The EFA website is now just over 5 years old (having been in existence "unofficially" for several years prior to that), so I think that a brief look at the site's growth in that time would be worthwhile.

So far, the site has clocked–up just over 2,600,000 page accesses in total. As the graph below shows, it's been generally steady growth (with the inevitable peaks and troughs on the way), rising from only 2,500 page accesses in the week commencing 6th February 2000 (most of which would have been me and Mike Fenn testing the new site!), to a peak of almost 22,000 in the week commencing 16th January 2005.

(The "gap" during November/December 2001 is because our ISP unfortunately "lost" the data!)

Furthermore, the number of unique visitors to the site has increased by more than 2,500% over the life of the site, from only 61 at the start of 2000, to just over 1,500 in April 2005. This means that the site is being browsed by about three times as many people as the EFA has members. Hopefully, this augurs well for potential recruitment, whilst the site's role as a continuing source of information & results should help with retention.

As for the past twelve months, visits to the site (someone browsing a number of pages in one session) are up a remarkable 44% compared with the same period last year:

• Number of visits to the site July 2004 – June 2005 = 151,817 (compared with 105,551 in July 2003 – June 2004) Also, for the first time, there's been a major change in the most popular pages visited – the top three are now:
• Picture Gallery http://www.etonfives.co.uk/pictures/
• Tournaments http://www.etonfives.co.uk/tournaments/
• Schools http://www.etonfives.co.uk/schools/

The previous "most visited" of 'Latest News' and 'About Eton Fives' have been relegated to further down the list, in the company of 'Clubs', 'Schools', 'League Results' and 'Information about the EFA'.

I suspect the change probably reflects the site's increasingly becoming a resource for active players, as much as a source of information about the game and the EFA for players and interested non–participants alike.

The graph shows the number of ‘visits’ to the site per week, for the year mid–June 2004 to mid–June 2005.

• The peak of December 2004 corresponds with various tournament reports being added to the site.
• The spike in early 2005 can probably be accounted for by a mixture of the Newsletter appearing in January, League results being updated and Championship Entry Forms being made available.
• The tail–off at the end of May is doubtless due to the end of the playing season, and an improvement in the weather tempting people away from their computer screens. (Although it should be noted that I am writing this to the accompaniment of the traditional British midsummer symphony of thunder, lightning and torrential rain.)

Once again, thanks to Mike Fenn for his sterling work, in both keeping the site up–to–date with results and reports, and in adding interesting new content to encourage return visits.

M.R.F./J.P.W.

Website Report 2004-2005 by Mike Fenn and Usage Summary by Jon Wallis
Created 11th January 2006 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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