How to get people to register on my forum and start a thread?

10 years ago

Since another user just posted a similar question I will respond with a similar answer to what I gave them.

My suggestion would be to start writing content that is both helpful and relevant to the niche you're targeting. While I'm not to keen on SEO as a business model it's a great way to drive traffic to a forum.

Once you have traffic, the next step is getting people to register and participate in the forum. My suggestion would be to allow Google to index your content, but force visitors to register to view the content.

So for example, the member can see the content when searching in Google, but when they get to your page it asks them to register to read the content.

By getting the visitor to register, as the admin you can now send them emails whenever you post new content. This will keep your forum fresh on their mind.

If you don't want to use that method, you could show part of the content and use some type of addon to hide the rest, asking the member to register to read the remaining content.

There is also addons that force a member to not only register but make a post to reveal the content. The only problem with this method is you get two word random replies just so people can view the content. It doesn't really create the interaction I'm assuming you're looking for.

As far as getting people to start threads, that is something that has to happen naturally. There is really only two reasons why someone joins a forum.

1. They have knowledge they want to share with the community.
2. They have knowledge they want to share with the community AND they have something they want to sell.

The most important part of a forum is to first start adding posts so you can generate traffic. Once you have a good flow of traffic you can use that to bring in new members who (like I said) will naturally create new posts to both share their knowledge and sell their products to your community.

Hope this helps...

Thanks

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Jimbrown123

10 years ago

I know it's really hard to get users to a new blank website. Nobody wants to post on an empty forum but there are many things you can do for promoting your new forum such as:
Sending an email to all your friends
Posting updates on social media sites like Facebook,Twitter or Myspace
Posting on Forums, Blogs, & Chatrooms
optimze your forum for betetr search results
Submitting articles to article directories & websites (like wikihow)
Posting on Yahoo Answers
Posting videos on Youtube
Social Bookmarking on sites like: digg, stumbleupon, delicious, etc.
By advertising on Google's adwords
Using Widgets to promote your forum on your personal website and social networking profiles and so on..

Thanks

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Marx Vergel Melencio

10 years ago

Srikarnl,

Originally Posted by srikarnl

How to get people to register on my forum and start a thread? I just started a forum, any tips on how to get people start using it?

Judging from your signature -- Is your forum related to WordPress and Android? I think you'll need to first let us know, before we can provide you with decent ideas that you can try and test out...

Thanks
1 reply

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â€¢ Deep Learning & Machine Vision Engineer: ARIA Research (Sydney, AU)
â€¢ Founder: Grayscale (Manila, PH) & SEO Campaign Manager: Kiteworks, Inc. (SF, US)

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srikarnl

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Marx Vergel Melencio

Srikarnl,

Judging from your signature -- Is your forum related to WordPress and Android? I think you'll need to first let us know, before we can provide you with decent ideas that you can try and test out...

Yes i have two forums both of them are about WordPress and Android

Thanks
1 reply

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Marx Vergel Melencio 10 years ago

Srikarnl,

You can test out the plan below. Of course, I recommend setting a fixed monthly budget for this, so you won't go overboard and end up in a complete state of poverty.

First, offer a free product with benefits that are relevant to your target audience, i.e. Software that can allow non-tech savvy users with WordPress blogs / websites to render a fully functional mobile version of their WP sites, upload it to their servers and automatically configure its settings so their WP sites will show the mobile versions of their WP sites when a viewer is on mobile, or an Android app that optimizes device power settings so as to prolong battery life and so on. For these examples, you can look for open source software licensed under GNU GPLv2 or GNU GPLv3 and modify, re-brand and distribute it, following the terms of GNU GPLv2 or GNU GPLv3 (provide users with access to the source the same way that you provide access to the binaries or object form of the code, etc.). Then:

Second, integrate general user support forum access into the download page for your products, i.e. A user needs to enter his or her email, desired username and password and mobile number into a form in your download page, your server sends an email to this user with a link to confirm his or her forum registration, and user will be taken to his or her profile page in your forum with the download link for your product. Of course, your download page should have effective copy that compels your target audience to fill out the form so as to download your product -- It will be good to also include an enticing video that shows the most beneficial features of your products in action. Next:

Third, upon downloading the product, your "Thank You" page should remind the user that general user support for your product is available in your forum (provide the link to the section of your forum for general user support), and you may also include a message saying that they can introduce themselves in the forum so as to mingle and network with others in the same industry for possible business / work collaboration, and your server should also send an email to the user with these reminders and details. You can even provide premium user support via phone and / or email at a reasonable price, and integrate these reminders / notifications as banners and links across your forum pages and / or into your product (as pop-up notifications or dialogue box reminders), i.e. "Get Premium User Support -- Call (enter your toll free number) or Send an Email to (your premium user support email) Now". Next:

Fourth, populate the sections of your forum (including your general user support section) with beneficial content, i.e. question-type threads with a few general answer posts. Then:

Fifth, promote your free product/s across relevant online (or even offline) places, i.e. Facebook PPC ads that target a decently sized custom audience comprised of your target users (set up a Facebook page for your product along with a custom welcome tab integrated with your video and a shorter version of your download page copy, and with a pinned to top post of your video and much shorter version of your download page copy), adverts in PR publication networks and niche magazines (online and offline), ad banners in heavily trafficked niche websites, etc.

That's it. Hope this helps, and best of luck!
- Thanks
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â€¢ Deep Learning & Machine Vision Engineer: ARIA Research (Sydney, AU)
â€¢ Founder: Grayscale (Manila, PH) & SEO Campaign Manager: Kiteworks, Inc. (SF, US)
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sagittarius

10 years ago

Since someone mentioned about a blank website, I have a little suggestion, though this is quite off-topic. You can actually get some buzz for free from sites like Post Loop...

Thanks

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Jeffery Moss

10 years ago

As forum owner, you will need to start new discussions in every subforum or at least hire a staff member to do the job for you.

You can't just expect to open a forum and have people join to do this job for you. When someone visits your forum, they will expect to see many topics already started. So it's important to start these discussions yourself or pay someone to do the job for you.

Once you have done this, you can actively promote the forum via signature line on related forums.

Over time, you should start your own Facebook group and page to further promote your site. Don't forget to tweet links to new forum discussions.

These are just a few things you can do to get new members to your forum.

Thanks
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srikarnl

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery Moss

As forum owner, you will need to start new discussions in every subforum or at least hire a staff member to do the job for you.

You can't just expect to open a forum and have people join to do this job for you. When someone visits your forum, they will expect to see many topics already started. So it's important to start these discussions yourself or pay someone to do the job for you.

Once you have done this, you can actively promote the forum via signature line on related forums.

Over time, you should start your own Facebook group and page to further promote your site. Don't forget to tweet links to new forum discussions.

These are just a few things you can do to get new members to your forum.

promoting a forum on other forums could get me banned?

Thanks

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sethczerepak

10 years ago

You can't do this until you have a good following on your blog first and some incentive for them to become a member of a forum...like a product or service that they're using on your site and which is only available there.

This way, they'll come to the forum because that's the only place they can discuss that product or service with other people. Which also means people have to be using your product or service. If you don't have that, there's no reason for them to go to your forum because they have Facebook, Warriorforum, Linkedin etc.