Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : SEO / SEM Discussions : best way to promote your forum?

[webnetwork]

maybe this is an old question or has been add it on this forum so many times that ppl don't wanna talk about it, but still since i am to lazy to search the forum i would like to see your opinions, and tell me which is the best way to promote your forum? is it the seo? good content? good moderators? what is it?

regards dan,

[Jamie Harrop]

Well the first step, of course, is not to be lazy.

It has been asked many times on many different forums and usually there are plenty of different answers. Some will say SEO. Some will say good content. Others will say good moderators. Me? I say all three and more.

Competitions always spark interest. Writing articles, posting them on your forum, and then putting a link to that article in your signature on other forums might be a good way. That would come under good content.

There's not a clear cut answer that can be given. Try different things. See what works for you.

[~ServerPoint~]

I think that your forum shouldn't content a lot of sections. Start forunm with minimum sectiions.
Maybe paying for posting on the first level will help you.
Forum must be intersting.

[webnetwork]

I think both of you are right but at the moment is about traffic as well, even that i have good articles or content my traffic is not like it suppose to be, and also i found that most of the users which they register to my site, they only do that and after that they leave the site, this is not good as well. i have try it so many times to bring new services, upgrade the site and still nothing....i think something is missing from my site and i don't know what....thank's for advice any way.....

[catfishing]

Very targeted Google ads on non competitive phrases that when followed thru, that person would be getting the results you advertised.

Then old fashion follow-up, inviting forum, some type of value back to that new member to maintain interest in your forum.

[webnetwork]

sounds cool, thanks for advice.....

[redkid]

Originally Posted by webnetwork

maybe this is an old question or has been add it on this forum so many times that ppl don't wanna talk about it, but still since i am to lazy to search the forum i would like to see your opinions, and tell me which is the best way to promote your forum? is it the seo? good content? good moderators? what is it?

regards dan,

i think content would be important; but then I feel having set rules and moderators are even harder to find. Good moderators would bring more people to the site more efficiently.

[1mak]

get many regular posting visitors, there are forum posting services offering paid posting jobs

[MrCat]

Best way is to participate constructively in other forums similar to your niche. Youg sig gets noticed this way. Build quality and targeted backlinks as well for SEO purposes as this will get you traffic for the long run

[Payton Designs]

You can always hire forum posters to generate content throughout your forum as well. New users typically look for a popular forum with new topics/replies.

[infinite_in]

Get listed in big-boards.com

[MrCat]

Originally Posted by infinite_in

Get listed in big-boards.com

That's a nice resource I think they rank the listed forums by the number of threads, members, etc.

[HG-Daniel]

Originally Posted by infinite_in

Get listed in big-boards.com

If you get listed there I don't think you need help with promotion. (Just look at the requirements)

[HostGamma]

500K posts...If you have that, listing on that board would not matter that much, really

[RatePointGuy]

Originally Posted by webnetwork

maybe this is an old question or has been add it on this forum so many times that ppl don't wanna talk about it, but still since i am to lazy to search the forum i would like to see your opinions, and tell me which is the best way to promote your forum? is it the seo? good content? good moderators? what is it?

regards dan,

People forget that a good community is key to a forum's success. There are many nicely laid out forums, with lots of good topics and moderators, but no community, and therefore no really good content.

It may seem like a Catch 22 (how do I build community, if no one is there) but, you can definitely find a good solid core of people who might want to help contribute and get them into the mix. Think of friends, colleagues, etc who share the same interest. Then go from there.

Also once that's in place, a forum that isn't active.. (daily, hourly posts....) is a dead forum.