Usually on the Web we get caught up repeating the same routine over and over.

image credit: freeparking

I often find myself visiting the same blogs each day. I find myself listening to the same playlist on Imeem over and over again. And sometimes I get into funks where I don’t visit more than 20 or so Websites for several days.

This is when I like to go to sites like Alltop to find new and interesting blogs. It’s always worthwhile to get new perspective on life, happiness, and success.

It seems that just as I think I have something figured out about the Web I realize just how much I have to learn.

One of the really cool things about people’s willingness to share and connect on the Web is that you always have the ability to learn and experience new ideas and insight.

This environment is great for your spirit and great for your business (if you’re willing to accept new thoughts into your world).

I frequently come across surprises on the Web that give me a new perspective on what it is that makes people happy and successful on the Web.

I thought I’d share a few things I’ve found out about hunting Websites that surprised me (and might surprise you).

1) The ‘General Topics’ section of hunting forums is always the most popular

I’m not sure why exactly the ‘General Topics’ section of hunting forums are always the most popular. I guess it’s probably because this area acts as a way for unsure contributors to gather their thoughts on hunting ‘in general’.

Some forum moderators often redirect some conversations to more relevant sections. This seems to work somewhat, but can be irritating if the conversation is active and the people contributing come back one day to find their conversation has moved to another page on the site.

One thing to learn from this phenomenon is to think of your forum as a living content aggregator. Continually encourage your visitors to create new topics for discussion. Allow them to create their own forum topics. Give up some of your control and your visitors might be able to organize your forum better than you think.

Be available for questions. Your visitors probably won’t understand how to use a forum as well as they want and they’ll look to your (the site editor) for guidance.

Give your visitors some credit and let them create and organize your forum for you (and more importantly for themselves).

2) If visitors can’t figure out a feature (no matter how useful it is), they won’t use it

I’ve written about website features before.

You may be able to create the greatest feature for hunters in the world, but if they can’t figure out how to use it or if it takes too long to use, they simply won’t use it.

Your features will be ignored if you don’t make it easy enough for a five (or seventy five) year old to use. And it has to be pretty easy for some seventy five year olds to figure out.

Twitter is popular because it’s relatively easy to use. Even brand new people to Twitter can figure out how to type “I’m on Twitter!” in the text box at the top of their new profile.

A few years ago the concept of sharing content on the Web wasn’t new, but it wasn’t easy enough for most people to use. Today, Share This, Bookmark, Retweet, and Email buttons are easy enough for even the newest Web users to figure out.

Make your features simple and easy to use.

3) Visitors don’t like music or sound when they open a new page

I’ll keep this one short: people don’t like to be surprised by loud music and unexpected sound when they visit your Web pages.

If you must have video and music on your Website (which I do recommend and life) make sure it doesn’t automatically start when visitors come to your site. Allow users to opt-in to the music, sound or video by clicking play.

Let them create the interaction.

You can provide the content for interaction, but allow them to trust you with their attention.

4) Flashy content may gain traffic and attention, but quality content attracts loyal readers

One thing I’ve noticed is that hunting sites don’t get a lot of attention on sharing sites like Digg, Reddit or even YouTube.  Well, sometimes hunting videos get attention on YouTube (like this one of a lion attacking a hunter…yikes!).

I feel being ignored by these sites is more of a blessing for hunters than a curse.

While hunting content may not be viral in nature if it’s presented without purpose, it can provoke deeper thought and interaction, which is what leads to quality connections and relationships with hunters on the Web.

Your Mom and Dad have probably always told you that the more you put into something the more you’ll get out. It’s one of the oldest clichés out there, but it’s common for a reason – it’s true.

If you want deep interaction from people, you’re going to have to put deep thought and passion into your work on the Web.

Don’t be fooled by fleeting traffic from sites like Digg and Reddit (although they do have their place).

Don’t be afraid to lose yourself in your work. Don’t be afraid to open up. People love to connect with the emotions of others.

Give yourself to your work and watch others respond with an equal amount of passion.

5) Site owners and site visitors often have separate views of what a site is

What a site owner thinks their site represents and what the site’s visitors think the site represents can be completely different.

The site’s visitors are the ones who are usually correct in their perception. They’re the ones who use the site to perform a function they deem necessary.

Give people an atmosphere where they can experiment and figure out what they want to define your site as. Let your users decide what they want. Then give them what they want and continue improving your product, content and service.

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