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Thinking of putting up a forum. Your thoughts?

by ronc0011
12 replies
I have been thinking of putting up a forum. My reasoning is that the forum would generate lots of keyword rich content. The main reason I haven't done it is because I'm thinking that monitoring it would be a nightmare.

Any thoughts?
#forum #putting #thinking #thoughts
  • Profile picture of the author Brock Poling
    It depends on your topic. I run a niche forum and we casually monitor it and it is "some" work, but not a nightmare at all. I love forums. I think they are a great tool to promote your message.
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    • Profile picture of the author CityTiger
      Well on the plus side you plenty of fresh content which the search engines love and helps put your site in front of people who may have otherwise never found it. Plus they can pretty much run themselves once you have a core group of members who you can make moderators.

      On the downside they can be very tough to get going and are always a target for spammers so often need a lot of maintenence.

      If you do it you need to make it as popular as possible from the beginning which may mean having lots of conversations with yourself posting as different users for a while
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      Please stop making self-promotional posts in the main discussion forums.
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      • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
        Yeah the getting it popular part is another thing. Obviously that means generating traffic which is my primary hurdle at this point.
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        • Profile picture of the author CityTiger
          Its a bit of a chicken and egg situation. You want the forum as it will bring you traffic but need traffic to make a forum work.

          Personally I would spend time building up your trafrfic first and building a mailing list. Then, when you have a good number of regular visitors and a decent sized mailing list try the forum route. At least that way you will have a good number of people to immediately target as potential forum members which may help it get going.
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          Please stop making self-promotional posts in the main discussion forums.
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Here is a blog post that could be helpful to you: Successfully Creating an Authority Forum | Internet Marketing Strategies by E Brian Rose

    It is certainly a chore to get a forum started, but it can be very beneficial to you and your business. I think that your mindset may be a little offtrack though. Your forum should be a way for you or your business to be seen as an authority. The keyword rich content is your bonus.
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    Founder of JVZoo. All around good guy :)

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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    I wouldn't start a forum without an audience. First
    grow a newsletter or blog, then start a forum.

    Tyrus
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Dean
    I never found it a 'chore' to set up a forum, people love to impart their knowledge about something.
    One tip:- Before I set up the forum in my sig. I looked a the 'support' forums for different systems. I found phpBB the worst critized script for allowing spam in and even hackers getting in and changing admin priveleges. I therefore went with a 'minority' script and I can safely say it has not given me any sleepless nights.
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    • Profile picture of the author roley
      Originally Posted by Tony Dean View Post

      I never found it a 'chore' to set up a forum, people love to impart their knowledge about something.
      One tip:- Before I set up the forum in my sig. I looked a the 'support' forums for different systems. I found phpBB the worst critized script for allowing spam in and even hackers getting in and changing admin priveleges. I therefore went with a 'minority' script and I can safely say it has not given me any sleepless nights.
      what script did you go with as from what I have seen only vbulletin stays ahead of the hackers
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  • Profile picture of the author roley
    Yeah forums work well once they get going but until they do they are like any service. People dont go where there is no people.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    Be VERY careful with Forums as they can easily kill your site due to A) spammers posting affiliate links and B) a dead forum will make your site feel like a ghost town. It requires PLENTY of work from the admin to keep it alive and to moderate spammers out.

    I ran my own forum 2 years ago and it was a lot of work to keep it clean and active.
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  • Profile picture of the author JaspervBulletin
    Hey Ron,

    I've been running forums for 5+ years now, and as owner of 3 vBulletin powered forums, I've come to find out that if you start a forum based on "profit," you will not be very successful. Most of the biggest forums you see today have been started because they have a keen interest in the niche they were in. So I wouldn't worry too much about "keywords." Worry more about the enjoyment of running a community.
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  • Profile picture of the author sidd23
    focus on keywords, target your audience
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