TalkVirginia - Critque Please

I really like your template logo/header. I think it is very nice and communicates "authority". When I see it, I feel like this is a great place to get info about Virginia.

I do not like the multi-player gaming banner that displayed on my first visit. That seems way off topic, and diminishes the same authority you impressed me with with the logo/header.

I like that you converted your welcome text to an image. You spelled recipe wrong. I would like to see you increase the readability of the text by using a font that publishes with a smooth edges. You might even be able to shorten the text a bit to make it "communicate faster". Be sure you are highlighting your biggest visitor motivators there.

A lot of those links in the footer area are not going anywhere specific, so you should get rid of them.

About (remove), register (redundant), MOTM (remove for guests), Bookmark Us (Move to top of page), Mark forums read (remove for guests), Get the word out (remove), Forum leaders (remove for guests), Advertise (remove until content is available), lost password (redundant).

You have all the software/style branding in place in the footer. Since there is so much of it, you should remove those that are permitted, use unlinked versions (as in vBSEO's case), or pay for the removals for those that require it, etc. I would not link to any voluntarily if the option is permitted to remove it without a fee.

You should use our CRRs to rewrite your left column nav links for the jobs, traffic pages, etc.

I do not like calendars, birthdays, or unnecessary modules displayed for guests.

You should separate "TalkVirginia" to "Talk Virginia" in your site title.

I do not like the recent threads module on the homepage. I would much feature if it linked to feature threads, etc, i.e. higher value content more deserving of a homepage link.

You might want to get rid of the link to the FAQ until it has content.

You have the same title on your vBA homepage as you do on your forum homepage. Change one of them.

I think you could benefit a lot by some research into your sub-forum titles and descriptions. I think you have some opportunities to get better coverage in there. However, I think you are correct in keeping the # of initial forums smaller and only adding them as you have the ability to populate them with some content.
Strategy for Optimizing Keywords in Your vBulletin Forum Title and Descriptions

Maybe you don't need to be so generous with all of those homepage links. Maybe you could add a "Links" link in your horizontal navigation at the top and then create a page that contains all those links instead.

Since your traffic is still low daily, it's very normal to see those up and down fluctuations. Search volume varies depending on the day of the week, changes on holidays, is impacted by the media, impacted by shifting search results, etc.

Once you start moving into several hundred visitors a day, your graph will probably start to show smoother lines.

You could get rid of the vBA homepage, but I do like the feature box you are using there.