Is there anything we could do, without dropping a fat wad of cash, that can help increase attention for this site? I'm not saying make us an overnight SCG, but maybe get a little blood flowing in these dusty veins?
The way I see it, we have three huge problems:
1-Lack of connection (linkage, mainly) with the biggies in the community. This hurts us because how can people come here if they don't know who we are?
2-Lack of the hype content the readers of other sites crave. No, not general gaming. We miss out because most of the readers are hyper-gratification scumbags who want nothing but a quick win next weekend. We don't cover tournaments here, and when we do, its insufficient to nearly guarantee a prize at so much as a FNM. Those who do know of this place likely gloss over the front page, dismissing us because we don't stroke their pleasure zone the way Brainburst and SCG do.
3-Stop and Go. Spidey said it best. Even IF someone manages to find this site, and find stuff they like...well, it is sporadic. This is my own huge writing vice, and the vice of anyone else who writes. Its hard to come up with new stuff all the time, or to keep discussing aspects of the same damned coin every month. Every week is even harder! That's where tourney sites shine: They have constantly changing evironments, where you can write about four cards changing in your deck idea and make it a whole other article because people will read a whole new article about the same damned deck, week after week. Basically, they do original stuff, but they can also get away with the slutty rehash when they're dry on ideas. Forget payment, contests, or whatever. It comes down to stability. If we can't keep our readers happy and coming back for more, we lose them. Plain and simple.
=========
So....
Really hard to fix 1. Because of the other two, why would people link to us? We could try grassrooting, by hosting tournaments in real life, or on MTGO, sponsored by the more generous players. Even then, we'll likely never put up a prize of like "POWER NINE OMFG!!!!!1!!!1one" I can dig up a few rares. Possibly good ones. But who's gonna really care even if generous players from here suffered brain damage and donated foil Ravager and stuff? Still, hosting our own tournaments at events or online might just help. Casual formats, obviously. Other than getting PR through hosting casual events, its really hard becuase it would require some actual money.
Number 2 I think is the hardest of all. We will never be a Pro Tour Winner Overnight content site. No one is, but others do a real good job of *pretending* they are. They help you win, yes, but they fake your ego and stroke you real good, thinking you're gonna be the next Budde or Zvi or whatnot. You ain't. I think we're too honest for that type of scumbaggery, anyway. To compound that, the atmosphere and reason for this site is casual play. If we go pro (as unlikely as that is), we lose the whole reason for the site.
Number 3 is pretty easy to fix, but it goes with the other two sort of feeding a vicious loop. I can tell your personally I get dry on ideas, or just get bored with the game and/or with writing. I need breaks. I'll bet its the same with the other Stop & Go writers. We need a more active front page. Now here is how other sites have solved it (and I've suggested this before!)...forum linkage! Our writing (those few of us who write) can't be bothered to constantly come up with new casual stuff to spin into articles. But, the forums are always abuzz with at *least* one topic a week that can make it to the front page, ala Brainbust and SCG's style.
Here are some threads I'd suggest linking:
-Blue sucks in multiplayer (A nice topic to discuss!)
-Ninja abuse (Another nice topic. Get people rolling with their ideas on this new mechanic)
-Buying Basic Sets (A trusty fluffer of a rehash topic, but it got started, and has some talk)
-BOK Previes (People love to give their thoughts on new shiznit. This thread is absolute proof)
And that's just off the top of my head of threads from this or last week. With the right spin, you can make nearly any of the other active game-related threads into a "Whoa! Did you see this!? You HAVE to come discuss it!" hype the way SCG and BB do.