Forum promotion ideas

[womanizer]

I have launched my forum recently. Now I would like to discuss with you the most effective forum promotion methods! What advices could you provide on forum policy and rules? What restrictions should I apply for a forum at the first stages? Any other advices and recommendations on how to promote a forum effectively are welcome! Thanks in advance!

[birdie]

Any other advices and recommendations on how to promote a forum effectively are welcome!

Add a link to it in your signature.

[serge20]

Just post around forums about it. Easiest and cheapest way

[womanizer]

I have already started website promotion and got some ammount of traffic and I know how to bring visitors to website. The most important for me is to make users stay at forum and start posting topics. What would you recommend on how to convert website visitors into registered users?

[Purple Rain]

People like to see active forums, with lots of new and interesting posts. Maybe a offer some sort of feature that you can only get if you register, or have some promotion to entice people into signing up.

[womanizer]

People like to see active forums, with lots of new and interesting posts. Maybe a offer some sort of feature that you can only get if you register, or have some promotion to entice people into signing up.

What do you think if I start creating users myself and creating new interesting topics myself at the first stages?

[alreadyinuse23]

What do you think if I start creating users myself and creating new interesting topics myself at the first stages?

I have done this before, it can be VERY helpful and VERY painful at the same time.. Eventually your initial users notice that the people they first signed up with are gone or stopped posting since you end up having more to deal with. But at the same time can generate alot more active forums look wise as well as stats wise..

i suggest only doing a few people.. that way you can continue to manage them after a while either it grows.. or you can make more users.

[Aimhigh]

*just start writing many articles about your forums. People do not want to go to a forum that has no content.
*Tell your friends and family - word of mouth advertising is the most powerful and cost effective method of advertising and not utilizing it will limit your performance, especially in the beginning.
* Start doing blogs for your forum and submit it to directories and social bookmarking. Lastly, enjoy what you are doing.

[Misa21]

Just post around forums about it. Easiest and cheapest way

I agree with this.. post it in different forum site that will also help..

[grishamist]

Just post around forums about it. Easiest and cheapest way

That's the best way to do. Some administrators prefer that because they've gain much traffic on posting to other forums especially the bigger forums.

[Roxie]

That's the best way to do. Some administrators prefer that because they've gain much traffic on posting to other forums especially the bigger forums.

Yes you are right..... but some other forums don't allow promotion of other forums...

I don't know why.... can anyone clarify please?

[durakiller]

Have a forum currency which will encourage members to post regularly.

[womanizer]

Everything seems to be ok know, I have invited all my friends and other guys to forum the more posts are added the more new visitors are interested in becoming registered users!

[swastik]

I have launched my forum recently. Now I would like to discuss with you the most effective forum promotion methods!

For me, effective marketing is a mixture of various techniques depending on what the niche is. A bit of social bookmarking, promotion on other forums would roll the ball and then a forum grows more by mouth to mouth advertising. If it's quite new, try referring your friends, promoting on other forums, buying ad spots on blogs or something you'd prefer.

What advices could you provide on forum policy and rules? What restrictions should I apply for a forum at the first stages?

Here are some tips that I'd give :

# Don't experiment too much on a live forum, it'll make members go away. Try to keep away from regular downtimes and such.

# Don't try to act too strict, at the same time don't be extra lenient. Striking a good balance between both is required to go along well with a forum in the long run. As per good balance, WTF is a good successful example.

# Try to create content on your own. It'll inspire your members to do more & you'll see the forum growing gradually.

# Do not appoint too many staff members at the beginning until you got 100~ members and some amount of posts. I am saying it just because there is literally nothing to moderate & you can't find out who is contributing to the community when there are 10 users and 100 posts (an example)

Any other advices and recommendations on how to promote a forum effectively are welcome! Thanks in advance!

I guess the above ones should work well. You've to be patient and keep putting in regular efforts. One big reason why many forums die are because their admin don't show interest after the first few months - be sure you'll be able to give it some time.

Swastik

[GlobalTor]

When i first started i did pay to post .01 per post was effective

[Dumi]

You can use StumbleUpon: Personalized Recommendations to Help You Discover the Best of the Web to send traffic, paid or free.

[go85]

There are many ways to promote and market your forum.

-Add a blog to your forum and update it a minimum of 3 times a week. These articles will begin to bring in traffic from search engines and some of that traffic may spill over into your forum.

