RELO Roundtable…a gathering place

Analyzing last week's traffic results, I was absolutely amazed at the number of both first-time and repeat visitors who dropped by on Christmas day.

And it wasn't just to share holiday wishes! Most of the keyword searches used were the same as those used throughout the year.

Sometimes the term 'movers' is used interchangeably by inexperienced consumers. According to the relocating public, there are two types of movers.

1. Those companies that provide relocation products and transportation services to the public, and,
2. People who move their own 'stuff'

So as not to be too confusing, I will attempt to explain the difference in interests between those who ship something and the relocation vendors and professional move managers who provide the transportation by looking at a summary of the five most popular RELO Roundtable pages visited since the start of 2011 from both perspectives. This short list is ranked by the number of unique pageviews.

Click on the title to read the original article.

Moving a front loading washer

As the economy continues to struggle, many of those facing a local or long distance relocation in 2011 were challenged by some of the same safety, claims, and quality service issues as the pros. Curiously, it wasn't just do-it-selfers trying to find shipping bolts or product handling information. During the last twelve months a lot of small moving and storage agents and industry van operators have visited the article trying to avoid expensive damage claims. Many visitors who came to the site through this door stuck around and browsed awhile.

Moving and bed bugs

The only time consumer visits to this article subsided was during a seven week period in May and June when capacity (rental truck, portable container, van line) became an issue for the entire self-service and full-service moving industry.

Otherwise daily pageview traffic has been steadily increasing ever since the article was first published in 2009. Interestingly it seems industry response to the problem has functioned in inverse relationship to the level of customer interest. According to frustrated visitors, many moving and relocation pros quickly stuck their head in the sand (and promptly lost the sale) when asked about company policy concerning the little critters.

Moving? How to manage your lump sum relocation benefit

Paige Holden's second guest blog post continues to receive about the same number of visits from relocating consumers and company administrators trying to pinch pennies as it does from curious relocation professionals interested in her expert insights.

For many anxious, first time 'movers', it seems the company lump sum relocation benefit check is delivered by the corporate HR department or hiring manager with very little instruction or guidance on the best way to use it.

Recruiters in the Moving & Storage, Transportation & Logistics Industry

This is the most popular of the three 'Career Resource' pages. Visitor traffic is consistent during non-peak business periods but seems to spike whenever another rumor of a company's demise, consolidation or acquisition is heard around the water cooler.

And it's not just job seekers who are knockin' on the door!

Moving industry challenges in 2011: DOT vs. DOD

While you would think that most of the visitor interest would have been from professionals involved in the full service moving industry, the truth is that a lot of domestic and international transportation service providers (TSPs), personal property shipping offices (PPSOs), military service members and government transferees around the globe have been reading this article since the height of meltdown of the military's newly automated and very expensive Defense Personal Property System, DPS, over the summer.

Based the visitors results of just the last two weeks, this government sponsored capacity fight promises to be an ongoing concern well into 2012. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Despite the fact that this project will be three years old next week, I'm still constantly amazed whenever I review the analytics results.

RELO Roundtable doesn't advertise yet visitor traffic to the site grew by 133% YTD. Although the number of pages read during each visit per visit dropped, that's probably because the number of returning guests who choose to consume the content via RSS, Atom, or email subscriptions more than tripled in 2011.

The site won't quite get to 60,000 unique pageviews for the year but it's gonna be awfully close. Whomever you are and how ever you got here, thanks for dropping by!

  is a mutually supportive but commercially neutral learning environment that deals with the trials and tribulations of movin’.

Have questions or need professional assistance with an upcoming moving and storage issue, or help choosing a domestic or international relocation product or service supplier?

FOLLOW US and SUBSCRIBE at: