Anyone have experience of starting a forum and ensuring it doesn't die? I have some limited experience in starting a forum but most often people will leave and not come back if there is not enough information being shared. What are some tips and techniques to get a forum off to a good start? SHould I use paid forum posters?
Actually I am also planning for that. But I don't have enough knowledge about it. You can share your knowledge with me. Then we can think about it together.
You need someone with a strong personality who is already well known to pull people in. I just checked your forum though - you haven't got a single post in there - not even a conversation starter. Nobody is going to sign up for an empty forum, not even your paid to post people. Get your friends on board and get them to make some posts. Or put some posts up about the apps you've already launched. Personally, I use the forum for the app development platform I've selected. I'm not sure how much value I'd get from relying on an unrelated forum. And then there is stackexchange which has some really useful info. You need to reassure your visitors, before they have a chance to see the post counts, that this forum is one they want to be part of. And you need to swap out the phpbb logo.
I recommend adding content by asking questions and answering them. That way you add value to your forum. And optimize the forum using SEO. For now concentrate on the homepage, then people will link to you and your threads.it is hard to be successful in this niche. It will take time and effort. And using SEO you can target long tail keywords with your threads that have value to the user, and then users will register and post. Solving people problems is your way to a successful forum.
A forum is just like any other website in that you need to keep it updated with fresh, good quality content that others can engage with. Find your niche and have a think about your target audience, running a forum can be a big task and will take time to build up.