Kalkan Turkish Local News (www.turkishlocalnews.com) was launched on 1st April 2009.  We thought we would share some of the highlights with you.  It's been a busy old month!

We should start by saying that we are bowled over by your kind comments and by the numbers viewing and registering for the site.  The reaction here in Kalkan has also been positive.  We do read all feedback, so please let us know what you think, especially if you believe there is something we can improve on.

Statistics
For those of you interested in statistics here are a few numbers for you, as at the end of our first month.

• Registered members as at 30th April 2009 - 510
• Average number of visits in April - 425 per day
• Most viewers at one time - 851 on 1st April
• Most pages viewed in one day - over 54,000 on 1st April
• Location of viewers - top three countries - UK 67%; Turkey 26% & Germany 1.2%
• People in 30 countries read Kalkan Turkish Local News
• Over half a million KTLN pages were served (viewed) in April

Local News Stories
So far we have managed to publish at least one story every day.  Our launch coincided with local elections and also the countdown to the new season, plus the odd mountain rescue and sinking boat.  It might not always be that way - we may get quiet news days!  Don't forget that we would love to hear from you if you have a great local news story.

KTLN Features
The feedback on KTLN Features is really positive.  Our Day in the Life feature seems to be very popular.  We have got some interesting ones coming up.

The Business Directory and interactive map are being well used.  Many of you are using our star ratings for businesses in Kalkan that you have used.  It will be interesting to see how the ratings look at the end of the season.  If you are a registered member, make sure you vote for your favourite places.

Our web statistics show that one of the most popular features is our What's On Calendar.  We can only include something if we know about it, so if you hear about something that should go in to the calendar, drop us a line.

Web cameras
The KTLN webcam is as popular as ever.  We have some real webcam addicts out there!!

We have been asked about the possibility of more web cameras.  KTLN is actively working on this.  We are hopeful that we will get more, however these things take time to arrange.  We will report back on this in due course.

The KTLN Trust
When we first had the original idea of setting up this website we knew we wanted to use it as a vehicle to contribute to Kalkan in a positive way.  Raising money for good causes in Kalkan was always on our agenda, but we were not sure about the best way to go about it.  We also wanted to cover our set up and running costs, but profit has never been our intention.

The response to KTLN has been such that we have managed to find enough business sponsorship to cover our costs.  This means that we no longer need to ask anyone to consider making a voluntary donation towards the running of the website.  Further, if our business sponsorship exceeds our costs, we will donate the surplus to The KTLN Trust.

However, the feedback we are getting strongly suggests that many of you think this site has value.  So, if you like what you see and regularly visit this website, please think about donating to The KTLN Trust. 

Going Forward
We want to build on what we have achieved in our first month.  The statistics are amazing, and whilst we would love to grow our membership, it's not just about the numbers.  Quality of content is important, and this is where our focus will remain.  We have a few initiatives in the locker that we will be bringing to you over the coming months.  And we are always happy to listen to your ideas, so if there is something you are keen to see on KTLN, please tell us.

Katie-Ellen
Love KTLN.  Love Kalkan.