The main page at https://boards.straightdope.com doesn’t really say what the site is about. It lists the categories, but there’s no introduction to the site. Someone stumbling on the page won’t necessarily know about Cecil, the column which was the basis of the board, or that this is a general interest site where pretty much any topic can be raised. Also, is it possible to reorder the list of categories on the landing page to be more conducive to a first-time visitor? Perhaps have GQ, GD, and IMHO at the top and the other categories below. That way it would be a little bit easier for a visitor to dive in.
We have had discussions about re-ordering the forums before and the general consensus was to keep the order as-is.
I will see if we can get some sort of description added to the top of the page though. You’re right that it doesn’t really say anything about what the SDMB is.
That said, keep in mind that https://boards.straightdope.com isn’t the site’s main page. https://www.straightdope.com is the real main page. To be fair, that page isn’t all that descriptive either.