I own a TV related site which recently has recieved a great amount of traffic (+-1000 uniques per day). Should I create a forum ? What's your thoughts.
u need atleast 3-4 mods minimum, its obvious u wont spend 24hrs behind it, may be u can hire mods and run the community, and highlight new community in home page which would let members come join in or participate. but ensure 100% attention to it if ur goin for a forum , active members drive it thts it
Is the jump in traffic sustainable or is it likely to wane soon? With 1,000 uniques/day you are likely to get about 0.5 new members per day. That has been my experience (same ratio on a larger scale). Of all members that sign up, I have found that about 20% - 30% become active members. About 30% of all new signups never post! Here on DP it looks like the Member to active member ratio is about 2:1. Of course, your experience may be different. It would also depend on how "tied in" the forum is with your main site, and how you promote it on the site and otherwise.
I have added forums to my most popular sites and I am glad I did because they have proved popular and helped create a sense of community
Exam, I've had similar experiences regarding sign-ups and participation. I guess it's possible to predict and forcast human behaviour. I have about 200 active members and 5 volunteer mods who stay on top of things. I might spend a couple of hours a week posting and doing admin chores but the mods take care of most of the work. It has helped the over all ranking of the site by the increase in pages. I'm also starting to pick up long-tail search referrals which I've not had in the past. My advice is to go ahead and start it. Spend a little time lobbying people to join and it may take a life of its on. Good luck!
Be sure to let us know the results! I'm always curious to see the success of forums under different circumstances.
I suggest you start a forum as it would have a good start with that traffic. There is much to gain and nothing to lose but the decision is yours of course.
Well go for a good forum script (Vbulletin rocks), and publicize it adequately on your homepage Don't over do it! For 1000 uniques a day, i say you can build up a a community super fast! go for some light coloured design which blends with the rest of your site! And hell yeh ur gonna rock!! All the best, juss msg me if you need some help ! Abhishek