I started a blog 2 months ago and I am also trying to integrate a forum with it. Any tips on how to do that? How to get loyal readers to sign up for the blog?
forums are tricky because they require content to get people interested in inputting content. The problem is is that you really need to get some posts going there, even if they are paid. Just realize that most forums are unsuccessful and you really need to market hard to make it work.
a couple of places to look at for an idea of what it takes: Associate Programs 5 Star Affiliate Marketing
Work on tradition traffic driving strategies to your blog. Post a contest on your blog and offer an attractive price. If your blog carries a music theme, then offer a few iPod for the top poster. Think along that line. If not, try to integrate a referral system that rewards those who share your forum with their friends. But ultimately, it is very important that you provide good content that attracts their readership.
1. Research and discover your niche 2. Make a good first impression 3. Optimize your blog to be search engine friendly 4. Link-build with similar content related post 5. Add incentives for your readers
post unique and very good articles on your topic. open you blog for comments and prepare for spam. activate akismet and any other plugins that will help you fight spam. get quality links, work hard to get new visitors using any white hat methods. make sure you have set-up the correct permalinks structure as well.
Start few threads with interesting topics, that require answers, and your visitors will signup to answer that, and once they are a member they will come back again to post some more. If you leave your forum blank, that is the way it's going to stay for a long time. Also it's important that you receive a big number of visitors at the beginning, since only a small part of them will be singing up at the beginning.