Any tips for marketing a new forum??

articledirectory Peon

Messages:: 1,704

Likes Received:: 26

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#1

I have just started a new forum, the last link in my sig.

It is attached to an existing site with traffic so its seeing a few new people each day, but i am wondering if anybody has any good tips for a promoting/marketing a new forum.

articledirectory, Jan 20, 2008 IP

zinruss Notable Member

Messages:: 3,288

Likes Received:: 237

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 270

#2

http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/articles.php?do=viewarticle&aid=31578

The Dream Forum

What is the "Dream Forum"?
Can you imagine a perfect forum software? How would it be? What would it need? Just the other day I was thinking about this. First of all, I thought about the developers. Obviously a good product must also have a good team of developers. So I wondered, what happens if the top comptetitors joined together to create, wihtout a doubt, the best forum software. First of all I thought about Kier Darby (lead vBulletin developer), Matt mecham (lead IPB developer), and Meik Sievertsen (lead phpBB developer). Can you imagine the product they could create? Out of all the words there are to describe it, I'll mention one and actually spell it: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Obviously there really is no "perfect" forum. Some people would prefer one software over another, others want something very simple and lightweight, and others just want super extravagantly insane feature-rich software. That's up to the owner and how it would benefit his/her board. I can prove that... everyone knows that vBulletin and IPB are both feature-rich applications, but does everyone use them? You can see boards powered by punBB and even by Vanilla (both simple softwares). You might be thinking, maybe people don't use them because they're not free. Ok then, what about SMF? Without a doubt SMF has more features than other softwares but people still use the other ones, this is a matter of simplicity.

So do you get the idea? The top competitors working as a team. Let's make a list of other top competitors working together, that will somewhat be similar to what I'm explaining

* Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale to open store together.
* Google and Yahoo to make search engine together.
* Microsoft and Apple to create an OS.
* Opera and Mozilla to make a web browser.

Obviously I don't think these companies would ever work together, but if they did, can you imagine the results? Once again, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
So by now you should have a clear understanding of what I mean.

What would it need?
Other than the great developers, obviously there must be many features. First of all, an excellent design. The design is very, very, very important in the world of websites. For example, if someone gets to your site, and your site has some bad creativity with colors or just looks ugly, they will just close the window without looking at it. I'm pretty sure that's not what you want your visitors to do. The same thing goes with a forum software, if it looks ugly, they most likely won't try it. What I'm trying to say is... the design and just the whole interface must be "perfect". Aside from that, it should also be built in with a template system, so users can find it very easy to change the way it looks.

Next thing is another major requirement - organization. It all has to be strictly and profesionally organized for it to be a dream come true. Profesional companies and organizations always look towards an organized and easy to use system. The ability to easily find what your'e looking for would really capture the people's attention.

Another thing I could think of it's the use of AJAX in it. For those of you that don't know what AJAX is, have a look here. By implementing AJAX into the software, it will be a lot easier to navigate since it makes pages load faster. Users will be happier and even more attracted to it.

Modifications This is a big part for a succesful software. Honestly, what do you prefer: to depend on just the developers of the product, or to have more resources to make a better use of the product, in this case, the forum software. I can guarantee that if you go to a popular forum (or website powered by any CMS), you will find modifications and hacks in it, from small snippets that changed the way the default feature is, to big customizations such as an interactive store or an RPG. The software should include an API for "modders" to work with. It would also be good if a mod framework be included with it.

There are many other features I can think off but I won't mention them all here. The last thing I'll mention is one of the most important things any developer must have in mind when programming - security. There have been many problems with hackers lately. A lot of hacked websites are due to security exploits in the software, which allows a hacker to run a script and gain access to the website administration. This perfect forum must not have ANY, not even ONE, exploit that allows anyone hack the forum. Obviously this is not the only cause of hacked forums/sites. Stupid passwords are also a BIG cause of this. The software also just shouldn't allow administrators to set their passwords too be too simple or easy to guess.

