DGB Turns 9 Years Old

I always forget, but March marks the birthday of DGB. On Saturday 10th March this site turned 9 years old. I published my first post on here on that date, and things have rolled way out of control since then. You can read that god awful first post here if you really want to.

I never planned for things to pan out the way they did. But they did. And here we are.

From ramblings to media

I started DGB on Google’s free Blogpost blog platform. It was free, it was basic, but it did the job. I was always a bit of a writer, I liked to ramble on at school. Then I saw what Matthew Glover was doing with his Renegade Conservatory Guy website and thought that perhaps this was something for me too.

It was a very slow start. I wrote plenty, hoping that at some point someone would stumble on to my little corner of the internet. But I actually got no such traffic until August of 2009. I have to credit that to Matthew also, as it was he who found it and actually mentioned it on RCG. That was the first real mention of the site and got the ball rolling traffic wise.

From there, traffic began to grow naturally as word got about that there was another double glazing blog out there and I was writing more content. Initially, it was simply a place to air my ramblings about the industry, the things I found frustrating, and to occasionally piss a few people off.

But things really kicked off while I was still on the Blogspot when I broke the new of the VEKA purcashe of WHS Halo. I say broke. For those that were involved that probably wouldn’t be the word they would use. Still, I was the first glazing industry site to report on the deal, and the traffic at the time was setting new records.

After the dust had settled on that crazy period of time, the site was now well on the radar of plenty of new industry people. Traffic was now well established and content was being posted by myself on a much more regular basis. It was then suggested to me that I move to the WordPress platform, pay for a proper site building and perhaps include the facility for companies to advertise.

I took that advice and never looked back. I paid for DGB to be moved to WordPress and have my own CMS set up so I could run the site much more independently than before. I also started to win my first customers as advertisers on the site. It was at that point that I think DGB became a legitimate industry media site, rather than just a blog. I was posting my own opinions and analysis, as well as press releases from companies and featuring things like reviews, breaking news and guest posts. It had evolved a lot.

It’s worth noting that 9 years ago I did not intend on creating what you see now. It simply grew naturally into what it is now, and has become far bigger and important to me than I thought it would do.

DGB is now one of the most viewed digital media outlets in the window and door industry in the UK, growing every year without fail and has changed the the media landscape in this part of industry.

DGB’s Major Stats

Here are some of the major stats DGB has racked up in it’s 9 years. The site stats have been rounded according to figures up to March 10th.

Page Views

Visitors

Unique Visitors

Posts Published

Comments Published

Copy: DGB Review: 2017 vs 2016
Infogram

Top 9

Marking the 9 year anniversary, these are the top 9 most read posts of all time on DGB:

9. Sliding Doors vs Bi-Folding Doors: Which Is Better?

8. All About The Glazing Beads

7. Time Ticking For The Polycarbonate Roof

6. The Top 10 Companies In The UK Window Industry

5. Solidor At Odds With Door-Stop

4. Bi-Folding Doors: Which Material Is Right For Your Project?

3. The Average Cost Of A New Conservatory Is £5300…Apparently

2. FENSA vs Certass: What’s The Difference?

TOP: Tackling The Trickle Vent Issue

The number one post is one that I wrote in 2009. Shows you what good SEO can do for you! Some interesting posts in there, especially number 5, given the changes that have happened in the industry since then.

Long term future

I still love doing what I do with DGB, and until that stops, I shall continue. When it starts to feel like a chore, and something I stop enjoy doing, I will stop it.

I have loved building DGB into what it is today, and have become more ambitious with it the more I have taught myself the literary and tech skills needed to make it grow in a digital world. I have enjoyed trying new things with it, whether they have worked or not. I have also enjoyed shaking things up in the media landscape of our industry. Not that others might have!

I would say that in the very long term, I plan on DGB becoming the most read media site for the UK window and door industry. I will also back that up with stats that are reliable. There are one or two publications out there where I think a bit of probing of their own stats might reveal one or two questionable things. But with the growth that I am expecting this year, and with the plans I am already putting in place to expand DGB’s reach, I hope that in a few years time this site will be sitting top of the pile and will be one of the first places people in our industry come to read about what is going on in the industry they work in.

Moving forwards, I would also like to attract more customers by the way of advertisers. I will always write my own content on a near-daily basis, that will never stop. But that revenue that I have generated so far has allowed me to push on and grow DGB to where it is today. Plus, I have a wedding soon and a family to start, so a few extra quid in the account will always be helpful!

Next year will be a big milestone for me, when the site reaches ten years old. I am pondering what to do to mark the occasion. Whether to just have a big ass party, keep it low key, or just do nothing at all! All suggestions welcome via the comments section below!

For now, I will sign off with a massive thanks to all readers, social media sharers, commenters and advertisers. Without your support, participation and conversation DGB would simply not be here. I hope that you will all continue to back this site and the different approach it takes on reporting and analysing window and door industry news.

DGB