discovered Digital Point forums but I love them - and prefer them to the Webmaster Forums too, and found digital point to be more active.
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Yes i agree with you. DP buy sell trade section got some very legitimate deals and amazingly you get the best deals there.
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Well, I’d be happy. But I’m still trying to increase Alexa
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yeah, but it drowns out the real SEO conversations.
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It’s amazing to see an “tiny” forum surpass an established one in any field… then again… I bet WWW was considered “tiny” at one point in time?? Where did it start?! :p
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Come on now… alexa ranking doesn’t matter anymore… you can increase it yourself just by visiting your site with the alexa toolbar… what you need to increase is ACTUALY TRAFFIC no?!
COME ON :p
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Agreed - compete.com has given better stats on my sites since the beginning bro
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i never used webmaster world i started with digital point forums then i discovered webmaster world but didnt like it as digital point forums
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Digital Point’s traffic is very large.
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I love DP. It’s definitely one of the most productvie, helpful, insightful forums on internet marketing on the net.
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