Visits, but few Registrations

[ghalt]

I have a new forum in a niche related to a specific programming language.

I have about 75 threads that a few of us have started, with specific, common, questions about how to write certain snippets of code, troubleshoot, etc.

It gets about 300 visits per day from natural search.  People are coming, and they are sticking around (long time on pages, multiple pages per visit).

But they aren't registering.

My initial thoughts:  they are getting their answer, and then leaving...they have no incentive to stick around and engage in "conversation".

But you'd think someone would post a question if they couldn't find the specific answer already...  maybe?  maybe not?

Anyway, I've seen posts here about getting members to post more...but what about getting visitors to even register?  Any strategies out there?

Thanks!

[johnpaul2k2]

Now,

1. people coming from Search engine is a great deal

2. You can keep on Creating attractive posts to get more visitors.

It is not a must that Guests must register and contributes, because they have gotten what they are searching for. some be bookmark your url for further assistance. maybe with time, you start getting registered users.

Also you can add some easy-to-register methods like fa facebook, twiitter, gplus or all-in-one  mods , some people finds it stressful to fills forms all the time, just to register. these mods gives 2 clicks to become a member .

Also if you want to make money, all you just is PERFECT MONETIZE on your forum, you mustn't need registered to earn good     

[RubberDucky]

I have a new forum in a niche related to a specific programming language.

I have about 75 threads that a few of us have started, with specific, common, questions about how to write certain snippets of code, troubleshoot, etc.

It gets about 300 visits per day from natural search.  People are coming, and they are sticking around (long time on pages, multiple pages per visit).

But they aren't registering.

My initial thoughts:  they are getting their answer, and then leaving...they have no incentive to stick around and engage in "conversation".

But you'd think someone would post a question if they couldn't find the specific answer already...  maybe?  maybe not?

Anyway, I've seen posts here about getting members to post more...but what about getting visitors to even register?  Any strategies out there?

Thanks!

That is huuuge (in my opinion). 300 visits per day is quite impressive. That would take quite a while for my own forum to even reach 1 visit per day coming from search engines. I don't really know much about forums yet, because I'm a newbie when it comes to forums but, I have a few questions for you:

1. What is the bounce rate of your visitors?
2. What is the average length of time they spend reading a page?

By answering these questions, you should be able to know if they read multiple pages, or just 1 or 2, and if they actually read entire threads, or just skim through the thread and close it after a few seconds.

[MidasBalaa]

I think you are doing fine. Forums take time to grow. Meanwhile encourage your friends and current members to post so that your forum looks busy. Then people will start joining. You can also add social media login to make the registration process easier. Most people hate filling forms. All the best

[ApplianceJunk]

You may need to get thousands of visitors a day before you see a dozen or two people register daily and there will always be people that register but never post a thing on your site.

Best of luck,

[Jade Elizabeth]

You might want to install the limit guest page views mod and set it to 20 or something fairly low (go to last page in topic for link to it). I've got it and it actually has converted a few people. Hell that's what got me to join a few websites too! They might not post right away though. Also get one that prevents guests from seeing or downloading images/attachments BUT also replaces those things with "Image/attachment not available to non registered members, join us FREE today for great benefits like: <insert bullet list>".

You could also try advertising. Especially to Twitter with the hashtag for the language...so post a couple of interesting tutorial or help topics with #php #java #etc. Literally that's what got me about half of my members. NOT KIDDING!! Also www.projectwonderful.com is a GREAT little advertising company. If you do it by hand you can get 2 days of ads free on many websites. Very awesome.

Try posting on websites related to the language with the link in your sig. The official website, support groups, be helpful there too....and you might find yourself lucky. If you post on other forums 5 times a day and your own 5 times a day you might see things improving .

[Justyne]

I think it's exactly what you think it is.

They'll have searched for "how do I do x in y" somehow ended up on your forum, read the answer and then what would they stick around for?

It's the nature of being supporty. When you have a coding/ tech problem do you sign up for a community right away?

I think the thing Jade suggests would sway a few people, but also piss a lot of them off who might have come back to your site and registered eventually. Gated content is usually not something programmers tend to love.

The best way to convince people to sign up is to be active and to be seen being useful for users. If you have no questions yet on display... ask the members you have to post some good ones and then have discussions. Sure, that's fake but people are a bit "monkey see, monkey do". XD When they see its okay to post questions, they'll come and do it.

Easy of registration is a big one too. Being able to fo it through twitter/ fb or anything else people already have is a winner.

[Jade Elizabeth]

The limit guest views, at the very least, will cause some people who use the site frequently to sign up. TAZ was a 20 or 50 (can't recall) page view site. I got frustrated once or twice by it but then I signed up before I hit it because I was using it so often. I think in the case of one time users they might go away but people who are lurking will actually be more inclined to join.

