10 years of the Aspergillus Website

Evolution and revolution Original summary of purpose This site is designed to provide information on pathogenic Aspergilli for clinicians and scientific researchers. The site includes DNA sequence data, a comprehensive bibliographic database, laboratory protocols, treatment information and discussion groups.

Evolution: 10 years ago…

Evolution: 5 years ago…

Evolution: 4 years ago…

Evolved: Now…

Evolution: Statistics 1999 – Nearly 4000 members – 500 pages per day – 71 countries reached 2008 – members – pages per day

Latest figures page requests per day (up to 5 million per year) distinct IP addresses per month countries reached each month (2/3rds of the total number of countries in the world) 1975 sites link to website (20 th Feb 2008)

Evolution: Sections Diagnosis: 3800ppm Treatment: 2400ppm Research: 500ppm Articles:25 000ppm Conferences: 4600ppm 6700 ppm images per month

Revolution: new sections and services pages downloaded per month pages downloaded per month A search is carried out every 2-3 seconds somewhere in the world pages downloaded per month pages downloaded per month

The Aspergillus Search Engine readable files indexed by Google (html, php, pdf, ppt, doc) 17 requests per minute Used twice as much in UK night-time (USA/Asia users)

Search terms – WWW Google

Nova Plantarum Genera

Site structure 40 indexed sections 5 forums for questions & answers Patients support group (very active with 539 members and messages per day Technical support group (73 members) Active collaboration with the Aspergillus Trust (UK patients only)

A. fumigatus sequence release

Doing well so far – what next?

The Way Forward Quality and added value of content Newsletters Better internal searching – better internal navigation Better external indexing (Domain names, specific pages aimed at improving ranking)

The Way forward Better public relations Improve existing sections for existing audiences – Patients (50% of audience) More sections designed to attract new audiences (Industrial applications)

Acknowledgments Present sponsors Schering-Plough Pfizer Inc The CGD Research Trust The Moulton Trust Biocompare Past sponsors Alza OrthoBiotech Merck & Co Inc. AB Biodisk

Patients website – the beginning Discussion group – simple based group allowing group conversations Around 100 members Demanding on moderator & editors Bulletin board – 2 subjects (allergic & invasive) Questions & answers Not popular – 1 or 2 questions a week No group support

Bulletin Board

Shortcomings For me – Repetitive – tending to answer the same or similar questions – Text only For patient – Not easy to find (have to find website, then the right section) – Not easy to understand – Difficult to find information you want

Improvements Patients website – Contains fact sheets on all repeated information, links to useful websites – Open to all, no membership required – Data gathering to profile users – Aspergillus Support Group

What is Aspergillus?

Non-English page requests Italian Polish Spanish Dutch Chinese Arabic Top 6 downloaded What is aspergillus in January 2008

Essential Information

Advice

Aspergillus Support Group

Success of Patient Sections website pages requested 543 members of the support group messages per day Far less time spent answering repetitive questions (Patient moderators) Body of information supported by Patients group The Aspergillus Trust

Public Relations Patients section is a good potential source of stories for journalists, as well as a good source of ideas for story lines and pictures that will be of interest to wider audiences. Patient stories – successful treatment Flood damage – better ways to clean up Building work – ways to protect the vulnerable Composting – sensitivity of siteing Increased public interest = increased viewing figures

The Aspergillus Trust Rose out of the Aspergillus Support Group Led by UK based people suffering from Aspergillus illnesses Originally envisaged (by me) to be a group offering the patients perspective on what information is given to patients during their illnesses, how to improve that information and even how to improve the treatments offered (ABPA/itraconazole) A think tank to suggest new areas to cover But they became so much more…

Trust website