How to get ur site noticed and encourage users to join ?

Hello,
There are like billions if not zillions of forums out there, and the market for forums and users posting is so conjusted and bigger forums do not allow smaller forum owners to steal members or advertise much. So how in todays congested world can a new forum get real traffic and have visitors become members and keep them that way?

Especially for a forum which serves general discussions and is not business oriented? And targets all age groups to participate ?

Ideas are welcome . Social bookmarking site ? I been trying to get people to do marketing n social networking sites instead of bookmarking sites.

Thanks

 

You've probably heard this million times already, but there's one crucial element:

1) value

you have to provide that value. if it's general talk... how can you make it target to all age groups? (I believe teens and grannies have bit different ideas on what to talk about). Ask yourself: "why would somebody come to your forum instead of the others that are out there"?

If you really want to start the forum... then can you do something that you are passionate about? Gather a group of other people who would help you (friends - for free?). Start contests?

I started a forum that was 100% private... and not free to join. This element actually got some people interested as in "what are they talking about there". Could you get some "secret area" (or something special) for SPECIAL members only?

 

Since u mentioned the term contests, what sort of contests? Prize = money or some hardware or services ? Which work the best?

 

Contest? They can be anything from guess spam count (first saw this type of contest at www.shoemoney.com) to convince me to buy your video game type of things. You can give money, you can give free stuff (basically anything from old DVDs to sponsored TVs or whatever).

Something FUN - that draws attention.

 

Well right now i got a small contest going to attract users interested in directories and free webhosting. Not sure how it will go, as currently i think giving away Free TV is out of my reach unless some big company sponsors my forums.

What are you opinions on the small contest i got going ?

Cheers

 

Make sure that you have found your target audience and that you are offering them what they want.

 

Like John said it - if you are not targeting to webmasters & business people... I doubt average teen has much need for directories (he probably doesn't even know what those are).

Free TV might NOT be out of reach: just ask your local stores - somebody might actually get interested (well... name randombullshit might scare some stores away ). You never know if somebody might be interested.

Ask people on these forums (for example) to sponsor you. Give sponsors directory stuff + webhosting and LINKS back to their websites, and I'm sure you can find sponsors.

 

Alright thanks will see how many sponsors i can pull on this one, like you said the name might scare away most sponsors, but hey we all do shit everyday right ? And see out there on the streets some bullshit happening? Someone getting mugged, raped, killed and what not.

But will keep my hopes high for now and not let the name come in the way of getting sponsors. But for a $500 tv dunno , maybe lcd monitors (300$ or something is usually the price).

I can always post a sticker on my cars rear window with the sites url.

Cheers.

 

Nope, can't remember last time something shit happened to me (okay... shite might happen - but you gotta see the glass half-full )

iPods and DVDs might be good prizes as well (not to forget T-shirts). Make sure it's something your audience would like to talk about & really win.

Eh

 

Launching a forum requires intriguing posts that make people want to come back to see what eventuates. It is not enough just to drive traffic to it.

An active forum attracts more members. Nobody wants to be the first to post.

So make sure you forum looks interesting compared to the

 

I agree, active forums attract more members, but should i go for paid posting services to make it superficially look active for a while ? Or target those who might still be interested in future.

And yes making something interesting than other forums will always be a challenge. Will try my best, spend more time on it to put some content and basic topics users might want to talk about.

 

Use social bookmarks and forum signature to build traffic and have good PR skills to make your members loyal

 

PR = Page rank skills ? Sorry what you meant by PR ? Personal Relations maybe? Social bookmarks as in ? Can u provide some that work good?

 

Building a forum community is one of the hardest things to do!! Seriously, It's taken me AGES to get to where I am today.

By total members, I'm by no means sucessful. But I have a group of about 30 regular members who post everyday. There is a great community!

But yes, it takes time, a LONG time. Get friends to join and start posting so it doesnt look empty, then new people will come and join in.

 

How long and how many ages did u take? 8 months ?

 

While other might give a clue on how long it takes... I still think spending at least a year on a forum can get it to a point where it can grow even more. It depends how established site you already have. If start from zero, then expect to put one or two years into it. If on the other hand you have other established sites - you can use them to bring lots of visitors and attract people to join your forums...

 

I witnessed a friend of mine launch a paid internet marketer forum the other week. He charged $10 to join, he now has over 1,000 members and it's $48 to join.

How did he do it? He spent 2 years networking and meeting the right people. When he was ready to launch his forum, he had tons of high profile people who supported him. (And emailed to massive lists about it!)

If you want massive results you need to get to know the right people. You need to start networking and building a list of people who back you and your products.


p.s. Been building my own lists for a little over 6 months now. When I launch a new product I will have over 4,000 people to email about it and they will have their lists to email about it, and their lists, and.... The power is in the list.

 

@john but isnt that like bulk emailing ? I never use bulk email methods as they annoy more people than make them join the forums. But networking on forums or just single forum ?

Hmm, i got digitalpoint as my source of traffic , although it doesn't belong to me . Do not have any other established forums or site that i can use. Forums market is so congested right now and DP seems to be only forum i see that beats other forums in traffic. be it wickedfire, sitepoint,webhostingtalk, freewebspace and more.

Not trying to be like dp but have something that attracts visitors to post and indulge themselves. Might i ask what sort of topics u think users these days are interested in other than porn that is?

 

Most of the people that emailed for him had lists of people who opted in and want to receive emails from those people. The people he emailed wanted to hear about it.

The thing is, when you learn how to build a list of subscribers that actually want to hear what you have to say is the second you will find yourself with a profitable list.

There is a difference between just bulk emailing random stuff to people who don't know who you are, then from that of an email from someone you know that offers good advice in their emails.

 

My latest forum started in December 2006 but didn't really go live until January of this year.

I've had previous forums in the past where some users have continued to this one, but I have also lost a couple hundred in the process (doh!).

So this was a bit of a re-launch!

I have no adverts or anything like that. It's all word of mouth really and search engine/organic link traffic.


Stats: http://www.noddegamra.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=stats

(scroll down for monthly statistics).

Recently I've had a burst of activity, and the overall feeling of the forum is getting stronger/better


So, my site probably isn't what most would call successful, but I think it's really great. The community feel is pretty much perfect. Everyone gets on great, and we are looking into providing an annual event/gathering.

One problem I'm currently facing though is that the main site pulled in over 25,000 people last month. If only I could get more of those to convert to forum members!? Oh well. That's a little off-topic for here..