I need suggestions on how I could promote a forum made for the city I live in. Can I possibly do it free?
May be we can exchange links. Let me know if you are interested, as I have a classified ads site in Kitchener too
I would suggest starting threads with a significant amount of content. Think of things Kitchener-related that people would search (Kitchener golf courses, Kitchener motels, etc.), write a few paragraphs on it, then close with a line inviting people to respond in some way ("What are your favourite restaurants in Kitchener?"). Make sure your forum is search engine optimized for the best possible results. If you can get a few of these phrases to rank highly in the search engines and people find the first post of your thread helpful or insightful, you will get new members who will most likely want to add their two cents. Don't stop there, though. Keep your new users engaged. Start a monthly or quarterly opt-out e-mail newsletter that briefly summarizes some of the more popular topics you've had over the past little while. You could even get a local business to sponsor it at some point. If any users have forgotten about your forums, the email you send might point them to a thread they're interested in and want to reply to. And keep posting - reply as soon as you get a new thread or reply from someone else to keep things active. If you don't mind spending a little bit of money, try Google AdWords and target your ad to display only to people in Kitchener. Good luck!