What do DP members think is the best way to get people to register on forums? I currently have my boards open so guests can view them, but im thinking of closing them off so they have to register to be able to see them, just to see if that works at all...
That probably won't work. It's good to allow anybody to see your forums so that they can decide if they want to register. A good idea, though, is to have certain areas accessible only for members. That way if people like what they see, they might think to themselves they want to see more and then register there so they can.
Build a better mousetrap. People join things they WANT to be members of ... due to the feeling that they will be missing out if they don't join. So make your site something they will feel they are missing out on if they don't sign up.
People need some type incentive to join your forums. I found an interesting example of one really good way to make people join and post on forums in Linkreferral.com. Basically what they did is, in order for your website to get more traffic and be ranked higher for other viewers to see, you have to do a forum post. You may go along the lines of maybe giving away a free product or a referral system to get your posts.
Closing off your forums from guests would be the most stupid thing any forum owner could do. This would prevent your forums content from being indexed. Give your potential members some good discussion to join in and express themselves on. Make your site appear worth joining and deliver an active and resourceful community to them
Ok thanks guys, im just trying to figure out different ideas, but obviously that isnt a good one. And there are mods you can get which allow content to be indexed, but guests still can veiw the threads. thanks again
The only reason to close off forums from guests would be warez or pr0n.. those are the only 2 things I can think of that may get people to register without seeing any content.
You should create a couple of members yourself and post some useful stuff. This will defifintely increase your members
Using vbulletin? Get vbSEO. Also vbTube will help as users will be able to post videos. Make sure your forum is visible to all but only members can post.
I wouldnt bother with vbtube there is plenty of free alternatives over on the .org, vbtube does have more features but I dont think it is worth the money.
You could pay people on E-lance to be active on the forums for you, while you build it up. I know that it's cheap because I tried to be a writer on there myself, but I couldn't justify working for so little!
I guess forum like digitalpoint will surely get more members as the time pass by.This site is really informative and marketers whether a newbie or professional wants to be a part of discussions here.
I think a lot of times people are just looking for info and dont actually bother signing up. those that do sign up often dont post much. Its harder than i anticipated to get good contributing members. But now its become a real challenge to me and im not going to stop until i get to where i want to be...
You can try doing a little keyword research and running an inexpensive PPC campaign. Then, you can offer a "new members" signup bonus, make it an ebook or some other freebie that is relevant to your niche. I see your niche is Australian travellers going outside of Oz, as opposed to people travelling to Australia. Run some cheap ads on "thailand vacation" or "south africa holiday" keywords, and have them say something like "Thailand Holiday? Don't Get Screwed! Check What Other Aussies Know. Free Travel Forum at ww.yoursite.etc". When they get to your site, tell them they can download a "10 Secret Tips for Aussies Abroad" .pdf once they are in the membership area. That should bump up things fast.
i'm gonna be trying create a forum too. i see some forum which i can download files and those section cant be seen by guest. can they particularly put a ppc ads to that section, especially if those downloadable files are pornfiles?
Offer a prize, like 10 USD via paypal, and they will register. Then make a lottery and pick a winner.
Offer a monthly prize for the top posters,you'll have more posts each month and more new interested people signing up. It is a really effective method for bringing your forum to life,also you can participate as much as you can till you get some nice amounts off traffic monthly.
I am 90 days into my forum also and I am wondering the same thing, my though was if you have good content and not rip off anybody else. I do mostly blackhat stuff so I am sure my forum is not for everybody.