April Fools 2012 - New Forums / Sections - Exotic Backyard Animals

Thanks to all for participating in our April Fools' 2012 fun!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645507/april-fools-2012-new-forums-sections-exotic-backyard-animals/50#post_8709192

As you all know, we recently upgraded our forum software to a new platform.  One of the huge benefits to this platform is how it functions with regard to SEO (Search Engine Optimization).   Basically what that means is that BYC is ranking higher and higher for internet searches on sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

Over the past month we've seen some very surprising yet interesting trends in the keywords people are searching for and then clicking to discover BYC.  

Naturally there are the top 5 keywords as we'd expect:

• chickens
• chicken coop plans
• chicken coops
• buff orpington
• backyard chickens
   

... but what was odd / interesting was some of the fastest growing terms over the last 30 days:

• raising zebras
• bats in backyard
• domestic tigers
• exotic animal rescue

After a lot of data analysis and discussion amongst the BYC Staff we've decided to do a test to see if we can capture this growing interest and convert these searchers into members of the community.  

We're going to expand our "Other Pets & Livestock" section of the forum and add a handful of sub-forums to hopefully encourage the discussion and attraction of these visitors to the site.   Here are the initial sections based on our research of top keywords searched:

1. Big Cats - Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Jaguars, etc.
2. Exotic Foragers - Elephants, Camels, Gazelles, Giraffes, Caribou, Zebras, etc.
3. Other Exotics - Chimpanzees, Orangutans, Koalas, Wombats, Kangaroos, Bats, etc.

Each of those link to the newly created sections of the site.   If you have experience with any of these animals we encourage and ask that you post your experiences and questions.   This will do two important things:

1. Significantly increase our rankings in the search engines for these very quickly growing terms
2. Encourage people who are searching for these terms to join the site and participate

You can see all the new sections here: http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/22/other-pets-livestock

We thank you for your support of our community and look forward to the success and growth of these new areas of our wonderful site.

If you have any questions, ideas, or comments, please post them here!

• 2007 - BYC Expanding - BackYardCows.com
• 2008 - BYC Hacked!
• 2009 - Server Upgrade Good News / Bad News: Post Counts Lost
• 2010 - New BYC Store Product - The EggCell!
• 2011 - NEW BYC Program & Partnership - Sell Your Extra Eggs!
• 2012 - New Forum Section - Exotic Backyard Animals
• 2013 - Big Announcement: BYC & Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Partnership - BeakBook

OH!   One other VERY important item:
 

BYC does not support or condone the illegal keeping, raising, or transferring of animals.   Please make 100% sure that it is legal to have the animals you are interested in raising in your city!