Any tips to create a successful forum?

You know how some forums have hundreds of active members and an exciting, growing community... while some others hardly have any regular posting members.

Well, I'm going to start a forum for my membership website and I know many of you guys actively participate in forums, so you know some important factors that makes or breaks a forum's success.

So can you share a few tips and suggestions on how to make a forum successful and active?

What factors should a forum have to make YOU like to hang out and participate in it frequently?

Any tips you can give to help me create a successful, fun, and active forum is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ladan

 

First and for most make sure you make good Forums to post on. I would also suggest starting out with only 6-7 forums at the most. This includes introductions, and such. Lastly, I always start my forum out with a contest. Like $50 in paypal. It gets the forum going off to a good start. Hope I helped!

 

Tiger gave some great tips!

Also try to offer something unique or to specialize in a specific thing. Don't try to be too generic and cover everything. People go to specific forums to find specific answers or info. Then as you build up members you can begin to expand and your existing forum base will help develop those new areas.

Also consider SEO. If the forum can be easily found by the type of people you want, they will begin to show up and it will gain momentum.

Finally, post on your own forum everyday! At least once a day, and make sure posts from any new members are promptly answered and that spam is promptly removed.

-Ray

 

google lee dodd, he's the master

 

Post useful information, so that members will visit regularly

 

Look for my article here on DP, titled "How to Foster Loyalty on Your Forums."

 

Thank you for your your suggestions. I took some notes and will use the tips in my forum creation and marketing strategy.

 

Thank you. That was a very helpful articles. I read it and also saved it to my computer to keep for future readings too.

 

I've helped a client build up and monetize a forum before. Here's some key tips:

1) KNOW your target market. Who is your target forum member? What kind of materials is that person looking for? Where are they currently on the Internet?

2) Once you know a little bit about your target audience, compile a list of topics they would be interested in. For every "general" or broad topic write several subtopics.

3) Find the keywords that are most relevant for the general/subtopics. Put these keywords in titles for mini-articles or relevant posts that focus on your general/subtopics.

4) Create many differing personalities and profiles and have these post your materials.

MARKETING

1) Swap posts with other forum admins that cater to your same category (but not exactly direct competitors)

2) Swap links with other forums.

3) Run a sig and post on other related forums with snippets of your high quality posts. Post teasers.

4) Recruit HEAVY POSTERS of other forums (that are in your category) and invite them (via PM) to post on your forum. INCENTIVIZE them via t-shirts, branded items, or low level moderator status.

5) Continue to have your "inhouse" posters posting and interacting with NEW 'real' people so your forum looks busy. Make sure they post quality info/mini-articles and not garbage.

6) Once your membership base is growing and there's fresh content from 'real' members, start buying HIGHLY TARGETED ppc ads.

7) Push posting volume by announcing contests or posting a lot of niche-specific news.

 

Get interesting threads on there that new people want to comment on.

 

I like forums where it doesnt take long to get answers to your questions. In other words, I want a forum where people are visiting everyday and posting replies. I also want a forum where you can have clear cut categories and things are not lumped up. Posts should not take too long to appear.

I believe that for a forum to be succesfull, you dont only need regular posters but quality posters as well. And the community must help each other with advice and resources and not scold newbies or apparent mispostings through insinuations.

DP stands out as my model forum for all I wanted in a forum can be found here.

 

that were great advices. for myself, I consider about the community. Is the forum busy or not and can i get any answer if i post something? and best of all, can i make money wit it? XD

 

Making money from a forum is a question of quality vs quantity. Quality forums focus on high income "niche" markets that have a high PPC value. Quantity forums focus on the number of members and page views. There's no one right or wrong answer, it just depends on how much time and effort you want to put in.

 

Forums are a lot of work, but they do create something that the search engines love: free content. Provided that people write and add something of substance, your forum can succeed.

Find a niche that you like, exploit it, and reward your members with contests.

 

And stay away from wordgames topics

 

I agree. Too many sites have too much fluff. You want to encourage substance, not junk to turn your site into junk.

 

Focus on microniches. Find people that are in high paying professions that advertisers are having a hard time reaching.

 

A) Stick with it, a good community takes time to build. I know firsthand from building two communities to over 3,000 members and one to over 5,000 members. Diligence will provide you with returning users that have something valuable to contribute back to your forum.

B) Have something to do for your users while they're bored! I find 80% of the time I check random forums I'm at I check while I'm in between tasks, late at night, when I am waiting for a friend at their house, etc.