How did the DP forum get so big? Struggling with a webmaste forum!

I am wondering how the DP forum got so big. I co-admin a webmaster forum and so far, we haven't had that much traffic and not anywhere near the kind of traffic that DP receives.
Is there any hope to get as big as DP?

 

Takes a lot of time to market a forum until it gets big like DP

 

DP has been around for awhile. Time is an important factor.

 

It did not become that big overnight, it took them almost 10 years.

Continuous working and good strategy is the key to success.

 

DP forum was added to a site that already was well optimized....digitalpoint.com

digitalpoint.com was registered 10 years back....1999.

the forum came in 2004...

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1

if you are going to start a forum from scratch, first you will have to optimize your site and get a lot of traffic.

next, to convert that traffic into members, you will need a lot of quality content on your forum.

 

NOt just that, you'll even need consistency with members' participation throughout the period of gaining new members. Never let the forum stay stagnant. Pay members for their services initially so as to make the forum look lively and once your stabilised, things will move smoothly.

 

Forums get big because they have a good community. Keep workingat it and incentivize your members to return. With more good members, the quality of your forums increases. This will help to keep members coming back.

 

It takes quite a bit of time. Nothing happens overnight. But, you could also have a forum or website for 10 years, and it still not be popular or even known about. Time, money, marketing, seo, quality content, links from other sites to ypur site.....all of these are big factors...

Good luck...

 

This is how I make my forums popular:

- Add interesting mods that members would be interested in.

- If your targeting Gaming, add an arcade

- Get your friends involved with the website, tell them about it, ask them to pass the message on.

- Add your site to google, bing, live.com and other search engines.

I did all this and within a year I got around 200 active forum members.

 

I am sure you're now bigger than you were 10 years ago

Back to your question: I believe DP got bigger and more popular than any other webmasters' forums because it's unique. Old DP members used to make valuable content-rich posts...a simple question would turn into a broad general discussion. At times, you wouldn't even feel like you were participating in an online forum. It was as if you were part of a real (read: offline) organization where you get to meet people who enrich you and your knowledge on different things.

If you visit the Directory section even today, you'd know what I am talking about. Members helping each other even though they are competitors (...)

What I think is unfortunate than many new members don't realize the importance of reading the forum rules, thereby creating threads or making posts that lead to them getting infractions. Then again, they come back...and they learn

For many veteran members, DP is pure nostalgia...for new ones, DP rocks!

Finally, DP is big because the amount of information you can find here outsmarts what many other so-called 'authentic' sources can provide.

 

There's also too many webmaster forums now. DP came out when there was a lot less

 

That is what I was thinking too. When DP came out, there were probably fewer webmaster forums out there so it wasn't too hard to get people to join.
Now, this space is WAY too crowded.
Would it be a good idea to buy other smaller webmaster forums and combine them with the one I run?

 

Well,that's a good idea.You can have a try.The promotion is critical to the
development of a forum.Therefore,anytime you should make sure to promote
it using all the ways you can.Before it becomes a well-known brand,you should
try your best to work hard for it.Come on.

 

I guess yes.

netbuilders.org is doing the same thing.

http://www.netbuilders.org/announcements-suggestions/netbuilders-yourtalks-have-merged-9762.html

 

DP offered one of hte first keyword tools on the internet. The forum was really an after-thought based on my understanding. Now though, DP is considered one of the best webmaster forums on the internet. The popularity of it and the easy way to find it (well ranking threads on Google) make it self-sustaining when it comes to new memberships.

New forums are not easy to create and you almost have to have something unique built around them to get them moving.

 

Hi!
Sigh. Yeah. Listen folks..it's all about value. Trust comes in to play as well. How did a board get so big?

Well..simple. Value and trust.

I trust that if I spend some time today helping you answer your questions or solve your problem..there will be a time when I will have a problem or question...and someone will repay the kindness. Or I post an ad and get some business to help me buy my Le Gruyere cheese from Switzerland.

The problem I see here is you have a group of people who are just interested in posted 25 posts just to advertise. They don't care if the advice they give is right or useful..it's only about that post count.

Otherwise..there other factors. Somebody cannot be expected to run a board this size on a vps or a shared hosting account..so..there must be income from somewhere.

I think the biggest problem is simple: Unrealistic goals and pipedreams. It all takes a lot of work and time.

Bryon

 

If you want to beat the time then go for paid marketing like using Adwords or hire a marketer.

 

I would also recommend that you niche your forum a little bit. I've seen some other really good forums out there lately, but they are tailored toward something specific. For example, affiliate marketing forums. Theres people who can help with that area here, but there are successful forums totally devoted to that niche as well. You'll need to find something other than that though probably. It was just an example for how you could really get in there and do something a little different than DP. Ensure whatever iti s you have experience in it. If you don't have any, now is a good time to start!

 

DP loads pretty fast (except for the occasional DDOS)
DP mods don't pretent to have the ability to control what they can't
Ads are acceptable
Green color don't hurt me eyes

 

I suggest you take a look at these two sites:

CommunitySpark.com

FeverBee.com

Excellent resources!