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How to promote a forum with no members/posts

Started by JimmyGibbs, November 15, 2011, 11:02:12 AM

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JimmyGibbs

Hello,
I've read many articles and posts about how to promote your forum but I haven't see a post any post on how to promote your brand new forum which has no members and posts and how to get your first members.

Thank you  :)

KensonPlays

I'd like to see a guide for something like this happen too. Mine doesn't have "no posts" but it only has like 1 active member and around 30 posts :P

JohnS

Getting contributors to a new forum is not easy. You can't just put up a forum and expect it to work. A forum with few members or few items is self defeating, people will visit see nothing and go away probably never to return. You have to attract them on that first visit so they want to come back.
What kind of competition does your forum have? It takes a lot to attract people from existing forums that are working well, not many want to belong to many forums, especially on the same subject.
Expecting Google or any other search engine to feed people to you just is not going to happen.
Therefore it is hard work, ideally you need three or four helpers who will post items, and reply to them, in my experience an article that has had a few visitors will get more, an article showing only one or two visitors often never takes off.
There should be some community of interest that you can address and use other means, word of mouth, advertising emails (be sure to stay withing the spam regulations for your country) and get the people to visit.
Be prepared to ensure that when they post they get replies, and good replies, preferably from more than one person.
I have set up many forums for myself and for friends/clients, some take off some just die. You have to reach that intertia point quickly where the forum is self sustaining.
You have to think what is the purpose of your fourm and why they would want to join your forum, then find a way to target that audience with the information it is available.
Don't expect everyone to be active, there are more passive observers to a forum than there are active contributors. Typically you will only get a few % of your joined up subscribers actually making any contribution.
In sort a lot of hard work is needed to get it moving, go out and find those first few contributors that will act as the core to get things moving. You can try and do it on your own using several user names, but that is not easy and many would frown on it.

floridaflatlander

Quote from: JohnS on November 15, 2011, 12:19:51 PM
A forum with few members or few items is self defeating, people will visit see nothing and go away probably never to return.

That's true I know a site I use to go to that had up to date  articles but no one ever posted in the forum. I always looked at the site as being dead. They eventually gave up on their forum

Quote from: JohnS on November 15, 2011, 12:19:51 PM
You can try and do it on your own using several user names, but that is not easy and many would frown on it.

Also true, people can tell after awhile that the same style is being used with different names.

TheListener

@Jimmy Gibbs

It helps if a link is given so readers know what the forum is about.

Quote from: Kcmartz on November 15, 2011, 11:06:25 AM
I'd like to see a guide for something like this happen too. Mine doesn't have "no posts" but it only has like 1 active member and around 30 posts :P

Maybe if you didn't keep changing the forums platform every week (or month) then people will register. Also good quality posts are a bonus.

A decent theme helps although these are hard to find.

kat

For what it's worth, the greatest number of searches done on Google is for the term "Free sex"...

floridaflatlander

Quote from: K@ on November 15, 2011, 01:29:23 PM
For what it's worth, the greatest number of searches done on Google is for the term "Free sex"...

But can we get on the first page or two?

PatrickForum

A good way to get active members is to participate in the community. Make sure you show up on other websites and add value.
Also, it doesn't hurt to make friends with webmasters. Send him or her an e-mail and ask about his/her business. Why not make an appointment with each other and talk a little bit about the business. Getting to know people can pay off in a lot of ways.

Not only you can make friends and get new active members, but you can also get some links to your forum from your new friends.
Also, some people follow the big guys if they see that the "guru" is on a forum. Most of the times, his/her followers register too, especially if the "guru" will send an e-mail to his/her list.

So make sure you show up on related websites, talk with webmasters and so on. Creating great content on the forum is also a great way to get new active members. There are a lot of ways to get your forum from the ground, but the quality of the content on the forum is one of the most important factors.

Work on your content and build up your reputation.

kat

Quote from: floridaflatlander on November 15, 2011, 04:15:09 PMBut can we get on the first page or two?

