How can I promote my new forum?

12 years ago

Hi Paul,

What is your forum's subject? is it in the Internet Marketing?

Any how you can find forums in your niche and put your forum in your signature, and start making some useful posts there. You will definitely get some subscribers.

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pauljohnny

12 years ago

What is your forum's subject? is it in the Internet Marketing?

No, its about relationships, dating, get ex back, etc... That's a great idea but in terms of content, is it fine to copy from yahoo answers to just prepopulate the forum with contents? Has anyone did this before and got some problem? thanks

Thanks

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tryinhere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by pauljohnny

I'm thinking of scraping from yahoo answer, but is it ethical?

yes you can take a feed from YA but it will be the biggest waste of time, the result look like crap.

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pauljohnny 12 years ago

Originally Posted by tryinhere

yes you can take a feed from YA but it will be the biggest waste of time, the result look like crap.

ah ok, i guess i'll go for it to test the whole thing myself. thanks
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MayfairNoble

12 years ago

You can actually outsource forum posting, just like article writing.

Generally the lower end will cost you around $0.10 per post, obviously you'd pay more for higher quality writers.

My advice? Hire both! Get some good quality article writers to produce you some topics (great forum topics have a lot in common with great articles), then hire some of the cheaper folks to get the conversation buzzing.

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bertosio

12 years ago

I would strongly recomend NOT scraping yahoo answers for content!

As said previously it will look like crap!

The best way to populate your forum is paid posters. Make sure they are knowledgable and will write good posts and replies. Its worth paying a bit extra to get people posting that know what there doing/talking about than someone who is just trying to make a quick buck. Always put them on a trail first to see the quality of there content.

Once you have a fair bit of content on there what i have found to work is get some good moderators on there. Moderators that will take pride in what there doing and what i have found is they will reply to posts and keep the forum active.

In terms of getting traffic promote it from your blog, any lists you have, other forums via sigs etc but what i have always found most succseful with forums is just to get good keyword relevent content on there and let google do its work. Not all the posts have to be search engine quality content obviously but while the paid posters are doing there stuff work yourself on getting some good seo optimised threads up and then create replies that will back up your seo efforts.

Hope this helps

Ben

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pauljohnny 12 years ago

Originally Posted by bertosio

Hope this helps

Ben

Thanks man, this is a great way to start. I now have some new ideas on how to do this..:p
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Brendan Vraibel

12 years ago

Definitely find some forum posters to outsource to. Forums are notoriously difficult to ever get off the ground because once someone sees that there hasn't been a post in a while they immediately take off, and rightfully so.

Once you have a good foundation and there is an active community you could purchase solo ads to give it an extra jolt.

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Torreylee

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Brendan Vraibel

Definitely find some forum posters to outsource to. Forums are notoriously difficult to ever get off the ground because once someone sees that there hasn't been a post in a while they immediately take off, and rightfully so.

Once you have a good foundation and there is an active community you could purchase solo ads to give it an extra jolt.

THIS. This is the best advice I've seen in this thread so far, outsource this at places like elance, etc. Invite ALL your offline friends, invite facebook friends. Create a related facebook fanpage. Also carry on conversation with your outsourced posters and even yourself through different accounts.

It's important to make the forum seem occupied and active. Also put full SEO efforts into it. Make sure all of your Onpage SEO is tight, coding is top-notch and Offpage SEO is being handled, bookmarks and backlinks, etc.

It's ALOT of work,make sure you have an airtight monetization plan so that all of your investment and work is worth it. I wish you the best!

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Torreylee

THIS. This is the best advice I've seen in this thread so far, outsource this at places like elance, etc. Invite ALL your offline friends, invite facebook friends. Create a related facebook fanpage. Also carry on conversation with your outsourced posters and even yourself through different accounts.

It's important to make the forum seem occupied and active. Also put full SEO efforts into it. Make sure all of your Onpage SEO is tight, coding is top-notch and Offpage SEO is being handled, bookmarks and backlinks, etc.

It's ALOT of work,make sure you have an airtight monetization plan so that all of your investment and work is worth it. I wish you the best!

