Growing a new forum

[DAVID. D.A]

I've done forums for some time, but eventually stopped because members never magically appeared (like 3 years ago) 
   
I just started a new forum now, and i want to keep it for as long as possible, will go every mile to build it up, but i don't know where to start. I know no posts forum could drive off potential members, so i have a freelancer on hold for posts, he/she wont post all in one day, 60 posts within 20 days, i have 3 threads. but after or during that period, how can i get more members?
My niche is general, any moral topic goes.

what do you think about buying tweets, facebook posts, backlinks, e.t.c?

And also what smf mods actually have effect with seo? Pretty urls gives problem to one other mod (live emoticon) but i can sacrifice if i know it will help with seo.

[Irisado]

You might want to read this sticky on forum SEO before you get too obsessed by it.

My suggestion would be to get your friends involved with your forum.  You instantly have a discussion if you have people you know who will post on there with you.  They will also have friends who may then get involved.

Paying people to make a few posts on your forum isn't the way to go about it in my opinion.

[Kindred]

you might also want to check out the sticky posts, in general...

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=190581.0

because a question like this has been answered dozens of times.

[DAVID. D.A]

Thank you, all the same tips everywhere. Make the forum look active. But i actually have no one to invite to join n make it active, that's why i thought of paid posting and multiple accounts. But then you have posts, how do you get members that will see the posts? i have a contest up, but when i have not even 1 valid member, how does the contest help?
My next option is to advertise on another forum, but i don't have sufficient funds for big forums, any suggestions?

[dimspace]

I guess most people start a forum, either already having members lined up, or having a lot of facebook contacts, or twitter followers, or part of other non forum communities, so they have a starting base.

i guess you ask yourself what is the forum about, and why did you start it, and then figure who the people were who you maybe discussed that topic with etc. starting a forum is not easy and is generally borne out of something that already exists such as a social circle, a group of friends, or users of a software for instance.

[DAVID. D.A]

What if i should start a group on like facebook, could that help? but then again, the problem of getting group members 

Well. i started it basically because i ask lots of questions online, and most of this answer sites just let you see answers, but you can't reply them and really question their answers, but i never thought of how exactly i'd get a community full of people willing to answer my questions or other members questions. but like i said, I've started, i wont give up again, wont be a quitter anymore 

[Kindred]

the trick is not any of that stuff (although it may (or may not) help in the end)

the trick is to have a forum with a specific NICHE and good content which will attract users and convince them to participate in the conversations.

Contests, etc only really work once you already have a user base

[ApplianceJunk]

Yep, all you need is good content. Give the people what they are looking for.

[DAVID. D.A]

alright! so i'll just be filling the site with content like article site and hopefully google will do the rest?

[DAVID. D.A]

Terms of forum posting? Meaning my site's terms or general terms for all internet forums?

[Kindred]

dda... I have no idea what that poster meant...   it's a possible spammer.

First of all, you need content that will inspire discussion - not necessarily articles.

[DAVID. D.A]

haha! *pheeww* was starting to think about that topic on forum owners having lawyers

Thanks, that's what i meant, not real articles. Can't do that even.

One more thing, do you think visitors will reply to single posts? or i should ensure those posts have a range of replies (i.e via fake members)?

[Kindred]

it depends on your niche.

You do need to be careful of using "fake members" though - especially since - with any worthwhile post, writing style does show through

[dimspace]

one tip with a new forum is turn guest posting on, subject to approval of course.

it can encourage users who cant be bothered with the whole registration process to start participating. Also worth looking at some of the social login mods that allow users to register with one click of their social media icon, again can encourage registrations.

twitter is also invaluable, but even that doesnt do it on its own. as an example, i have nearly 3000 genuine followers on twitter, all cycling related (im fairly well known in cycling circles), even with that, and forum members have in excess of 10,000 followers, our membership after one year is around 700 members, and about a million page views a month.

we started with a core of about 20 posters, but they were dedicated posters i had got from either other forums, or from twitter who made a huge amount of contribution to the site, without those key 20 to kick off we wouldnt have got anywhere.

So its about finding that core, could be ten posters, could be 20, or as few as five, but that core group that have the same aims as you that will produce the content.

and yes, we used a few compeitions early on, like  a bingo competition that meant members had to visit the site daily to get the bingo number to cross of on their card, little things like that.

i dont recommend fake members, or paid members come to that.

[DAVID. D.A]

One would think a general niche is easy but it isn't
Thought of the guest posting, but then i wondered how they would get notifications, but for a new forum that shouldn't be my problem now, i'll turn that on. I tried the social logins also but it doesn't integrate well with my enotify mod, errors after log in.
I have no connections with twitter or anyone/group to help with posts and start up
   

[Kindred]

actually, "general niche" would be a contradiction in terms...  and the more general, the less interest you will probably get

[DAVID. D.A]

Currently thinking of a niche, internet related is my hobby so it might be a webmaster forum, though the market on that is toooo much

[DAVID. D.A]

one tip with a new forum is turn guest posting on, subject to approval of course.

How do i set guest posts to require approval?

[dimspace]

one tip with a new forum is turn guest posting on, subject to approval of course.

How do i set guest posts to require approval?

admin>members>permissions

click modify on permissions for guests

and check boxes
Post new topics, but hide until approved
and
Post replies to topics, but hide until approved

you may encourage some guests to post, and once theyve posted a few times generally they will sign up. it all helps.

have alook at the new one click social login/register from oneall http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=496394.0 has a slight flaw with existing members but with a new forum that wont be an issue.

recommend getting out there on twitter as well, but make friends first, dont just join up and spam your forum. having a linked twitter account linked to the forum helps slightly as well with seo, and you can set new topics to autotweet etc.

[Irisado]

I want to emphasise what Kindred has been saying about content.  You really do need something that will appeal to people, in order to generate interest.  A 'talk about whatever you want' board is not going to appeal to a lot of people, and is a haven for spam, which may put a lot of people off.  They can talk about whatever they want with their friends in real life, or on IM, or Facebook.  Your forum really needs some kind of distinctive feature(s), and selling point.

I don't think that paying people to make generic posts is really advisable, as I said before, and I really do think that your best bet is to get friends you know, and trust, to get involved.