Hello, could you tell me some tips for bringing traffic to my new forums and having people sign up/participate? Thanks Lance Best
I don't operate a forum myself but I've read that first you need to have an active looking forum and secondly you need to bring in the traffic. You can make your forum look active by paying posters to make daily posts or do it yourself. As far as getting traffic I would suggest advertising it.
What type of advertizing would be affective/appropriate for forums? I have some postings and discussions happening at this time. My target is specalized, marketing experts and useres.
You could make a nice banner and try google adwords using the site targeted feature to advertise on relevant sites.
You can try blog marketing too, buy blogposts to high traffic related sites. Maybe their dedicated readers will drop by your forum. How many posts / how active is your forum so far? It's easier to promote a forum that already has posts in it.
give away things in the beginning to get some activity. then people will join on their own. best traffic tip is rank well in the serps.
8everything How much does paying for blog postings cost? I am curious to know what the conversion rate would be. My forums currently have 10 members for about 30 posts. Were getting there. We have some VERY knowledgeable NICHE posters which will make the forums more helpfull in the long run! Mr X, 'Serps'?
Join other forum communities and post there. Find related blogs to your forum niche and post in those. Hand pick your best threads, as well as blogs that mention your site, and socially bookmark them. I wrote an article that discusses a few wasy NOT to do it: How not to Attract Forum Members
some of the tips for forums are a fairly cool resume of things people need to do. I read for a few mins and found it useful .. ta. Think I might blog that for you.
I have heard of some forum owners offering .02-.20 per post as an incentive to get some active members. Try giving something of value away for free and in return all you request is a couple of posts. Market it in your specific niche when you are doing these things.
For forum promotion, you will have to check out Earnersforum.com for great tips and tricks on forum management / monetization. Have you considered launching contests?
number one set aside about an hour a day for moderating, posting, maintenance, and be ready to spend alittle money. Main thing is make sure your niche will work with it and has an audience on the net that isn't completely tapped out yet