More advice about hiring fake forum posters? :rolleyes:

I just don't understand why people work so much-- and pay!?-- for things that don't directly bring them real money. Is it because it makes you feel busy? Does it make you feel like you're getting something done? :confused:

If people don't stay on your forum, it is because there is nothing worth reading and talking about... Not because there aren't enough people or there isn't enough activity. Just like any other site.

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Stephen41

Banned 12 years ago

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jvjoe 12 years ago

Going to YA to source contain is a bad idea, rather look for forums relating to your niche, and contact frequent posters and make a deal with them or you outsource them, you can some of them in the warrior for hire section. hope this help?
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Shirlyn

12 years ago

Hi, Post quality content in your forum and bookmark it over high PR social bookmarking sites to get quick traffic for your forum.

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Danny Cutts

12 years ago

I have built a very successful forum in a very tight niche and we are now a leading authority in that area :-)

To get people posting you need to make your forum look busy and the way you do that is either pay people to post or you create 20 or so accounts and start chatting....

Then with every new active member you delete one of your accounts and keep active...

I got a bit cheeky and poached a fair few or my members from another forum :-) That forum has now shut down :-)

You have to be ruthless in the forum industry

But build it up and it will become very valuable :-)

Danny

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pauljohnny 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Danny Cutts

You have to be ruthless in the forum industry

But build it up and it will become very valuable :-)

Danny

That's a great advice man, thanks..

Actually I started the forum 'cause i'm having 10-20 messages a day from visitors asking diff kinds of questions. It's a bit time consuming on my part to just answer those one by one.
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Daniel Wilson

12 years ago

Give your URL where ever you think it will be valuable for readers - articles, forum signatures and so on.

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dotgirish

12 years ago

My few cents :-

Try starting a small contest and a giveaway ..
Try talking in similar forums of your niche with a signature
Promote using banner advertisements in relevant niche blogs
Fake number of viewers (blackhat)
Add more useful contents

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Tonylee93

12 years ago

A great way to find good members that are willing to stay around , you need to make some online friends and talk to them every day! Talking to them making a frienship with them will help , than just suggest your forum... word of mouth is a great way when it comes to promoting a forum and everything thats what Ive learned

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Nikolas

12 years ago

I think Tony's advice is the best here, forums are communities so you need to make a place that feels warm and people will create friendships there.

Making your forum look busy is good because it will raise the conversions, but don't get destructed by that too much as your real goal is make it busy, not make it look busy

Here are a few things that helped my forum grow:
1. Post killer content that can be spread through social media
2. Start contests. People love contests, but you'll have to work this out to see what's the best for your community
3. Give something to the people who post often like freebies
4. Make moderators your most active members. You can't imagine what they are going to do for you
5. Always be online and try to give helpful replies to those who start threads in your forum
6. Post in forums in your niche and use a signature

Hope that helps

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Tonylee93

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Nikolas

I think Tony's advice is the best here, forums are communities so you need to make a place that feels warm and people will create friendships there.

Making your forum look busy is good because it will raise the conversions, but don't get destructed by that too much as your real goal is make it busy, not make it look busy

Here are a few things that helped my forum grow:
1. Post killer content that can be spread through social media
2. Start contests. People love contests, but you'll have to work this out to see what's the best for your community
3. Give something to the people who post often like freebies
4. Make moderators your most active members. You can't imagine what they are going to do for you
5. Always be online and try to give helpful replies to those who start threads in your forum
6. Post in forums in your niche and use a signature

Hope that helps

I also suggest making some type of ebook or out source it, and give it away to people who become members it`s really important to get the content there and get it fast!

Outsourcing works but you need to ask some of your friends to post on there, because if you have the whole entire forum made up of people just trying to post content because your paying them, then it wont feel like a community.

I once was posting at a place that had other forum posters and It didn`t feel like a real forum.. no one was listening to you it was like you were talking to no one about the knowledge you had on the topic. It wasnt fun and I didn`t enjoy posting there.

Make the place fun to post on!!

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Mitsakis

12 years ago

I had some success with blog commenting. A quality comment in a high traffic blog in my niche got me about 20 visits and 2 subscribers. I mentined my forum at the end of the post but not in a spammy way. Spammy comments are always deleted in quality blogs.

