For several months, I’ve been kicking around the idea of getting this website restarted after a 3 year hibernation. It’s been a great little hobby since I launched it in September of 2011. It grew to levels I never thought imaginable, and opened several doors for me.
But as time passed discouragement set in. Google algorithms did the site no favors unless you posted daily or weekly content to your site. It would get buried in Google searches, which took a hit on the site’s visits, which in turn made it difficult to stay motivated to put the time into heading to an RV dealership to gather info and photos of a new towable you all might be interested in, coupled with the actual writing of the posts on the website, which were often done in the wee hours of the morning. I could easily count on two hands the number of times I rolled into bed at 2am after posting a feature on the website! And mind you, I’ve had a regular 8:30-4:30 job outside of the RV industry the whole time.
As many of you know, I would share the posts on our Facebook page. Facebook’s algorithm was just as difficult to help the site gain traction as Google. With nearly 5000 followers on the site’s Facebook page, the metrics would show “maybe” 10% of the followers would actually see the post in their feed. And maybe 10% of those 10% would react to and/or click on the link to the website.
So it was after I wrote my last feature in early 2022 on the Encore RŎG that I decided to just let the website sit there with the 11 years of content it had. I didn’t post and didn’t update the comprehensive Manufacturers Page, which was by far the most frequently visited part of the site. Daily visits have taken a hit without new content to the tune of 35 visits a day in 2024, down from 1,400 daily visits during the website’s peak in 2017.
But as I mentioned, a little voice in the back of my head has been talking. I finally listened to that voice this weekend when I attended the Louisville Boat, RV, and Sportshow. I found a nice display of small trailers and teardrop campers that 62 Sales of Charlestown, Indiana had on display. I’d taken a handful of pics and thought of just putting a few comments on our Facebook page, but then decided this would be the perfect spot to dust off the website with a post. It was modest as my previous posts go, but it was just enough to get those creative juices flowing again. I also started going through the links on the Manufacturers page to correct any broken links and clear out any manufacturers that have closed up.
While I may never see 1,400 daily hits on the website again, I’d be happy just to get it back over 100 and be of help to those small trailer enthusiasts researching for their first, or next, small trailer. Afterall, that was my sole intent back in 2011: To be a clearinghouse of small trailer news and resources, “for the small trailer enthusiast in you.”
If you’re an RV dealer or an RV manufacturer reading this and have a small trailer 20 feet or less that you’d like to get noticed, shoot me an email: pat@smalltrailerenthusiast.com I’m located in southern Indiana just north of Louisville, KY. I’d be happy to drop by and see what you’ve got.
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