You'd need content to do that. ;)

I believe that starting a forum, for the sake of having a forum, is bound to fail.

Unless, of course, you have content that people want.

If you're part of something and a forum is an extension of that, whatever it is, you're on a winner.

I'm currently helping to start-up a local radio station.

Interest is growing and, fairly soon, a forum might help all of the interested parties keep in touch, bounce ideas around and that kinda stuff.

I often wonder if the most successful forum might be one dedicated to nothing but Spam.

Sad bastards Spammers could then post their pr0n, saddo ads and all that crap, leaving the rest of us alone! ;)

Account Abandoned

To get AAF going, I visited each day and posted 5 to 10 new topics in each section (mainly the niche sections) for about a month. I had a couple thousand topics and posts in a month. Its the dedication you are willing to apply to your forum :) Then after I had all those posts, I focused on getting more members and got a lot using Post Loop to help get me started. You can also exchange posts with others by joining admin and promotion forums and requesting it. Once topics start getting more discussions going, it should start to pick up :) I rarely do post exchanges or post loop anymore because I have quite a few real members who enjoy coming to post at the forum :) We are nearing 10,000 posts and are less than 4 months old at AAF, PR3 and I think its either the largest or one of the largest admin forums powered by SMF :)

If you build it, they will come ;)

smartblogz

#10
Oh man, I know how you feel. same issue here and I'm pulling my hair out.
Just don't know what exactly to do but well, I will see to it that it WORKS!  ;D

My forum is more or less a "regional" thing so I've printed flyers/hand bills and distribute myself as I go around. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool.

I tried postloop but will NEVER go near them again. NEVER!!! The %^%&&^ cheated me. Yes.

Anyways, good luck!


smartblogz

Quote from: Shawn Gossman on November 16, 2011, 05:51:02 AM
How did they cheat you?
Well, let me try and explain :(
I registered, entered my site details etc... and was required to make a certain number of posts (which I did and even more) on their forum in order to enable my site.
Unknowingly to me and to my utter suprise, when I tried to enable my site, I got this:
You must have a positive balance to Enable your site. Your current balance is -1.34

I cant even understand how you can have -1.34 posts??? plus, when I tried to find this out on the forum the topic got locked.
How cool eh?
nah, ain't going back there.

warrior4christ

What do you do when you start a forum that you KNOW will be the most unpopular forum on the Internet?

You Remember..  You didn't Create the Forum to be Popular.  ;)

That, that is, is, that, that is not, is not, is that it? It is!

Account Abandoned

Quote from: smartblogz on November 16, 2011, 06:15:16 AM
Quote from: Shawn Gossman on November 16, 2011, 05:51:02 AM
How did they cheat you?
Well, let me try and explain :(
I registered, entered my site details etc... and was required to make a certain number of posts (which I did and even more) on their forum in order to enable my site.
Unknowingly to me and to my utter suprise, when I tried to enable my site, I got this:
You must have a positive balance to Enable your site. Your current balance is -1.34

I cant even understand how you can have -1.34 posts??? plus, when I tried to find this out on the forum the topic got locked.
How cool eh?
nah, ain't going back there.

For the locking of the thread, I don't understand. It may of been one of them "lock the newbie question" type things and if it was, I am against that because everyone is new one time or another :)

However, to understand the point system, you should have resorted to their clearly linked FAQ section:
http://www.postloop.com/pages/frequently_asked_questions

Its explains everything you need to know ;)

smartblogz

Quote from: Shawn Gossman on November 17, 2011, 06:32:47 AM
For the locking of the thread, I don't understand. It may of been one of them "lock the newbie question" type things and if it was, I am against that because everyone is new one time or another :)
However, to understand the point system, you should have resorted to their clearly linked FAQ section:
http://www.postloop.com/pages/frequently_asked_questions
Its explains everything you need to know ;)
I have checked and read and nothing explains what they have done. To deducts posts, you must have a reason and they had none. Pure cheating. simple as.