Uniquity
Obviously everyone likes something different than the same thing. Take it to real life, you wouldn't like to eat the same thing every single day, so why you should see the same exact features in every single product, just coded in a different way?

I was thinking maybe a different Category->Forum->SubForum->Topic system. Honestly I can't think of anything right now but something different would be better. The best thing I could think off is instead of make it how I mentioned before, make it like this: Folder->SubFolder->File with Folder representing the category, SubFolder a Forum, and File a Topic. I know is not as unique but it's something.

Other things that can make it unique might be a different way to display things, rather than the traditional tables for each category and row for each forum, etc. Other minor things can be smaller swf files to be displayed with some special content, which can be changed by the administration panel, etc.

Other Stuff
Other softwares might like to implement the features from this Dream forum to their own, which is why it should be constantly developed. Same as the new IPB 2.2 member portal, which I think it will also be implemented into other softwares in the future.

Like every software and product needs, this software must also have an excellent support system. That way the users will not be just satisfied with the system, but also with the community and the help. Also to be able to report bugs, browser errors, and so on.

I think many communites would upgrade to this excellent Dream forum, which is why it must also have a large list of exporters. These will allow a community to upgrade from a different software, just like Impex in vBulletin.

The resources... the main website should also have a section for different resources, such as modifications and skin database. Also an online manual and a direct contact helpdesk would be excellent. A replacement for the helpdesk might also be a live chat support.
Click to expand...

http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/articles.php?do=viewarticle&aid=27633

Creating an online community without the community?

As a new forum administrator myself, I'm sure that my frustrations are shared among my forum comrades. You've gone through the trouble of registering a domain, picking a host, installing the software, tweaking the coding, and advertising your site. All these things cost money, and you attempt to make use of tasteful advertising in order to offset those inital costs. However, one thing is lacking: a community.

"Well," you reason, "I am advertising my site, after all. It's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing except for hoping that people visit my site and join my community." But still, the people do not come. You've read articles on the internet that suggest to offer contests, prizes, and other rewards to get people to join your community -- your baby. But still, the people do not come. In the back of your mind, you want people to participate in your community because they want to -- not for the prizes. In other words, you don't want "to buy" your community. You want a real community. You've created a myspace profile that advertises your site. You've told your friends, family, and classmates about your site. You're paying Google or Yahoo or MSN to display a link to your site according to the keywords that reflect your site's content. But still, the people do not come.

Are people trying to tell you something when they don't register?
Is your site really that inferior?

It's easy to get frustrated. And in a certain way, you believe people are just not interested in your particular site. "People just don't care," you presume. People do have lives outside of the internet, right? Not everyone has access to a computer, and if they did, chances are that they are visiting busier sites, more established sites, than yours. "So why bother with it? Why go through the expense of attempting to provide people with the resource of your site when people do not take advantage of it in the first place?"

In other words, you've done everything in your power to build a community but the community isn't coming. It's at times such as these that you have to remind yourself of a few things.

1. If you created a site with the expectation of building a community, the people won't arrive immediately.
It takes weeks, months, and perhaps one or two years to build a community. Even though you've done your best to stand out from the crowd, people are slow to discover your particular site because the internet is a huge place. Even though many people will browse your site and will read what little posts that you have, some people take longer than others to actually join a site. And once they join, some people will contribute; others will never contribute. The phrase "long time reader, first time poster" comes to mind. As a concrete example, consider the "popular" forums. There are some forums that have thousands of members, and thousands of posts. However, not all of their members actively post -- only a small percentage of them do. How many times have to seen a forum that has 100 members with 1,000,000 posts?

