Hello friends. Could you please tell me how I could improve, get more visitors, and keep my forum alive. It has just been under a month since I started this site, and in that time I have gained over 200 members, and had over 1000 posts. What I need is for ideas on where it can go (if anywhere!) from here. Things seemed to have slowed down a bit now, and I am looking for ideas on how to get the spark back. I won't write here what its all about, the main page should give you the low down. Thanks in advance, Brian thefactoryforum.com
I don't like black background. When I came to the first page my first opinion was : get the hell out of here.
Thanks for the very constructive comment banjaluka! Has anyone else got any ideas to improve my site?
Its hard to get to the forum. Too many ads, black background is too prominent, if you wanna use black, make a table/div to put the content on with a lighter/less harsh background.
You need to get some of the forum content to the homepage, it looks like a static page, and you want people to feel like there is something going on. There are mods to pull the latest posts onto another page, etc.
You might want the forum to be the home page and add an About Us link to show what the site is about, without the black background.
I agree, the colors clash way too much. Red fonts on black backgrounds are the worst. You also appear to be targeting business people, maybe go for an easier color scheme.
You are using Yabb, a very limited script: RUN from it ASAP. Use SMF, if you like the products they have or phpBB. Do this while you still can and won't have too many members. The script is one of the most outdated and doesn't have some main features your member will want. Love the factory image
Well, I have made some changes to my forum. Any suggestions will be appreciated. TheFactoryForum.com I have put a temporary front page on explaining the move to the new forum, but there is a link towards the bottom of the page.
Sorry, still looks too crammed and "industrial". Get some cheap electronic items and offer incentives to members who recruit the most new members or something to inspire posting.
Well I have changed it again! I would appreciate your comments, and ideas. Thanks http://www.thefactoryforum.com
Aloha, The first thing I noticed was that the color scheme is very contrasty, and it caused me a bit of eye strain. In a forum, one of the main objectives is to retain visitors as long as possible, and encourage repeat visits. However, I don't think that I would be able to stay on the forum very long with the current color scheme. Perhaps you could change the red to something a little less striking? That might make it easier for people to settle in and feel at home in your forum. Also, it doesn't look like you've tried to monetize it too much. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But, keep in mind that you have a lot of space to play with, and at some point, you might think about adding more contextual ads on the left hand side, or possibly even some nice offers related to your field. In order to draw people in, you might also think about adding some information to your FAQ. I went there to get an idea about who the site was for, but it didn't have much info. I'm guessing that the factory worker you are targeting is not very tech savvy... so, you might have to do a little hand holding in order to teach them what the forum is useful for. Best of luck with your forum, and I hope you have found these tips useful.