I recently launched a new social network that connects users based on their hobbies and interests. I am up to 20k members but need loads more to make the site work to it's potential. Any ideas for driving traffic and increasing member base? I can't post links but the site is bongal.com
I would make a few simple landing pages and have the domains of those pages include various keywords (involving the niche) and get them ranked for organic traffic. just put a banner on each page, advertising your network.
Bongal, You can do some form of list swap where you email your list an offer of someone and that person email their list about your social network. How many more people are you wishing to sign up? Let's talk, Chris W
Try to grow from within. Tap into your current users by getting them to promote you. Think of ways you can get them to invite their friends and reward them for that.
You are Social Network! Be more social! Haha Set up a Facebook Fan page, get your Facebook friends to become fans, and have them sign up. Make a Twitter page. Promote your site, tell everyone about it. Use other Social Networking sites to your advantage. Google Mark Zuckerberg, read up on how he got Facebook started, and learn from him. If he has done it, you can do it too.
20k? That's not bad at all. I'd say you've reached critical mass. I think you can use the network to drive the traffic now. Do you have a way for people to invite others on their contact list, for e.g.?
If you already have 20,000 members then you already have something to work with. You can tap all these people to spread the word about your social network. Aside from an application that lets your members invite their friends, you should also be giving out freebies that will encourage them to invite others to join in their network. You can also bring in more members by building some hype about your social network. You can do this by blogging, article marketing, social networking, social bookmarking, blog commenting and forum posting.