Hi, I just started a forum, on a website I own. It's a discussion place, about shareware and freeware software, which can be downloaded from the same site. But this big problem is: HOW TO ATTRACT PEOPLE ON IT? How to make them register? Because nobody wants to write on an (almost) empty forum... they open it, see it's almost empty and leave Please help... Forum URL: http://forums.coredownload.com/ Thanks for helping... I hope
adolix .. there is a similar thread with info here http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=44575
First thing, you need more visible links to filter traffic from the rest of your site to your forum. I'd through a feed of the newest 5 posts dead center on the top of your front page for starters.
Little deceptive but I've heard it said to create a number of logins for your self and post a bunch of Threads. Also you can hire people to add content to your forum. Or just try asking. I've hit forums I'm not realy interested in posted to 5-10 Threads or created a few new threads
In the forums section have a post for software developers walking them through your requirements then invite to start a thread discussing their software. If you can get them to limit it to a single thread then they're not spamming - they're providing you with content.
You should only need one or two people to get the initial momentum going. If that doesn't work you are doing something else wrong. I've run three boards. The first one had very little activity. The second one was a complete failure. The third one is doing extremely well and growing by 30 or more users a day. The second board I did a ton of "phony" posting. I spent money promoting it. No one but me used it. After a few months I shut it down. The third board I made one alias and started two or three "controversial" question threads. I also e-mailed a few people I knew were interested in the topic. Within a week it had a very active user base and has been growing since.
One thing I would consider is adding an additional somewhere beside the download now and buy now buttons that say ask questions or talk about it. It would certainly draw people into an interactive forum if they had presales questions about the products.
I reckon a stack of people come back here because while they're waiting for the keywords tool to run they spot something interesting on the "recent posts" list. It's a good idea!