Forgotten MN - ghost town website

[Ringr]

Hey everyone,


After doing some researching I launched my newest Website, Forgotten Minnesota. The Website is in regards to ghost towns in Minnesota. Everybody thinks ghost towns are a thing of the West, but actually every state has them. Minnesota alone has over 300 confirmed ones.

I only have seven ghost towns so far and unfortunately not a lot of information on them, believe it or not it took a loooong time to find out what little I did about the ghost towns.

I plan on adding to the site and I've recently sent off money to state/local historical societies for lists/reports on ghost towns in Minnesota. So I plan on researching the subject even further.

Anyway, what are your opinions on the site? I know the design looks a bit tacky and it's not in valid CSS (it's like half CSS half oldskool HTML - which is basically all I know to be honest.) C&C appreciated on any aspect of it.

Thank you,
Andrew

 

[Mike]

In short? WOW! Great project, great site! Living in Fargo and traveling quite a bit for a local media company, i've seen my share of the MN backwoods. It's amazing what one can find when you're willing to "look around the corner".
Ok, back to what matters:
I think the site looks great, the nostalgic character suits it well, the functionality is there as well.
The only thing that really needs to be added, and that may just be an impossible feat, is to get pictures and eventually videos from these cities on your site. (maybe offer an incentive for people that go "ghost town" hunting to submit their videos to you?)
Many people will never have the chance to see in reality what your site has to offer.
Mapping: I'm not sure how far google earth will zoom in and still deliver a clear picture, if you can, post more of these and also, post a small directional roadmap to the next bigger city. Most often it's the only way for people to relate to the distance to where the ghost town actually is. In other words, work with more visuals, if you can, than text items. The text will come from the county historians.

It's a great project that needs only minor enhancements. Once you're done and have the site stocked with content, visuals and historic elements, it should be an unbeatable legacy of these ghost towns!
In a virtual world where most projects are setting out to get the fast cash, your site is the difference!
:tu: :tu: :tu:

ADD-ON! Post a blog of your site at AreaVoices it's a local blogging site, ran out of Fargo, by the one of the largest Media companies in the 4 state area. You should get quite some attention from there.

 

[Ringr]

Thanks a lot for your response Mike, I appreciate it. I took your advice for the Area Voices blog service and I'll start posting in it as soon as I add a few things to the site. I agree with you that there needs to be more pictures, I'm hoping I'll get some visitor-submitted pictures eventually but this summer I also plan on going to some of these sites to get my own pictures. Unfortunately the Google Earth aerial shots were zoomed in as much as I could get them to without too much distortion. Actual pictures though would really make it more impressive.

Thanks again,
Andrew

 

[Ringr]

Sorry for bumping/double posting in my own topic. I'm not trying to get extra attention here, but a few moments I had an idea flash across my mind:

Should I put a forum on my website?

I don't know if I should, or shouldn't because I know there's already a bigger ghost-town related forum at GhostTowns.com. And I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time on something that wouldn't serve any purpose. So far I've had an average of 8.71 visitors/day and it's slightly climbing. I've had ghost town submissions from website visitors so far also.

Is a forum something I should consider, or should I not bother?

 

[Mike]

Hmmmm,...good question. I just started my own forum, see signature, and it's a PITA, i'm not buying traffic or posters, get about 30 +/- uniques/day and it's not quite taking off the way i would have hoped it to. What's it have to do with you? Well,..my forum is about finances, thus, it's about something that concerns most or maybe even all of us. Your forum would be about a niche, which :imho: would make it even more difficult.
What i'd suggest before you consider a forum, is a blog for users, in association with the town they submit. It would give your users the chance to talk a bit more about their adventures, etc. Wordpress would be something that you can use for that.
Not sure if that was really helpful.

 

[GeoOwners]

you should have a realestate section...I would be curious if land is cheap in these places...nice site imo

 

[Mike]

Yeah, land is cheap in these sections, but as cheap as it is, it's equally deserted and the costs of rebuilding are often exceeding the feasible limits.
Then again, it would be neat to own a (ghost) town and obtain your very own zip code....too bad there won't be anyone to share it with, though.