I also fill my forum with content so it doesn't look empty but I haven't created any fake accounts.

I am now considering post exchanges with others who want to start a new forum. PM me if you are interested.

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blogbombmedia

12 years ago

Any luck finding paid forum posters?

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subten101

12 years ago

Try using different forums within your niche and put your forum in your signature, the more posts you the more exposure you get

Thanks
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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by subten101

Try using different forums within your niche and put your forum in your signature, the more posts you the more exposure you get

This is the advice that amateurs spout off across the Internet-- and they are all broke for a reason. Anyone who has tried this will tell you they don't get much "traffic" and it doesn't convert very well.

Not to mention, if you go to another forum and start trying to promote your own forum with your signature link, you are not going to be received very well.

There is a reason that people join forums: They want to have deep conversations with people they have some sort of perceived affinity with. The conversations are deeper and more committed than social media, and unlike a blog there is not really one person that everyone else is expected to respond to-- Instead, everyone is on a more level playing field and can start threads as well as respond to them.

You want to be successful? Make connections. Have an impact on the hearts and minds of people.

Forum Marketing is older than even Article Marketing. For as long as civilization, people have gotten together into groups of others of a like-mind, and one of them was smart enough to lead the group and sell things.

Just look at the most powerful politicians and the richest CEO's... They spend all of that time going to clubs and associations and luncheons and restaurants and playing golf. Their most powerful (and profitable!) skills are handshakes, smiles, and introductions. They are true masters of the ability to ask for-- and give-- quality referrals.

And, they don't limit themselves to clubs that are in their "market"... They go to clubs and associations for anything and everything they are interested in, and make as many friends as they can.

Or, you can make fake accounts and put a link in your signature when you participate in other peoples' forums. Let me know how that works out for you.

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Danny Cutts

No one want to talk on a dead forum.....

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

The flawed idea that many people have is that others will not want to join a forum if it doesn't have active members yet. That is just not true. If you have quality content, and they can see that you are active, they will know that it is going to grow-- and a lot of people love to get in early and be one of the "first" members of a community.

Originally Posted by Danny Cutts

How many forums have you started that are actually successful???

LOL Why, do I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about? Maybe I'm repeating all of that advice that is given out in PLR and generic articles across the web, and not speaking from actual experience here? :p

Originally Posted by Tonylee93

I owned a forum for a while now... no one is their anymore because it takes a lot of work.

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

(I've owned several forums for a while now... And they are still very popular, and growing.)

Hey, if I'm "throwing pearls before swine", be my guest:

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

Or, you can make fake accounts and put a link in your signature when you participate in other peoples' forums. Let me know how that works out for you.

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Tonylee93

12 years ago

You can do mean things that can help spread and improve the membership numbers!

outscourcing is a great way to get forum posters and get some great content

Make some "fake" accounts and talk to your self people is another great way also free way to get more content to your fourm.

Fourms that are active and always changing will influence people to become a member and be active so keep the topics changing and always have good answers/comments

I owned a forum for a while now... no one is their anymore because it takes a lot of work. You either need a lot of time or a lot of money ... but overall its a great investment! and fun to see your community grow.

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by pauljohnny

but is it ethical?

Normally, if you have to ask that question, it probably isn't.

Originally Posted by Tonylee93

You can do mean things that can help spread and improve the membership numbers!

outscourcing is a great way to get forum posters and get some great content

Make some "fake" accounts and talk to your self people is another great way also free way to get more content to your fourm.

Fourms that are active and always changing will influence people to become a member and be active so keep the topics changing and always have good answers/comments

I owned a forum for a while now... no one is their anymore because it takes a lot of work. You either need a lot of time or a lot of money ... but overall its a great investment! and fun to see your community grow.

Once again I have to say that these are terrible suggestions. Making fake accounts is a huge waste of time-- You should be investing your time in getting real members.

(Fake members can't give you real money, can they?)

Outsourcing posts to make your forum "look" popular and active is also a terrible idea. When you stop paying for those fake posts, they stop getting posted-- and your forum looks like it is slowing down.

