What is the secret to running a Forum?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by tigrrra, Apr 19, 2008.

  1. #1
    I started my forum last year for my site mywii.com over the past months the traffic has dies.

    I have almost 1k members but non of them seam to come back. I had a good amount of traffic when i ran a contest last year.

    What am i missing? Need your help. Thanks
     
    tigrrra, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  2. chantown

    chantown Peon

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    #2
    wat exactly is your forum? care to post for us?
     
    chantown, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  3. tigrrra

    tigrrra Well-Known Member

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    #3
    tigrrra, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  4. chantown

    chantown Peon

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    #4
    too many categories. And the design is a little plain.

    Can u get a more unique design?
     
    chantown, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  5. Notorious

    Notorious Well-Known Member

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    #5
    • Change title from '/Forums' to ' Wii Forums'
    • keywords and descriptions tags are empty ( description tag should never be empty for forums )
    • consider switching to vBulletin or IPB.
     
    Notorious, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  6. Ikaruga

    Ikaruga Active Member

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    #6
    There's way too many categories on your forum...try to keep your front page simple and bunch things up into more general categories.
     
    Ikaruga, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  7. tigrrra

    tigrrra Well-Known Member

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    #7
    thanks for all your guys help ill make some changes to it with some of your guys suggestions
     
    tigrrra, Apr 19, 2008 IP
  8. tigrrra

    tigrrra Well-Known Member

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    #8
    hey guys check it out now i have removed all the ads and only have 1 ad after the 1st post i added a reputation mod and a quick reply mod. Also i restructured the forum and removed some of the threads and post that ware too old or never used.

    The site now looks plain. So what do you guys think of it now?
     
    tigrrra, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  9. gsv13

    gsv13 Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Title tag is still missing what is /forum ?
    Basic Seo is lacking
    You never participated urself actively ....
    Design is default one
     
    gsv13, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  10. tigrrra

    tigrrra Well-Known Member

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    #10
    SEO and Design is still in the works - I can only do so much in 1 day after neglecting the site for so long
     
    tigrrra, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  11. Nixies

    Nixies Peon

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    #11
    I think the category is odd, even though the Wii is big right now there are loads of larger forum which are well established that have Wii as a category. Dedicated posters are probable going to stay on a general gaming forum which they have already established themselfs and know people.

    New forum are going to attract people with questions they want answered after which they will probable leave.

    The other thing is I think it's slightly saturated. I've searched on the first page there were 10 different Wii Forum which yours did not show up on. I can't see anything unqiue about your fourm.
     
    Nixies, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  12. nation-x

    nation-x Peon

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    #12
    maybe you should add some actual resources for wii owners instead of just having a discussion... I think the key to any site is content. In addition, if you added a page with product reviews I bet you would make sales.
     
    nation-x, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  13. PlateFish

    PlateFish Banned

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    #13
    Needs to look more active. Get you and your friends to constantl post. You can just start up a forum and leave it to dry out with no active members.

    - Make multi fake accounts and post with them on a daily basis.

    - Ask questions that will bait members into signing up so they can answer them or discuss them.

    - Do another contest but do it innovatively. Think about playing a wii game online as a competition. Think about giving away wii merchandise or limited availiability wii products.

    - Bring the community together so that you actually make friends over the internet with your characters. Arrange online playing sessions perhaps? Not sure if you can do that easily on the wii.

    - Add unique content. Don't just take articles about games from other sites. Find news on the wii and upcoming releases etc and write about them in your forum. Or perhaps do a "news" page as the homepage with the forum behind it.

    - The design is fine imo. Look at DP, the design is plain, bland and boring but simplicity on forums is usually a good thing.

    - Market your forums well, do all the standard SEO stuff like submitting to directories and other link building methods.

    - Try to find a non competetive key word/phrase that a lot of people who have a wii will search for and come across your site. Then change all your links to the anchor phrase that you decide to try and push your site to front page google. I.e "nintendo wii forum" is fairly uncompetetive.

    - Use stumble upon and digg, ESPECIALLY if you decide to start posting news about the wii and upcoming releases. Short and interesting news reports on things about the wii will interest a lot of people even ones that would otherwise not give your site a second look. SU is untargetted traffic but for something like the wii you will still get a lot of viewers.
     
    PlateFish, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  14. wounded1987

    wounded1987 Well-Known Member

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    #14
    if u dont have plans for main site then move /forums/ to main directory
     
    wounded1987, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  15. UltimateOnline

    UltimateOnline Guest

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    #15
    If you require a partner/Admin in this site to help please pm me

    Thanks
     
    UltimateOnline, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  16. tigrrra

    tigrrra Well-Known Member

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    #16
    i took this among some other things in consideration some things are still in the works.

    http://www.mywii.com

    since im not running a full site i have made the homepage of the site a Nintendo Wii custom designed google homepage

    what do you guys think?
     
    tigrrra, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  17. lifebot

    lifebot Peon

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    #17
    You have close 1000 members, yet you have almost no activity. Try purchasing some forum posting service.
     
    lifebot, Apr 20, 2008 IP
  18. EnPassant

    EnPassant Active Member

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    #18
    You should buy forum posting services to speed up things, then spread the word about your forum everywhere to get backlinks / traffic. This way things may go in your favour, forums are known for their slow development because there are plenty of them, and it has to be unique if you want the end user to register at your forum. :)
     
    EnPassant, Apr 20, 2008 IP