2. Your site should reflect something that you, as the administrator, is genuinely interested in.
Forums, blogs, and static websites have one thing in common: they reflect what their creator is interested in. And as the creator of your site, the site's content reflects you -- and that should be good enough. If others are attracted to what your site is about, then a community starts to build around the administrator's interests. If people "don't care," then that should not affect the administrator's commitment to their dream -- their baby. In other words, new administrators should believe in their own site first and foremost, and it shouldn't matter (there should be no expectation) whether or not other people are interested in the same thing. That's what makes the interent an awesome place -- there's a site dedicated to any topic that you can imagine. If people are interested, then they will find you eventually (See #1). Other people's interpretation of the administrator's passion should not deter the administrator's passion. The administrator should be passionate about their site in the face of discouragement.

3. In light of #2, new administators should not expect to make money from their site.
I realize that people at least want to break even. You've invested in all those things I mentioned at the beginning of this message, but there's no guarantee that you'll see any return of monetary investment. But even in the face of this possibility, the administrator's passion should not waiver. Any site on the internet reflects its creator's passion. Time, patience, and original quality content will build your community (see #1). Never, ever, count on other people to help you offset your costs. It's your site, your passion, and your content. Accept responsibility for creating a site: you will either nuture your site, or you will abandon it.

4. And finally, you are never truly alone until you delete your site.
Millions of people use the internet. Out of those millions, there has to be several people who are interested in the same things you are. You're never "out of the game" until you hit the delete key. Just focus on building your content yourself -- because your site represents your interests to the world. Like I said earlier, if people find your site and join it, then a community can start. But if you, as the administrator, are half-hearted about your own site, you cannot expect other people to be whole-hearted about it.
Click to expand...

All Articles: http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/articles.php?do=viewarticle&aid=27633
Hope this help.

zinruss, Jan 20, 2008 IP

Ckrismoney Well-Known Member

Messages:: 1,550

Likes Received:: 70

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 120

#3

here's some http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=660866

Ckrismoney, Jan 20, 2008 IP

markab10 Peon

Messages:: 71

Likes Received:: 1

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#4

The way I see it is the biggest problem you are going to have is establishing your community. You may get traffic to your site, but you still need to get people to register and actually use your forum. The first hurdle will be that there will not be enough content there to make people want to use it. So the first step would be to find some useful content that you can use and post it there. You could for example take some stuff from Yahoo Answers and populate your forum to get it going.

markab10, Jan 20, 2008 IP

Perry Rose Peon

Messages:: 3,799

Likes Received:: 94

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#5

You read the other threads on this very same question.

You saw this one...

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=651670

Perry Rose, Jan 20, 2008 IP

fweikeong Peon

Messages:: 51

Likes Received:: 1

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#6

since you are already getting few signups daily, the community is growing, create more value in the community to attract more repeat visits, and that can be a bait for more new signups. You need to find out what your current forum members are looking for (perhaps throw a question request for feedback and suggestions), it is a community for the your members, and their opinions and suggestions are the key to grow the community.

fweikeong, Jan 20, 2008 IP

futhey Peon

Messages:: 389

Likes Received:: 2

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#7

Forums are hard to promote, but the work will pay off. Paid traffic doesn't work. Banners don't work. PTC Isn't going to help. Paid posts aren't going to help (Much). There's a lot of things that don't work.

One thing that does work is networking. Tell people about your site, and try to get word of mouth going on a small scale. Eventually, it'll snowball.

futhey, Jan 20, 2008 IP

InDi_GurL Peon

Messages:: 41

Likes Received:: 0

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 0

#8

join in some other forums.

InDi_GurL, Jan 21, 2008 IP

lifetalk Well-Known Member

Messages:: 1,659

Likes Received:: 44

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 115

#9

Forums have the snowball effect.
Getting content is your best bet.

Go ahead, create dummy accounts and chat with yourself if you have to (using Yahoo! Answers as a resource)..
The forum has to look a bit 'alive' before anyone is going to stop, think, register, and participate

lifetalk, Jan 21, 2008 IP

dmdelectronics Active Member

Messages:: 543

Likes Received:: 5

Best Answers:: 0

Trophy Points:: 60

#10

Targeted traffic is always key for starting and maintaining forums... Check my sig

dmdelectronics, Jan 21, 2008 IP

Log in or Sign up