-Add a link to your forum in your signature. This seems simple, but it is very effective.

-Submit your forum to directories, especially ones that cater to just listing forums (like: this one, for example).

-If your forum focuses on a specific niche subject, frequent blogs that speak about the same subject and comment on them with links going back to your forum, being careful not to just spam them of course.

These are all free methods, there are also strategies that cost money like purchasing traffic (not recommended), participating in ppc advertising, and buying blog posts / reviews in blogs that are related to the subject of your forum.

Good luck with your project!

[Purple Rain]

For me, effective marketing is a mixture of various techniques depending on what the niche is. A bit of social bookmarking, promotion on other forums would roll the ball and then a forum grows more by mouth to mouth advertising. If it's quite new, try referring your friends, promoting on other forums, buying ad spots on blogs or something you'd prefer.



Here are some tips that I'd give :

# Don't experiment too much on a live forum, it'll make members go away. Try to keep away from regular downtimes and such.

# Don't try to act too strict, at the same time don't be extra lenient. Striking a good balance between both is required to go along well with a forum in the long run. As per good balance, WTF is a good successful example.

# Try to create content on your own. It'll inspire your members to do more & you'll see the forum growing gradually.

# Do not appoint too many staff members at the beginning until you got 100~ members and some amount of posts. I am saying it just because there is literally nothing to moderate & you can't find out who is contributing to the community when there are 10 users and 100 posts (an example)



I guess the above ones should work well. You've to be patient and keep putting in regular efforts. One big reason why many forums die are because their admin don't show interest after the first few months - be sure you'll be able to give it some time.

Swastik

Some very good points the Swastik. Especially about experimenting with an open forum and creating your own content. One of the worst things is a forum that launches and continues to experiment with themes, design and mods etc.. this can make it look very unprofessional and put potential visitors off.

[Garala]

Some very good points the Swastik. Especially about experimenting with an open forum and creating your own content. One of the worst things is a forum that launches and continues to experiment with themes, design and mods etc.. this can make it look very unprofessional and put potential visitors off.

I've made that mistake where I have changed skins, mods, moved around sections too often. And members hated it.

[womanizer]

Ok guys, thanks for all your advices, I take into account all of them! I have more than 40 registered users now. About 50 users visit my forum daily! But the problems seems to remain. When for example users come to my website and see it is not popular not all of them wish to start registration! But it should be pointed out the more popular my forum is the more new users and posts I begin to receive!

[swastik]

Ok guys, thanks for all your advices, I take into account all of them! I have more than 40 registered users now. About 50 users visit my forum daily! But the problems seems to remain. When for example users come to my website and see it is not popular not all of them wish to start registration! But it should be pointed out the more popular my forum is the more new users and posts I begin to receive!

Hey,

I believe it's an exponential growth. So yeah, you'll see more registrations a day when the forum is more filled up.

Actually, you should try to point out to a new visitor why he/ she should register. When a new visitor comes to your site, you have like 2-3 seconds to impress him. If you can do that, he/ she will register, most probably.

If you're using vBulletin, you can put up a notice for visitors to Welcome them or use the Welcome headers. And there are a couple of other things that WTF does like the "Guest, register to put your own image" and "Register to post reply" that help quite a bit.

Best of luck!
Swastik :3069:

[womanizer]

Hey,

If you're using vBulletin, you can put up a notice for visitors to Welcome them or use the Welcome headers. And there are a couple of other things that WTF does like the "Guest, register to put your own image" and "Register to post reply" that help quite a bit.

Thanks swastik! But I use free Phpbb tamplate for a forum at the moment! Once the forum becomes popular I am planning to setup vBulletin template for it!

[swastik]

Thanks swastik! But I use free Phpbb tamplate for a forum at the moment! Once the forum becomes popular I am planning to setup vBulletin template for it!

Hey,

I had used PHPBB 2 sometime back. As far as I can remember, and if it is true, you may want to edit Header.tpl to include some kind of a notice, beautify it with CSS and dang - it's ready.

But don't do it on a live forum. :3071:

[womanizer]

Hey,

I had used PHPBB 2 sometime back. As far as I can remember, and if it is true, you may want to edit Header.tpl to include some kind of a notice, beautify it with CSS and dang - it's ready.

But don't do it on a live forum. :3071:

I am not going to edit Header.tpl in the nearest future! Thasnks for your advice anyway!