Why on earth should anyone "lock the newbie questions"? You either answer it or let it be.

Account Abandoned

Its like a tax system, you have to stay active on forums you subscribe to-to keep your points up. You don't just get points for free, what sense would that make!?!?!

KensonPlays

Quote from: Brack1 on November 15, 2011, 12:38:49 PM
<SNIP>
Maybe if you didn't keep changing the forums platform every week (or month) then people will register. Also good quality posts are a bonus.
<SNIP>
I haven't done that for like half a year, or maybe even a year. I have some users that made a couple posts that I knew nothing about their joining, (except that their posting came from Postloop, how I got them).

smartblogz

Quote from: Shawn Gossman on November 17, 2011, 07:05:24 AM
Its like a tax system, you have to stay active on forums you subscribe to-to keep your points up. You don't just get points for free, what sense would that make!?!?!
I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense. I was told to make a minimum of certain number of posts which I did and thereafter, my site was to be activated which they never did. its called cheating! scam! end of...

Account Abandoned

Then post loop isn't for you if you don't understand what is going on.

smartblogz

happy it worked for you. cheers. postloop=postpoo :D

Account Abandoned

I suppose you have the right to call it what you want. But for some reason I can see you putting together a swing-set in every way that it shouldn't be put together all because you didn't read the directions, lol. Directions for things really explain how to do it. Its unlikely that post loop serves so many forums with so many great results but they are on a mission to screw you, lol.

picnictutorials

Quote from: Shawn Gossman on November 16, 2011, 01:39:28 AM
To get AAF going, I visited each day and posted 5 to 10 new topics in each section (mainly the niche sections) for about a month. I had a couple thousand topics and posts in a month. Its the dedication you are willing to apply to your forum :) Then after I had all those posts, I focused on getting more members and got a lot using Post Loop[/url] to ohelp get me started. You can also exchange posts with others by joining admin and promotion forums and requesting it. Once topics start getting more discussions going, it should start to pick orumup :) I rarely do post exchanges or post loop anymore because I have quite a few real members who enjoy coming to post at the forum :) We are nearing 10,000 posts and are less than 4 months old at AAF, PR3 and I think its either the largest or one of the largest admin forums powered by SMF :)

If you build it, they will come ;)

Nice post. What kind of posts did you make 10 times a day in your forum? Questions or just info posts? Thanks!

TheListener

Picnic.

It really depends on the subject of the forum.

My forum as an example is for the local area in which I live.

The vast majority of posts will be in the forums Events Section.


xrunner

Quote from: picnictutorials on April 16, 2013, 09:38:33 PM
Nice post. What kind of posts did you make 10 times a day in your forum? Questions or just info posts? Thanks!

Can we have a look at your forum?

jackregan

To answer the original question, this is what I have done...

-Lots of SEO work (okay, there's arguments about that but I maintain it does work)
-Get a Facebook page and put links to new content there
-Ditto Twitter
-Do some Twitter follower targeting to get some follows
-Do a little bit of paid Facebook advertising for your page (mush more cost effective than Google AdWords since a 'like' is permanent!)
-Get as many backlinks as you can

There's more, but I won't bore you. For me, twitter has been the big winner!
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

Arantor

As part of your 'SEO' work, did you actually write new content?

Account Abandoned

Quote from: jackregan on April 18, 2013, 08:57:57 AM
To answer the original question, this is what I have done...

-Lots of SEO work (okay, there's arguments about that but I maintain it does work)


What do you define as SEO, though?

I mean a lot of it won't work on a forum unless you go around changing people's stuff and then possible scaring them off in the process... Content building and relevant back links should be the only focus on the SEO side IMO.

If you write great content that cannot be found anywhere else, I imagine you will have a great forum :)

jackregan

Yes, SEO mostly involves great content. But there's other stuff you can do too. Find your keywords and put them in the title, in the tags, in page headings, in board names etc, get backlinks, submit an xml site map to google. etc etc...

It seems to be a controversial area, as I know many people here don't think it works, but my testimony, for what it's worth, is that it has significantly increased my traffic.

