Help! How to get traffic

[Predator_CITF]

We just switched from InvisionFree to SMF (paid the cost of the data dump and converted from IPB -> SMF ourselves) and we love it. It is really good software and we are appreciative of everything you guys have done.

My only problem now is how to get more traffic. We had somewhat good traffic at the old IF site, and then it began dieing down. I hope the same does not happen here. I want my site to grow a lot, and heres the URL http://www.cyberitforums.com (i hope im not breaking the Terms of Service by posting it)

Can someone help me/give me tips on how to get more traffic? And perhaps suggest a nice skin that will fit the theme? (the skins on the actual SMF website aren't that good, but I saw the thread in the forums that has a lot of skins, but its too time consuming to go through and find the right one)

Thanks again.

[Niteblade]

#1 - Add SMF Gallery Pro / Lite.

• Special members can show off their rigs.

#2 - Add a customized theme.

• TinyPortal has nice themes.

#3 - Send out a monthly newsletter to your members.

• Let members know what they're missing. Demonstrate how regular members are rewarded.

#4 - Hold contests.

• Feature "winners" on the forums' frontpage.

#5 - Form a link exchange with other SMF admins.

• SMF Links is nice.

#6 - Read and post on other forums.

• The AdminZone and The DigitalPoint Forum are two places where all admins must begin reading.

#7 - Never pay for traffic. I can testify to this one.

#8 - It may be advantageous to use a paid forum posting service to spark up new threads?

[Peter Duggan]

My only problem now is how to get more traffic. We had somewhat good traffic at the old IF site, and then it began dieing down. I hope the same does not happen here.

Sadly, this is a common problem for forum owners (and, having seen one of mine take off like a rocket for a couple of months before dying a slow death over the same number of years, I speak from experience). There are just so many forums out there now that hard work alone is not enough to guarantee results, and IMHO long-term success depends as much on an established presence/reputation, identifying/filling a gap in the market (something different among so many effective 'clones'), luck or all three. Or just being content (as I am currently) to run smaller, unique forums such as some club/owners' association boards, where you can be sure that no-one else is providing the same thing but outright traffic isn't normally so important.

[Edward A Freeman]

Another thing you can do is change you meta tag with the Keywords. there are quite a few search search engines that still use the meta tags to index your site.

These are easily changed in the Index.template.php file which is accessible from your ACP.

Look for

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="PHP, MySQL, bulletin, board, free, open, source, smf, simple, machines, forum" />

And change everything after content=, to keywords that are specific to your site. for example here is my meta tag for that section.

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="Spyware, removal, Hijack This Logs, Computer, Help, Free, Web Design consulting, junkware, crapware, cleanup, nsclean, boclean, support, graphic design, hosting, programming, HTML, html, nagware, adware, tracking cookies, dialers, hijackers, hijacked" />
   

since I have updated that section of code, my site visits have increased exponentially in the last few months.

[Storman™]

Another thing you can do is change you meta tag with the Keywords.

I agree !

Also, I've merged a few of my sites with Joomla to make a portal. Then you can add some news etc and a few other things to make the whole thing more interesting for members.

They say that "Content is King" for traffic so this is one way to do just that.

Downside is that upgrades are more difficult but the both Joomla and SMF have now reached a decent state of functionality and security so you might not need to upgrade much.

Cheers   

[Marcus J]

Another thing you can do is change you meta tag with the Keywords. there are quite a few search search engines that still use the meta tags to index your site.

These are easily changed in the Index.template.php file which is accessible from your ACP.

Look for

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="PHP, MySQL, bulletin, board, free, open, source, smf, simple, machines, forum" />

And change everything after content=, to keywords that are specific to your site. for example here is my meta tag for that section.

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="Spyware, removal, Hijack This Logs, Computer, Help, Free, Web Design consulting, junkware, crapware, cleanup, nsclean, boclean, support, graphic design, hosting, programming, HTML, html, nagware, adware, tracking cookies, dialers, hijackers, hijacked" />
   

since I have updated that section of code, my site visits have increased exponentially in the last few months.

What a great tip!  I wish I had seen that six months ago

[WhatsUp]

Sorry, but I disagree on the usefulness of the keywords metatag. None of the major SEs use them and that's what counts.

If you want to see what works, check some very successful sites.
Google has just this: <title>Google</title>

Content *is* king, followed by inward links for important (high-PR) sites. This is where keywords work: insert content containing your keywords.

Every thread is a page. Every post is a page. Each can have its own title. Have long threads? Change the post titles as it progresses.

