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Advice desperately need on making my forum a success

by staffjam
10 replies
Hi,

I have a pretty popular news site with over 20,000 daily visitors and 4 months ago i launched a forum.
It has been seeded with over 500 posts all written by our journalists who are experts in our sector and we make on average 6 new threads a day and comment on all threads.
But nothing is happening - it is advertised on every page of the site and still we get very few new subscribers and hardly anyone participates.

Our posts are open, not arrogant, we have no Spam on the forum - i haven't got a clue what we are doing wronmg.

Are there any forum experts here who can give some advice???

Thanks for any comments.
#advice #desperately #forum #making #success
  • Profile picture of the author DaCato
    Kind of hard to give accurate feedback without seeing the site.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxNiche
    Before people participate,you need to show them your forum is very active and also offer something to be active in your forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Originally Posted by staffjam View Post

    Hi,

    I have a pretty popular news site with over 20,000 daily visitors and 4 months ago i launched a forum.
    It has been seeded with over 500 posts all written by our journalists who are experts in our sector and we make on average 6 new threads a day and comment on all threads.
    But nothing is happening - it is advertised on every page of the site and still we get very few new subscribers and hardly anyone participates.

    Our posts are open, not arrogant, we have no Spam on the forum - i haven't got a clue what we are doing wronmg.

    Are there any forum experts here who can give some advice???

    Thanks for any comments.
    I just saw two promising forums this year fizzle out because they weren't putting enough effort into giving people enough reasons to come back and participate.

    Nothing kills a forum faster than:
    • People not getting their questions answered in a timely fashion. For NEW forums, if a person doesn't see an answer within a couple of hours they lose interest.
    • Apathy from the owner. If the person who started the forum doesn't participate, mix it up with the registered users who are probably wary of the forum to begin with, then why should the visitors care?
    • No fresh, relevant content
    You'll also want a way to contact the registered forum users (usually via PM or e-mail) when there's fresh content. Some smart forum owners will enlist the aid of both volunteers and sometimes paid members to keep the forum vibe and flow going and will try and keep it 24/7 as much as possible.

    What most forum starters fail to realize is that it takes a lot of work to make a forum really work. Participation is key and it cannot stop until the forum builds critical mass. The Warrior forum hit critical mass a long time ago because it has enough members that participate where there's more than enough new content and participation going on at a near and almost constant rate.

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author Jacob Sterbenk
    I don't think you are doing anything wrong ... you will just need more time. If your forum lack focus (too many topics to discuss), then it will take even more time.

    People come on forums to get the answers. Ask yourself why would people want to come on your forum? Is it well known for good answers in the specific area? Are there many users?

    For example: People come on WF because they want to make money online. They don't come here to discuss about weather or about president election. Which topic will be discussed on your forum?
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Why do you want a forum? What, in your view, is its end purpose?

    All the best,
    Michael
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    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      Why do you want a forum? What, in your view, is its end purpose?
      This is a great question.
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  • Profile picture of the author bgray
    Speaking from experience building a big board I can tell you it takes more than just a bit of seeding. Depending on the competition it will take 100% to get it going and will be some time before it's worth the effort (if ever).

    Leverage A Facebook Page and Twitter
    Run Contents and Promotions To Get Interest
    Participate on related forums (Especially if they are run by larger corporations)
    Use PPC
    Promote like hell anywhere you can that might have your target audience

    I had a lot of success with forum building but I've also seen great failures trying to build them on the side.

    All that aside, the competition level means a lot. If there are several other popular and good forums to choose from why would someone help create yours? You have to answer that question. If you can do that instantly, and in a compelling fashion, when a visitor lands on your site you can gain some traction.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    It sounds like you are doing the right things to start. Maybe just be patient and keep up what you are doing! I hope that you are being active on it yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author ronnieavelino
    Originally Posted by staffjam View Post

    Hi,

    I have a pretty popular news site with over 20,000 daily visitors and 4 months ago i launched a forum.
    It has been seeded with over 500 posts all written by our journalists who are experts in our sector and we make on average 6 new threads a day and comment on all threads.
    But nothing is happening - it is advertised on every page of the site and still we get very few new subscribers and hardly anyone participates.

    Our posts are open, not arrogant, we have no Spam on the forum - i haven't got a clue what we are doing wronmg.

    Are there any forum experts here who can give some advice???

    Thanks for any comments.
    Think this way, if you are one of the visitors of your website and you saw the forum what would the thing that interest you to join? What benefits will I get? What will I learn there? Just remember on what was the purpose that you join WarriorForum.

    Regards,

    Ronnie
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  • Profile picture of the author EnterIn
    If you haven't already, try adding a section where people can buy and sell services. You could also add a joint venture section. Pretty much every forum I'm a member of has these sections and they are all very active.

    You could also offer to feature active member's articles on the home page or the highest traffic page. That would incentivise activity I'd imagine.

    Bruce
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