So, I started this forum, about web development. I will be writing a lot of tutorials, upload selfmade templates etc. Now, all I need is people to join my forum. What is a good way of getting traffic for a forum ?
It is very hard to get traffic to a forum. The best way is to advertise it on related niche sites. You will also need to get some paid posters to fill up your forum to attract people to want to join.
You can consider hiring some paid posters for initial stages, running some contest, advertising on similar sites but yea ! its kinda hard to get traffic on forums and make em get going.
Its quite difficult to get traffic to your forum post. One way is there to divert users to forum is to post your link of post to various other posts & blogs. all the best regards Jerry
Try to do the following (if you have the money) hire paid posters, do post exchanges, and try PostFusion by AdminFusion.
I have a 1 year old site with 200 daily uniques and the message board, never, ever gets used. I'm getting rid of the board because it's vBulletin, and just costing me extra per year. In short, I'd put little to no emphasis on a message board unless it's the main focus of the site.
Well, why's that? Have you tried to populate it - or add new content to it? There's a reason why it never gets used.
Well, do you have a budget? If so, consider advertising through PPC, banners, and text links. You can also run a contest (or multiple contests). If you don't have a budget, take advantage of signature links. I found that to be extremely successful early on. All you've got to do is find forums similar to yours (such as DP) and make good, quality posts in them. Add a link back to your forums in your signature, and people will begin to follow. Just make sure that you always check the rules first before doing this.
Yes, its very hard to start a forum. You need to work with a team. If you're interested to join us, PM me.
in the beginning stages give people the ability to contribute to posts without registering....so they can give their opinion by simply being a guest overtime make registration a requirement. You can also do this, and pay people. or sign up for multiple accounts and start doing tons of posts on interesting subjects, and talking to yourself :] then you link people to it.