Company Forums

What is your experience having a User-To-User / Company Forum?
When we redesigned our site, we added a "Company Forums" link at the top, with very high prominence. For the past week, it has redirected to a "Comming Soon" page... not a high priority for me.
While sifting in my logs, I noticed a very high amount of first time visitors who would come to the homepage, and before viewing the plan details page, click to the forums.
Needless to say, I got right on making a company forum.
What is your experience with having one? I assume users click it to see the amount of users or something? I was not really able to explain the high amount of users...





__________________SpuceHost - Affordable cPanel Hosting for Beginners.
*No Contracts! *Money Back Guarantee! *Pre-installed Templates

For the forum to be effective, there has to be a large amount of posts, which means a large Client Base. Empty forums make your company look very unprofessional to possible clients. Not only unprofessional, but new, which means less and less of the possible client community will choose your company to host their websites, based around the fact they are not sure if they can trust you.

Quote:



Originally Posted by EvaHost


For the forum to be effective, there has to be a large amount of posts, which means a large Client Base. Empty forums make your company look very unprofessional to possible clients. Not only unprofessional, but new, which means less and less of the possible client community will choose your company to host their websites, based around the fact they are not sure if they can trust you.


That is why I hesitated opening it up - it seems like people judge the company by it.
Should I make it client only for the time being, and open it to the public later?





__________________SpuceHost - Affordable cPanel Hosting for Beginners.
*No Contracts! *Money Back Guarantee! *Pre-installed Templates

The visits to the forum could also be bots trying to spread their spam.





__________________"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road." -Stephen Hawking

Quote:



Originally Posted by steven99


The visits to the forum could also be bots trying to spread their spam.




Im referencing direct clicks, like home.php -> forums.php -> home.php -> sharedinfo.php -> support.php -> signup.php
they click on "forums" more often than they click on the info page (for first navigation)
EDIT-
I use stat and tracking scripts to monitor how users are navigating my new website design. Thats where I got this from.





__________________SpuceHost - Affordable cPanel Hosting for Beginners.
*No Contracts! *Money Back Guarantee! *Pre-installed Templates

Quote:



Originally Posted by EvaHost


For the forum to be effective, there has to be a large amount of posts, which means a large Client Base. Empty forums make your company look very unprofessional to possible clients. Not only unprofessional, but new, which means less and less of the possible client community will choose your company to host their websites, based around the fact they are not sure if they can trust you.


Definitely. If you want to open up a forum, make sure that your client base is large enough to create regular activity on the forum.





__________________
Orien Wu @ VectorLevel
Host unlimited websites on a blazing fast platform!

I would advise opening it up for clients only until there is a large enough post count. A new empty forum makes me think new host.

Open your forum. If you build it, they will come.





__________________• AussieHost.com • Aussie Bob, host since 2001 •• Host Multiple Domains on Fast Australian Servers! •• If you follow me on Twitter, I'll follow you right back. •

Quote:



Originally Posted by Aussie Bob


Open your forum. If you build it, they will come.


I was just about to mention your name and then here you are
If the OP is unsure of the Aussie Bob Legacy then do a search or check out www.httpme.com to see what he built from the ground up.





__________________TeamSpeakHost Inc. - Quality TeamSpeak ServersHostVentrilo - Quality Ventrilo Servers

I have heard different opinions:
1. That is another way to provide support
2. That is creating itself FAQ database.
I think that it have more pluses then minuses, unless you have it plentifully filled with viagra drugstores and other spam.





__________________Sibername.com
Canadian Domain Name Registration and
Web Site Hosting Serviceshttp://www.sibername.com

Quote:



Originally Posted by Mekhu


I was just about to mention your name and then here you are


I'm everywhere.
Quote:


If the OP is unsure of the Aussie Bob Legacy then do a search or check out www.httpme.com to see what he built from the ground up.


Like the biggest of trees, it starts with one seed. Forums are the same. They're hard work, and sometimes they don't always take off, but you have to give it a shot if, that's what you want.





__________________• AussieHost.com • Aussie Bob, host since 2001 •• Host Multiple Domains on Fast Australian Servers! •• If you follow me on Twitter, I'll follow you right back. •