Augustus Caesar said, "Well done is quickly done." In other words, just do it right the first time!

Outsourcing for content may not be a bad idea, but once again I would ask why you are starting a forum about a subject if you cannot provide the content yourself?

The flawed idea that many people have is that others will not want to join a forum if it doesn't have active members yet. That is just not true. If you have quality content, and they can see that you are active, they will know that it is going to grow-- and a lot of people love to get in early and be one of the "first" members of a community.

Building a forum is done the same way as a blog or anything else. Provide quality content that people want to comment on and a way for them to speak to you and each other, then get as many real people who are interested in the subject to the site as you can.

(I've owned several forums for a while now... And they are still very popular, and growing.)

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Yulia from DNP

12 years ago

im not sure about what im going to say, BUT, bare with me

Im thinking here that if you are talking about people who are interested in relationships,love, love troubles etc etc, you try media buying in dating sites.But you will have to put very convincing banners there , something like: "does he really love you? " etc , this may attract some attention.
You should advertise this kind of thing in facebook.
email marketing could work also, mass email with something attractive like: " confused weather what you have is real? , you are not alone, come share your thoughts ..... something something ))
Believe me there is enough crowd out there for this kind of material.

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Danny Cutts

12 years ago

I have to say that these are terrible suggestions. Making fake accounts is a huge waste of time-- You should be investing your time in getting real members.

No one want to talk on a dead forum.....

How many forums have you started that are actually successful???

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Danny Cutts

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

The flawed idea that many people have is that others will not want to join a forum if it doesn't have active members yet. That is just not true. If you have quality content, and they can see that you are active, they will know that it is going to grow-- and a lot of people love to get in early and be one of the "first" members of a community.

That is not flawed...

If a visitor has a choice between a busy forum or a dead forum I wonder which one they are going to choose..

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Danny Cutts

That is not flawed...

If a visitor has a choice between a busy forum or a dead forum I wonder which one they are going to choose..

Well I suppose that depends on where the visitor came from, doesn't it? Sure, if they come across your forum from Google, which has become a cross between the Yellow Pages and the bathroom wall in a gas station, then yes, they would most likely choose the busy forum.

But nobody can accuse me of ever spending my time in SEO or most other methods of low quality traffic... That's your thing, and I'll let you argue the method and the point of it.

But the bottom line is that there are much better things to invest your time, money, and effort in than fake posts.

This reminds me of the story where black belts were putting bleach on their belts to make them look old and worn, as though they had been black belts for a long time.

The Sensei just shook his head disgusted, and said that they should have been spending all of that time and effort making their techniques look old and well-used.

You want your forum to become popular and profitable? Put up quality stuff, make connections with real people, and spread the word about what you are doing. Throw in some good but light-handed quality control to keep things from getting out of hand.

!Viola!

Hey, a guy named Allen Says did that once, and he didn't bother creating any fake accounts. I wonder how that worked out for him?

Or, go ahead and do fake posts and chase "backlinks"... It's your business and your bank account, not mine.

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tryinhere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

But the bottom line is that there are much better things to invest your time, money, and effort in than fake posts..

whats the difference in employing the services of a writer to write articles for a web site / blog (they seem to be busy here) and employing the services of a writer to make posts on a forum ? they all add targeted content to a site ?

could they all not be considered fake posts ?

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by tryinhere

whats the difference in employing the services of a writer to write articles for a web site / blog (they seem to be busy here) and employing the services of a writer to make posts on a forum ? they all add targeted content to a site ?

could they all not be considered fake posts ?

Make no mistake, I am not against paying for content. In fact, throughout this thread I have suggested that the OP have high quality content, although I did question why he would start a forum if he didn't have any of his own?

I myself pay quite a healthy amount for articles. But articles and blogs, by their nature, are not really open communities. In a blog, people expect you to post stuff and they may comment on it. But they don't expect to make friends or have conversations about things that are not posted on your blog.

What I am saying is that fake people-- using fake accounts to make your forum look busy... Users are expecting the other users on the forum to be real. They expect them to be someone they can interact with, someone they can have a perceived affinity with, and even be friends with.