[womanizer]

I have faced another problem - spam! Spammers begin to attack my forum! I have changed forum settings a bit and setup registering each new users upon the admin approval! But the problem is that not all new users return to the forum after I approve their profiles! What methods or useful recommendations could you provide me to cope with spammers?

[mpstrategies]

before you promote a forum, you would need to consider the traffic on the forum, no point promoting a forum if you dont have users posting

[jitendraag]

1. Create quality articles and post on your own forum, post parts of the article in other similar forums to draw new registrations.
2. Make sure that you are starting new discussions frequently.
3. Float contents for referral registrations as well as for most popular thread etc.

[womanizer]

As it turned out to be the most important forum promotion technique at the beginning stages is email marketing! I select the potential candidates and send them invintation emails! It works effectively now!

[conorod]

The main source of traffic to my forum is signiture links in other webmaster forums.
Posting contests can also help get people to sign up and post at your forum.

[womanizer]

Yes, signiture links at other forums are also important, however, the forum should be filled with the information to start doing this!

[juliya]

Following are some tips of how you can promote your forum effectively:

Be Unique - The internet is crowded with forums and communities on all sorts of topics. You’ve got to do something to distance yourself from the pack.

Discuss Hot Topics - No matter what your forum is about, there will always be hot topics to talk about - hot button issues that automatically generate conversation and debate. Industry news, technological developments, and current events are all great topics.

Show your appreciation - This one is really quite simple. Your members need to know you care about them, about their needs and desires, and most of all, about the forum.

Be active - No one likes absentee landlords, fathers, or forum administrators. A forum is going to take up a lot of your time. If you don’t have time to run it, make sure you find someone that does. The forum administrator needs to be active and visible in the community.

Invite Experts - In any field there are well known experts. If you’ve started a forum on the subject, chances are you know who the top experts. Chances are, there is already a discussion about one of their products or theories going on in your forum. If not, start one.

Send out Reminders - People often join a forum, participate for a few hours or days, get busy and then forget about their new-found forum. Even if your site is unique and memorable, some people will manage to forget it. Luckily for you, most forums require an email address to sign up.

Welcome new members - Have you ever asked why Walmart employs a person whose sole job is to greet customers? It’s because people like to be welcomed. And, if it’s good enough for Walmart, it’s good enough for your forum. Be sure to welcome your new members and, if possible, give them a place to introduce themselves to your regular members.

Allow Off Topic Discussion - Even workaholics don’t talk shop 24/7. Your forum members are no different. Creating a space for your members to blow off steam, tell jokes, and talk about their other interests will allow them to create friendships and unwind. Think of this as a team building exercise. The more your members interact with each other, the more likely they’ll be to visit on a regular basis and participate.

I hope that these tips will definitely help you out.

[platnumcn]

Ok guys, thanks for all your advices, I take into account all of them! I have more than 40 registered users now. About 50 users visit my forum daily! But the problems seems to remain. When for example users come to my website and see it is not popular not all of them wish to start registration! But it should be pointed out the more popular my forum is the more new users and posts I begin to receive!

Good Ideal!!

[userinsight]

A few ideas...

Get lots of traffic to your site, and post a few quotes from interesting posts on the main page of your site, with links to your forum.

Mention interesting posts in your newsletter. (If you don't have interesting posts, you'll have to write them yourself.)

Add an RSS feed to your forum, and list the feed in RSS directories.

Get links from related sites.

Write articles and get them published on other sites and in article directories. Link to your forum in the resource box at the end.

[womanizer]

The forum is developed successfully, due to content and post increase the traffic from search engines has been risen in times, now I almost do nothing and new users are added almost each day. The forum seems to be launched.

[PromoJunkie]

Cash Payouts! I do them at my forums and it works

[ayebea]

i also agree this post for forum promotion idea

[Banhawi]

Check people questions on other forums , answer it one yours , linkback to the answer

Banhawi added 0 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...

and Also , signature links are very useful .

[yomimedia]

Researching on the various subjects covered by your forum could be very time consuming, that's where experts could help you with. Invite experts to the forum and offer them something in return. Making a slideshow / video about the popular subjects of your forum and uploading it on youtube is a good invitation too. You could also invite through your network of friends in Facebook and Myspace to add more people. Good luck and give us an update on how your forum does.

[emmadean]

You can as well advertise your forum to free classified ads sites and you find a lot these by googling it. And of course by joining forums too.

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