Amen on the easy rego. I still got to do that for my site ha ha.

[ApplianceJunk]

Lots of good content is all you need. Easier said then done.

[Femmetreysie]

Content is what makes people convert.

[Jade Elizabeth]

It's not content, it's whether or not they want to get involved or have access to features they don't as a guest. You can have the best content in the world and people will come to consume it. If you give them a reason to be there and to discuss the content or use a feature, however, they will convert.

So no, I think "content is king" is not valid for forums at all. Because it's not. Reasons to post, encouragement to post, and features to use are king.

[Arantor]

Sorry but that's borderline of BS. Features are not king. Features are meaningless unless there's a reason to use them, and people do not post unless they have something to say - and that makes content.

There is a forum I am a member of that I go there solely for the content, and actively *hate* the platform it is on. I would not go there if it weren't for the content.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Yeah, obviously if they're useless features they are just as useless as useless content. I thought it was implied they had to be useful features ha ha - otherwise why would anyone want to use them at all? XD

So it's still reasons to post, and yes content, but what good is an empty forum with no discussion? If all that's there are good articles and no discussion, for example, then it's useless as a forum. Might as well have made a blog.

[Arantor]

Because in spite of terribly bad features, people still want to share in a community.

Consider a forum software that has no concept whatsoever of pages. Each topic is one incredibly long page, that loads individual posts in and out. Consider what might happen when you get to 10,000+ posts in a topic. Through the fire and the flames, we damn well carried on.

[Irisado]

Content is the most important factor in my experience Jade.  I've been a member of a lot of different forums, and many which have more features but less content have lower levels of activity.  It's content which draws people in, because that's what they comment on.  Features are secondary.

[Jade Elizabeth]

You're all misunderstanding what I meant. Conversation and features are king, there's no point having 100,000 topics if there's never any reply. They are content. And I meant USEFUL features people would actually sign up to use.

[Irisado]

Content covers topics and replies to those topics.  Content does not just mean the first post in a topic.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Well it does if you're the only one creating the content ha ha

[Justyne]

I don't think you understand us.

If somebody doesn't want to participate a nice interface is not going to make that person change their mind.

But that's not even what you suggested. Limit guest page views, for example, isn't a feature people really want to use. Hey, I feel like viewing three topics today but no more, is usually not what lurkers think. It's an annoyance to work around. Users who want to access content are forced into signing up. That usually results in people looking for information elsewhere, or signing up, not posting and feeling irritated. The way to an active forum is to show people that you are a responsive and fun community... that you truly engage. The software features are just convenience.

I am not promoting making everything available to guests - just usually the best way to get people into signing up is to show them that something is going on at your community. If you are just starting out, as admin, you will have the sucky job of replying to everything to make that happen.

[Kindred]

personally, I am a fan of making EVERYTHING visible to guests...

media, posts, links, knowledgebase

the only thing guests can not do is contribute. In order to add to any of the above, they have to create an account.

Seems to work  -- but 99% of the people never actually use anything other than the posts.

[Justyne]

In some communities that often isn't all that wise and sometimes also not what established members want. A bit of privacy/exclusivity/ first line of protection is fine. In my community, for example, we deal with a lot of plagiarism of creative works submitted by members so we definitely have areas that are not visible to the whole wide world. Sure, it doesn't protect works 100% but it at least limits the amount of "drive-by" infringement. Usually, people are less inclined to take things not theirs if the taking involves too much effort.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I once has a member who signed up to post poems by other members...on our board LOL.

We couldn't tell if they were accidentally doing it, or if they were trying to post some sort of feedback or what! Was very bizarre!!

[Arantor]

You mean like a spammer copy/pasting other posts to build what smells like legitimacy on an account?

[Jade Elizabeth]

Nope, she posted two poems that were Runic's actually, and then she never posted again. I think she was trying to post poems she liked, and she was just a bit lost!

[Justyne]

I once has a member who signed up to post poems by other members...on our board LOL.

We couldn't tell if they were accidentally doing it, or if they were trying to post some sort of feedback or what! Was very bizarre!!

How peculiar. I had people do it with malicious intent before, down to identity theft. It was a very unpleasant experience to see my work posted on other sites under my name without my consent. They'd even request feedback in my name and then discuss works they'd not written, editing and "improving" them. I was quite at disturbed by the experience. A few of my members have made similar experiences with their creative work, which has resulted in my community having some gated content to reduce these issues.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I would have freaked out, that would be horrible!

I've had someone on my chat forum only copy and paste other peoples posts. It literally took us a month to realise because they were copied and pasted as replies to topics. 200 posts later the deja vu was unmistakeable XD.