Hey, look, it might work, and I'm sure some people have done it. Some people also use fake testimonials to try and make sales.

My point is that there is a much more effective way of operating. Get real people. Get real testimonials.

Anything else you are doing is a waste of time and effort. It might work, sure... But if you would just do it right the first time, you will save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort, and make a lot more money a lot faster.

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tryinhere

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeTucker

Make no mistake, I am not against paying for content. In fact, throughout this thread I have suggested that the OP have high quality content, although I did question why he would start a forum if he didn't have any of his own?

Hey, look, it might work, and I'm sure some people have done it. Some people also use fake testimonials to try and make sales.

My point is that there is a much more effective way of operating. Get real people. Get real testimonials.

Anything else you are doing is a waste of time and effort. It might work, sure... But if you would just do it right the first time, you will save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort, and make a lot more money a lot faster.

Mike there is Merritt in that we would agree junk posts are a waste of time, what does work with a limited amount of success is these things.

. hire a reputable and well grounded forum posting service, and piadforumposting is one who researches and makes well researched posts. I am sure there are many other good ones.

. when you hire other writers say from fiver or anywhere try and get writers who would normally post on your forum type or normally write for that topic.

By this try and select as best as possible writers who will match your site but what will happen is many will not be suitable, here you need to delete and remove the posts and then not re employ that writer.

It is not that the writer is not a good writer its just that they do not suit your forum so you are better of dumping them and their posts and yes you waste a few dollars, but to keep the quality up you must do this.

. The next big mistake is not employing the good writers for as long as needed and by that you need to re hire the good ones so that it looks like they are continuing with your site in a natural way, and the good writers do look and feel natural to the site

. Continue to test new writers removing the duds so that slowly your writer group begins to grow and this also makes the site look natural in growth

. Once you start to collect good writers avoid having them chunk the site and instead rotate them and start them on different days so they start / stop overlap each other ( most should post over a week with a few posts a day or so )

. Continue to add new writers, and this is not a fast process as it may be only one new writer you add a week and yes you need $ in your pocket to do this

. while all that happens yes add quality content and mostly build and maintain the other sections of your site

. starting a forum can be one of the hardest chicken and egg things you have done, most start on a free base that visually crappy and decide that if they get famous they will update which defeats it's own purpose in many ways.

. it is a given most new forums fail, most people start one on a whimsical dream of fanciful illusions without doing proper research

So it is possible to have content / posters so long as you keep a very tight control over that process, delete any crap, grow the posters and re hire them over, plus add quality to the site as well.

Where most fall over is the what we are all talking about and thats crap posters who, . do not know the topic and write crap . are non literate in english . or in plain talk are just crap

most people think if they have content any content its good, and you see shocking start up forum posters with dribble and rubbish posts that need to be removed.

* Disclaimer in that the above is just personal views from my own findings over many years with forums. if any one see's it different then thats OK.

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elexmedia

12 years ago

Maybe you could follow what Reddit do in it's early days.

They fake the community, fake the user, fake the post. Because they website is a community site, it can't be empty. It must appear that there's a community in the site. So, they create a lot of fake user, and post fake posts.

Maybe you could follow they technique...
1. Create hundreds Fake Username
2. Post thousands Fake Posts.
3. Invite blogger to review your forum
4. Optimize the SEO

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by elexmedia

Maybe you could follow what Reddit do in it's early days.

They fake the community, fake the user, fake the post. Because they website is a community site, it can't be empty. It must appear that there's a community in the site. So, they create a lot of fake user, and post fake posts.

Maybe you could follow they technique...
1. Create hundreds Fake Username
2. Post thousands Fake Posts.
3. Invite blogger to review your forum
4. Optimize the SEO

This is just not true. People can tell when you have something that is going to be BIG, and they LOVE the opportunity to get on it first!

Create hundreds... post thousands... WHOA that is a lot of work for something that is not ever going to make you any money. Is that REALLY how you would spend your time??

You want to do all that work to try and deceive people and quietly cheat to make money? Hey, I've tried to warn you here. Is it too much work to do it right? Would it be more fun to create fake uses and have fake conversations with yourself, or to pay people to pretend they care about your forum, rather than going out and making connections and friends with real people, then telling them about it? Or would you rather spend your time and money trying to get backlinks in your signature file on other peoples' forums?