Use either Google Analytics or server logs to see how people find you, what keywords they search for. I do this each day and then add content using the top 5 terms.

Use Google Sitemaps. This forces Google to index you and the feedback is very useful. I set the Googlebot to spider with high frequency, also gave permission to index the site's images.

New members want activity to attract them. If things are slow, invent a couple of members and have them pep up the forum. Mildly insult somebody and watch them react

SMF Gallery is good. Downloads also attracts much interest. Members fight for good karma.

My site is 3.5 months old and its about boring old history:
http://historyhuntersinternational.org/

Bon chance!

[OddBattles.com]

Sorry, but I disagree on the usefulness of the keywords metatag. None of the major SEs use them, and that's what counts.

If you want to see what works, check some very successful sites.
Google has just this: <title>Google</title>

Content *is* king, followed by inward links for important (high-PR) sites. Tis is where keywords work: insert content with your keywords.

Every thread is a page. Every post is a page. Each can have its own title. Have along thread? Change the post titles as it progresses.

Use either Google Analytics, or or server logs to see how people find you, what keywords they search for. I do this each day and then add some more content on the top 5 terms.

Use Google Sitemaps. This forces Google to index you and the feedback is very useful. I set the Googlebot to spider with high frequency, also gave permission for Google to index the site's images.

New members want activity to attract them. If things are slow, invent a couple of members and have them pep up the forum. Mildly insult somebody and watch them react

SMF Gallery is good. Downloads also attracts much interest. Members fight for good karma.

My site is 3.5 months old and its about boring old history:
http://historyhuntersinternational.org/ [nofollow]

Bon chance!

Hi, I like the frontend to your forums.  What are you using for the front part?  Thanks.

[WhatsUp]

That's nice: thank you!
My SMF is wrapped in TinyPortal, a neat CMS designed to integrate with SMF:
http://www.tinyportal.net/
I then used the FrontPage function to add html content and modules.

[alienine]

My only problem now is how to get more traffic. We had somewhat good traffic at the old IF site, and then it began dieing down. I hope the same does not happen here.

Sadly, this is a common problem for forum owners (and, having seen one of mine take off like a rocket for a couple of months before dying a slow death over the same number of years, I speak from experience).

I really liked your forum Peter. I did stop visiting it for a while, came back after about a year and it was gone. :/

[perlgoodies]

Another thing you can do is change you meta tag with the Keywords. there are quite a few search search engines that still use the meta tags to index your site.

These are easily changed in the Index.template.php file which is accessible from your ACP.

Look for

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="PHP, MySQL, bulletin, board, free, open, source, smf, simple, machines, forum" />

And change everything after content=, to keywords that are specific to your site. for example here is my meta tag for that section.

Code Select Expand

<meta name="keywords" content="Spyware, removal, Hijack This Logs, Computer, Help, Free, Web Design consulting, junkware, crapware, cleanup, nsclean, boclean, support, graphic design, hosting, programming, HTML, html, nagware, adware, tracking cookies, dialers, hijackers, hijacked" />
   

since I have updated that section of code, my site visits have increased exponentially in the last few months.

I do marketing for a living and I can assure you the number of search engines that utilize meta content are slim and those that do are not fully functional engine databases. They are the mom-and-pop-i-just-bought-a-search-engine-script engine that does not make sense to get indexed on in the first place.  People may argue getting listed EVERYWHERE is important, but it's not.  If no one uses mom-and-pop-i-just-bought-a-search-engine-script.com, then being listed there is of no use.

Google, Yahoo and the other major 8 search engines will index your web site with or without meta content. (disclaimer: meta content is not used to index web sites based on keywords or description supplied in the tags, but is used by search engines like Google to cross reference meta content and keyword density per individual page to calculate keyword relevancy).

Hope this helps.

[Holley]

Can you clarify some of that please - what are the other 8 big search engines?  Does keyword relevancy affect any part of the Google searching?

[RODEOSOLSTICE]

Great topic - great ideas.

I've been exploring meta ROBOT tags - anyone cars to comment on these???

ya know "INDEX:FOLLOW".........

[datingfriendster]

How to get good position in search engine?? beside use meta tags, there is any suggestions??

Thanks a lots

David
hxxp:www.aglococommunity.blogspot.com [nonactive]

[ArkServer]

How to get good position in search engine?? beside use meta tags, there is any suggestions??

Thanks a lots

David
http://www.aglococommunity.blogspot.com

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