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Are forums a bad idea for IM?

by css
12 replies
I have read that a lot of site owners say that forums just do not work out as a money platform, i.e. AdSense in general. Anyone have this as a problem? I am building a new site and was thinking of putting a forum on it for adds, but now I am thinking maybe not.
#adsense ads #bad #forums #idea #site
  • Profile picture of the author Lett
    Forum is good as additional feature. It shouldn't to be the main feature, because if the website is based on forum, your profit will be very small. People in forums don't click on ads.

    But there are huge benefits from forums. For example you can get many links from website. If you have a forum, your links are going to grow up fast - and your google ranking should do the same thing too. If you will have forum, people will feel more comfortably.

    There are many reasons, but i will answer your question - If you don't make your website based just on forum, you will get a lot of benefits from it (forum). So i think you should build forum too.

    Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedogtreatjar
      The biggest problem with forums is that many people are in clicks - arghh high school all over again, lol.

      I think forums work better for niches, especially mine (dogs) but only because there are so many dedicated members of those forums. Once you get in you get all the business... again, just like high school
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  • Profile picture of the author jbode
    It's hard to get an active forum (to make money with advertising) you have to get a ton of people on a forum and then you have to keep them interested and posting...

    if you have a big list of customers or are willing to spend a lot on paid traffic forget about starting a forum
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  • Profile picture of the author peter_act
    The biggest problem with a new forum is getting people to post.
    People don't like posting to a forum with a small membership.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by peter_act View Post

      The biggest problem with a new forum is getting people to post.
      People don't like posting to a forum with a small membership.

      Seeding a new forum is pretty easy.

      It just takes a budget and some outsourcing.

      I know of at least one niche-based forum that makes its money off user subscriptions and sells advertising based on calendar schedules for run of site vs. PPC or CPM.

      They make millions. Then again, it's one of the largest forum websites on the internet with a massive, loyal cult membership base that has no problem buying an annual membership for $100 to get into the "team forum".
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Yes, I think they can work, though when they just turn in to adsense farms maybe not so good. There are probably better ways of monetizing a forum, or you could just use it as a feature of a member site just to be generally helpful and keep people coming back to your membership site. But I think forums in general can be a lot of work for not a lot of return if you are just thinking of doing it for adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheDebtEliminator
    Hello CSS,

    Forums are great for networking

    Lining up products and getting testimonials

    Best Regards
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  • Profile picture of the author css
    The idea is to have the members create the content for your site (and links). Just like FacePage or SpaceBook etc. People are really unpaid employees in my eyes. They make all the content and the site owner's serve up the adds and keep most of the profit. Serving up adds is just a bonus to having a forum. It is true that it is tuff to get a forum going though, people just do not want to take part in low membership forums. I'm really up in the air on this. I am thinking of making a bid on a forum I know of that has no monetizing at all. It has a large membership and over 100K posts. And the topic is relative to the site under construction. The owner really does nothing with it at all. It is just there for the members to use. Thanks for the tips. Tuff call.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffLam
    Just check out this forum you are on.

    Model after it!
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    • Profile picture of the author css
      Originally Posted by JeffLam View Post

      Just check out this forum you are on.

      Model after it!
      Yea, I wish!
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  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    I think adding a forum to a blog that has decent traffic is a good idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author keerthana
    forums are the best thing u can hav but the problem is people wont prefer forums with less members ....
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