You go for it, and let me know where you are at this time next year.

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JB

12 years ago

Not sure what platform you are using but vBulletin has a free mod in the .org community that allows you to create an articles forum within your forum. That's one way to get traffic to the sub domain. That plus posting links to specific forum posts to your facebook feed which you should also have as a wall feed plugin on your blog will direct more people to the forum (and boost the number of FB followers).
It's a tough one to get going in the beginning but if you can get a few dedicated members who post regularly and create a friendly banter relationship then you can promote them to be moderators and encourage them to post from a few aliases to get post count and member names up over the first couple of weeks/months.
Start a few open ended threads with controversial titles and subject matter that will spur random visitors into leaving an opinion. You can always orchestrate a mini flame war between two opinionated self created users from opposite ends of the spectrum that can piss people off with extreme views. Eventually you won't have to do that becuase you will have those types of users as forum members. From running a forum with over 15,000 users I find those types of threads get the most traffic. Also, start threads about whatever is trending on Google around your keywords and subject matter. Use SEO plugins to tag and add keywords to your threads and add permalinks with keyword rich thread titles.
I don't like the idea of fake users and fake posts either BUT if your forum doesn't hit the ground running with users signing up in ever growing numbers then you will have to do something to mimic what happens on an active board. Controversy, open question threads, topics that users are passionate about and car crash flame wars are all things that get the highest amount of traffic. Blend all of that with solid information that your users actually want to see (perhaps discussions about your blog posts that are already bringing good traffic) and you will do well. In fact you could use a plugin to cross publish the forum thread relating to your blog post so that it appears instead of the usual comments section (if you are using Wordpress). So if someone wants to comment on your blog they are actually signing up to your forum to do so.
Hope some of that helps.
Dave

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Ben Gordon

12 years ago

Here's how I personally started a successful and active forum: pay per post. If your forum has under 1000 posts, to my estimations even under 5000 posts, people who visit your forum will not be interested and leave. What I did is I hosted contests and events paying people to post in my forum. I paid 10 cents per post and promoted it on a forum in my niche. Along with that, I hosted contests where people could win $100 (whoever posts the most posts wins) and I had a lot of activity come to my forum. Once activity increased I started advertising my forum via PPC on search engines, buying ads on forums, etc.

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isimrikasharma

12 years ago

I know it sounds silly but go for all the seo techniques and try to get traffic from google. It should surely help you.

Good Luck.

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Pete, if you're talking about buying content, that's fine. I've never used paidforumposting but one of their members here has talked to me quite a bit and they seem like a decent enough company, if that is the route someone chose to take.

I just can't get past this fact: If you're going to start a forum, shouldn't it be about an area you are an expert on? Shouldn't you be able to provide tons of your own content?

And if you're going to pay for content, why wouldn't you just buy the content and post it under your own name?

Also, there are some niches which simply cannot be researched... Which is precisely why someone would join a forum, so that they can learn that hard-to-find information-- Otherwise they would just Google the information, wouldn't they?

It is really not difficult at all to get a few dozen active members to a quality forum, and then it quickly grows from dozens to hundreds and then thousands. There is just no need to fake anything or put on a show.

Just like any other site, offer quality information, and show it to people who like that type of information. It will happen on its own from there.

Originally Posted by jardi

i think List building will help if you want + info send me an email: darthred2@gmail.com also use twitter! good luck!

Originally Posted by isimrikasharma

I know it sounds silly but go for all the seo techniques and try to get traffic from google. It should surely help you.

Good Luck.