I have to say, Twitter (with a lot of follower targeting) is better though.

Anyhow...
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

Arantor

QuoteFind your keywords and put them in the title, in the tags, in page headings, in board names etc, get backlinks, submit an xml site map to google. etc etc...

You can put keywords in the forum title, the board titles - but not topic titles unless you're writing all the topics yourself. I don't know any site whose users go out and make SEO "friendly" titles or content.

Getting backlinks is primarily about having content worth linking to and then sharing it in places where it's worth sharing with.

Quotesubmit an xml site map to google. etc etc...

That's not really a big deal if you have proper navigation and linking. The only way it might be a difference is if you indicate proper relevancy between pages to target individual pages (this is also true for *any* site).... it doesn't say 'you must index this', it merely says 'here's what content we have and how relevant we think it is', though you can also indicate typical age of content.

But even that's hard to do when you don't have total control over the site's content. Which on a user-driven site like a forum, you won't.

jackregan

Some good points.

It's perhaps a little different for me because I use my site as more of a blog/ magazine site, using TinyPortal.
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

Kindred

and see....  you are not actually using a FORUM, you are just using the forum software as a BLOG.

BLOGS, you get to set the content and can pick your terms (even though much of what you list is still not that important)
FORUMS, you don't get to pick the content. Users post what users want to post and frequently do not use appropriate titles or even decent content. :)
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

SimpleJoe

I think one of the most important first things to do is to invite some community managers or moderators to join the forum. They could be people you know or people you have crossed paths with regarding the topic of your forum. What happens is they then tell their contacts about it, and word spreads.
Hosting Simple Machines since YaBB -- One of the first SMF Forum Hosting providers with Chat and FTP for the inner developer in us all.

Raths Rants

Quote from: jackregan on April 18, 2013, 08:57:57 AM
To answer the original question, this is what I have done...

-Lots of SEO work (okay, there's arguments about that but I maintain it does work)
-Get a Facebook page and put links to new content there
-Ditto Twitter
-Do some Twitter follower targeting to get some follows
-Do a little bit of paid Facebook advertising for your page (mush more cost effective than Google AdWords since a 'like' is permanent!)
-Get as many backlinks as you can

There's more, but I won't bore you. For me, twitter has been the big winner!

Say what you want this is very solid advice. Facebook and Twitter can give your forum huge exposure if used correctly. After that you have to maintain quality content to keep your user base up.

All my forums have been based around online games I have played. So it helps to be active in the community your are trying to lure to your site.

At the end of the day you have to be providing something that makes your site worth visiting.
The DDC Network
a lot of hard work goes into easy

jackregan

I definitely agree.

I seem to have had some flack on this site in recent weeks for my position that SEO basically works. And it does. However, yes, I absolutely agree that you're nothing without content. Good content is the key to everything.
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

Arantor

SEO works. SEO on a forum that's actually being *used* as a forum (which yours isn't) doesn't.

jackregan

I totally accept the general premise that since you have less control over content on a forum, SEO is less effective, but surely there is still something you can do and some difference you can make: names of forum boards, title tags etc etc...

It takes a bit of editing of index templates in some cases.

Anyway... I'm happy to bow to the common wisdom :)
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

Arantor

Names of forum boards are actually very minimal. Title tags are already done anyway.

In fact the only thing I would argue a forum can do is set up proper and decent meta descriptions just in case Google can't find a better thing in the body of the post itself (as it usually does for this site anyway), and of course canonical tags - but SMF does the latter correctly and the former might as well not be bothered with.

Kindred

Arantor... one thing I noticed is that jack seems to think that you should stuff keywords into the board names and descriptions...
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

Arantor

Too much keyword stuffing is actually a bad idea.

jackregan

Well, you guys know this area better than me, so I'll take your word for it :)
Bible Study, Catholic News, Youth Group Stuff (my humble attempt at an SMF site... I'm grateful to the amazing people who have made SMF what it is!!

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