Alright, so I am shelling out $500 to get more traffic on my forums. Since my forums are PS3 related, I'd really like to get them going with a high post count/user activity before the launch of the PS3. In order to do that I've: - built a site to go with my forums - I made a $50 contest (which is still open) - I've made it to or near the top of several related topsite lists - I've spent several hundred dollars worth of advertising - I've done daily link building - I've hired forum posters. - I've optimized my forum for the SERPS and achieve good ratings Yet my forum is still nowhere near active. So to help boost that, I'm instituting a $500 contest ( http://playstation3board.com/viewtopic.php?t=228 ) which is open to all registered users who have at least 1 post. Each post = 1 entry. I've submitted my contest to all the contest directories I could find, but I'd really like to maximize my exposure for this contest. So does anyone here have any advice? I'd like my site to attract more users, and it seems that even though I am following a good marketing strategy, I'm still not achieving the results I am looking for.
Hi. When you mention'- I've spent several hundred dollars worth of advertising', do you mean banner advertising, adwords or what? Maybe you should promote the contest in some magazine or newspaper related to your niche? This might be useful. Also, another idea would be to promote the competition on other related sites. They could be competitive sites to some extent. That way the conversion rate will be high and you'll get the value for your investment.
There are "freebie" sites out there that post links to sites who run contests and give things out for free, I ran a contest once back in 1999, i submitted my site to a few of those freebie/coupon sites like fatwallet.com and within a few months there were 50+ sites linking to me. Give it a try.
Add an eye catching, attractive caption with a link to the forum in the signatures of forums where you are already an active member.
Well, I've gotten a lot of traffic from doing that, but 0 posts and only 2 new members. Looks like I'll be throwing $500 down the tubes unless I spend at least that much advertising the contest. I've also done eukhost's suggestion from the onset of the site. A get some traffic from my signatures, but little active users. So, what am I doing wrong? What can I do right? Am I really going to have to blow another $500 just to make my current $500 contest semi-worth the expense? Please, any help is appreciated. Here's the link to the contest: http://www.playstation3board.com/viewtopic.php?t=228
This is true, especially if you offer T-Shirts. Free T-shirt offers are popular. You will get a lot of traffic, but converting the traffic to members is the hard part.