Hi,

What is your opinion of a forum on a hosting companies site? Do you think they are worth having or just cause more problems than they are worth?

Regards,

David

I think forums are a good idea as it gives the user chance to get help from a community on things such as web design etc.. things that we do not provide support for. Our forum should be up in the coming weeks.

A forum is definitely a plus for any site, it helps to create community among users.

There are many free forum software, if money is an issue, just go for the free forum script such as phpBB, XMB...etc.

Then when there is certain membership base, you might then consider switching to using paid forum script such as vB.

Originally posted by dbarker
Hi,

What is your opinion of a forum on a hosting companies site? Do you think they are worth having or just cause more problems than they are worth?

Regards,

David
That's a good question. We have a forum and it's a great sales tool, especially the Client Testimonial section. There are good points to a public forum and bad points. You just have to weigh them up and decide for yourself. There's no "right" or "wrong" here. It's just whatever works for you.

One thing I would advise though, is that you remove all contact/identification information for your clients. We've had our competitors contacting our clients from our own forum and spamming them. You most provide your clients with protection and privacy etc...

for a host or a reseller just starting out... I wouldn't think a forum would be necessary. I would think that a forum is a nice addition when a host is all settled in and with a nice client-base. I've seen many hosts who start out with a forum and it doesn't get too far - I'd say go dedicate your time with getting sales before spending any time into setting up a forum, moderating it, etc, etc... a host's forum with only admin announcements and very few posts from a small client-base is not very encouraging to possible customers who's just surfing through the site ;)

that, of course, is from my personal viewpoint :)

Thanks to everyone who posted. I think I'll set one up for my customers then since we've been going for a while and have some very good developers who could help out some newer users.

David

Just wait till you have some customers :), and include it in your welcome email...

Our forums are quite large now.

Originally posted by Myacen
Our forums are quite large now.
That's an understatement :D ;)

Well we have about 70/80 customers I'd say maybe a few more ... do you think it's worth having a forum for that many?

Regards,

David

Originally posted by dbarker
Well we have about 70/80 customers I'd say maybe a few more ... do you think it's worth having a forum for that many?

Regards,

David
Absolutely!! :)

Our forums have turned into quite the beast all on their own...

-Brendan

Originally posted by dbarker
Well we have about 70/80 customers I'd say maybe a few more ... do you think it's worth having a forum for that many?
To me, that's questionable. A forum is only useful if people use it. Dead forums don't look good, nor are they all that useful. Beyond the initial opening (generally very strong and encouraging), will it have enough steam to keep chugging along? If your 70/80 customers are on the young side, or at least kinda technical, like to discuss things, then maybe, however it might be a bit early. No one really knows, but successful forums generally have more than 70/80 members *and* that's assuming that all of them will join and participate (which would be amazing really). So subtract the people that don't join and cross off the ones who honestly just won't participate and how many actually members do you have? My guess would be 30-40-ish and that number might be high.

I think it may be a good ideal. Dont let the negative posts deter you

Forums are not a bad idea.. however, i caution you that in this service based product, you may have 200 happy clients, who may post 1 or 2 messages.. but you have 1 ticked off client, and he will post everywhere on your site.. If you can moderate it, then go for it. Just my opinion

dan
rackvillage.com

If you offer good service it is a good idea. If your service is poor and/or has frequent unresolved problems it is not going to help your business.

Many people looking for a host will check out the host's forum if there is one there. It it a good place to see the feedback of current customers. A large number of unanswered complaints on your forum could hurt you. Complaints are not bad as long as they are dealt with though, that shows a good side of the host too. Realistic people understand that s**t happens, but nobody understands a host that doesn't respond to problems.

If you have one, make sure you are an active, positive participant in it.

I think that having a forum is a great idea. For one it cuts down on the amount of support tickets that relate to more obvious things and things that we do not "officially" support like how to use control panel and how to configure cgi scripts. Secondly having an announcment section on the forum will save you a lot of headache in case you are having technical diffuculties and trying to resolve them ASAP. Thirdly it creates a sence of community for your user base a place they can go for advise or just vent if you are having technical diffuclties :).

Thanks for all the positive replies. I'll add one to the site tomorrow and make sure it's set up right.

Thanks again,

David