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Promoting a forum. Any ideas?

by SEOtraveler
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys,

I've seen a number of similar topics here, but I've got a specific case, so I thought I'll start afresh.

I was approached by a software provider who have a forum and they want me to promote it. I know it's hard to speak in general, but I can't provide a URL for ethical reasons, so I'll just give you as many details as possible.

It revolves around pretty much the same topics like warriorforum or trafficplanet: SEO, online marketing, social media.

Members of the forum are mainly software users. My clients want existing members to be more active. They want the board to be a place members want to stay at. They want the board to be famous in the forum community. They want attracting people from other forums. They want the forum to rank in search results.

I'm summing up my strategy now, so I'd appreciate any ideas on
- how to level up forum user experience
- how to promote a forum directly to the target audience (i.e. to active contributors on other forums)
- how to SEO a forum. Is forum SEO much different from ordinary SEO?

Also I'd appreciate you feedback on what makes a forum a place you want to return to and contribute on a regular basis? Spam aside please.
#forum #ideas #promoting
  • Profile picture of the author jones115
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    • Profile picture of the author SEOtraveler
      Originally Posted by jones115 View Post

      Forum is a dead genre, man. This forum is still alive and kiking just because of its history (they start it in times when it was possible to promote a forum). Social networking sites have killed forums a couple of years ago. Do not spend your time on this s**t. You`d better start a comunity in Google+. Much more chances to survive and reach success.
      You might be not reading my post very attentively. There's a company who has a forum for their members and they want to hire me to promote it. Should I start a Google community instead?
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  • Profile picture of the author WebMeUp
    Having an active moderator who steps into all discussions and mocks spammers is a way to go. An excellent example of such moderation is Chris from Webmastertalk.com.

    Another type of moderator is the one who answers support questions and provides technical help along the way, this is exactly what guys at Affilorama.com do.

    Even though there are numerous examples of communities that do well without active moderation, having one may eventually improve the forum's popularity.

    You may also increase the share of links to the forum section in internal linking structure, something like "Check our forum section for more info on the topic".

    Just my two cents.
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    • Profile picture of the author SEOtraveler
      @jones115: Wow, thank you for taking your time and providing so many details. Well, they have lots of social media activities running separately, but they still want this forum.

      Integrating more AJAX is a great point, I think we can do that because they have solid web development. I'll remember to PM you and test the new functionality when we have it on: perhaps you'll participate in the new forum too.

      @WebMeUp: great point about a moderator, thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author ishuvonet
    I think you should go for massive promotion.SEO wouldn't be that much profitable here.You can run ads in popular forums related to your niche.Also you need to be very much active in social networking places in order to increase the awareness.The forum itself should be always active with good threads and informative contents.In addition to this,you should have a permanent moderator in order to remove spam post and comments otherwise It can go dead with thousand of spam post in a span of 2 days.
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    • Profile picture of the author linkassistant
      Originally Posted by ishuvonet View Post

      You can run ads in popular forums related to your niche.
      The only question is: Will other forums be willing to place an ad with an obvious conflict of interests?
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      • Profile picture of the author SEOtraveler
        Originally Posted by linkassistant View Post

        The only question is: Will other forums be willing to place an ad with an obvious conflict of interests?
        Exactly! I don't think WF will accept such an ad
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    Yes I'd also say this, Social media almost have a strong presence and almost taken over the concept of forums. People are moving to groups, communities etc. It's a tough job for you do to this. If you accept, it means you are in a fight with some good forums.
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    • Profile picture of the author SEOtraveler
      Originally Posted by Moneymaker2012 View Post

      Yes I'd also say this, Social media almost have a strong presence and almost taken over the concept of forums. People are moving to groups, communities etc. It's a tough job for you do to this. If you accept, it means you are in a fight with some good forums.
      Thanks that's a great point about tough competition with the existing successful boards. And yes it's true social media is getting strong, and the company has great social media marketing. Anyway, despite the growing social media popularity, people still hang out a lot on forums. I mean look at this place: thousands of people consistently come here every day. I believe one of the reasons is that forums give more opportunities to hide your real personality. Though the same is possible in social media, it's kind of more of a problem. What do you think? And why do you personally come here?

      Guys, I'm really interested in more opinions on why you join the forums anyway? And why some make you wanna stay?
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  • Profile picture of the author ContentWritingPhD
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    SEOtraveler, have you tried joining Facebook Groups in a specific niche that are related to the niches of that forum you're commissioned to manage?

    This is one of strategies for our clients who would want us to advertise their forums whether it's IM-based or not.
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