Whoa, that's deep... Thanks for the great advice guys, I'm sure this will make the OP tons of money. :rolleyes:

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JB

12 years ago

My own forum has over 300,000 posts and it gets a lot of organic traffic from Google since I optimised the SEO. Like I mentioned above somewhere, the threads that get the highest traffic from unique visitors are those which are trending at the time around my niche. Also, open ended question threads asking people to show off their equipment and/or list their setup (people love to show off). The other hot threads would be divisive themes that get heated arguments around trending issues - flame wars always get huge traffic and it's good if the site moderators can chime in with some level headed discussion and argument followed by a temporary ban. Those threads may not be high on useful content but they generate very high levels of traffic, it's up to the forum structure (eg side columns with similar topics, latest threads, hot topics, article database etc) then to draw the viewer out into the rest of the forum.
Third party sponsored competitions are a great way to increase traffic. If you can offer a sponsor free advertising in exchange for a free download or membership for a competition winner then you immediately improve the image of your forum and get user buy in. I did a few similar comps where users would have to create some media which would either be judged by admin/sponsor or community poll. The great thing was that entrants posted links all over the place and brought traffic from their own circles in an attempt to improve their chances of winning. The better and more relevant the prize and sponsor is to your target user the highest the chances are that it will bring you greater levels of traffic.
A website that gets almost all of its traffic through heated arguments is bullshido dotcom - basically it's a martial arts site where users trash talk styles that they think are poor or worthless. This draws in practitioners from those styles to defend their arts and hey presto - consistent high visibility heated discussion. Personally, I would find that type of model too much to handle but there's something to be learned there. Tap into whatever your target users are most passionate about and challenge them to either show off or defend themselves and you will draw passive search engine traffic into the conversation.

One other thing - DON't include a shoutbox on your forum. Users love them but they kill thread post counts as users take conversation off the boards and onto a messenger type SEO unfriendly chatbox.

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MikeTucker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by JB

My own forum has over 300,000 posts and it gets a lot of organic traffic from Google since I optimised the SEO. Like I mentioned above somewhere, the threads that get the highest traffic from unique visitors are those which are trending at the time around my niche. Also, open ended question threads asking people to show off their equipment and/or list their setup (people love to show off). The other hot threads would be divisive themes that get heated arguments around trending issues - flame wars always get huge traffic and it's good if the site moderators can chime in with some level headed discussion and argument followed by a temporary ban. Those threads may not be high on useful content but they generate very high levels of traffic, it's up to the forum structure (eg side columns with similar topics, latest threads, hot topics, article database etc) then to draw the viewer out into the rest of the forum.
Third party sponsored competitions are a great way to increase traffic. If you can offer a sponsor free advertising in exchange for a free download or membership for a competition winner then you immediately improve the image of your forum and get user buy in. I did a few similar comps where users would have to create some media which would either be judged by admin/sponsor or community poll. The great thing was that entrants posted links all over the place and brought traffic from their own circles in an attempt to improve their chances of winning. The better and more relevant the prize and sponsor is to your target user the highest the chances are that it will bring you greater levels of traffic.
A website that gets almost all of its traffic through heated arguments is bullshido dotcom - basically it's a martial arts site where users trash talk styles that they think are poor or worthless. This draws in practitioners from those styles to defend their arts and hey presto - consistent high visibility heated discussion. Personally, I would find that type of model too much to handle but there's something to be learned there. Tap into whatever your target users are most passionate about and challenge them to either show off or defend themselves and you will draw passive search engine traffic into the conversation.

One other thing - DON't include a shoutbox on your forum. Users love them but they kill thread post counts as users take conversation off the boards and onto a messenger type SEO unfriendly chatbox.

Great post.

Yep, of my forums, right now there are two which are extremely popular (and profitable): One where I pretend to be a Republican, and one where I pretend to be a Democrat. Both are extremely popular ("trending") at this time and probably for the rest of this year, and the members are extremely active. Some come from Google but most come from other sites and forums.

I'm curious, what is this niche for this particular forum of yours?

Ugh... Bullshido. They really do hurt my brain sometimes. But, you can get a ton of traffic from them, if you are willing to play to the "Tough Talking Youth Naivete" crowd. The arguments (rather than debates) are the reason for their success... a la Jeffery Springer.

I emoldened what I feel is the most important part of your post, although I don't care about the search engine traffic so much, that is really a key point to a successful forum-- and probably a successful site of any kind.

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Clare44

12 years ago

The best way to get content in your forum is to create a competition say, members who post a 100 relevant posts will be awarded $20, etc and very soon your forum will have relevant content to impress people to join.