5 Tips for building a forum
Whether you are thinking of starting a forum to help stay in touch with your customers or just to have a place to chat about the latest Simpsons episode you are in for an uphill battle. With the low price for hosting and the ease at which a forum package can be installed new forums are popping up every day. So what can you do to get traffic to yours and make it a success?
1. Pick something you’re passionate about
New sites often spring up when the owner has a flash of a great idea and throws up a site. 6 months and 500 postings later he is burned out when he realizes that writing about the newest anti-spam software is not as much fun as he thought it would be.
The trick is finding something that you can stick with. What types of forums are you on now? Do you have a hobby that has taken all of your free time since you were a kid?
Along the same lines don’t pick a topic just because you think there’s money in it. Yes there are a lot of forums discussing AdSense and legal issues, and many of them make money from ads. But if you have no interest in the topic you will lack the interest to see through your forum to becoming a success.
2. Be active in your new community
Sad that this should have to be said, but I’ve seen forums where the administrator puts up a site, or takes over a site, and just lets it run without any interaction on his part.
It is important that your community know who you are and sees you around the boards. Most forum packages either have a built in or plugin available that allows you to send a PM to new members upon registration. This is a great way to say Hi and make them feel welcome.
You also have to be willing to help out. Don’t ignore PMs asking how to post a new topic. Yes, it’s annoying to answer the same question over and over but that’s what FAQs are for.
3. Plan ahead
You need to think about where you want your new forum to go before just uploading a forum program and adding boards. Think about your topic. Think about your niche. Think about what categories you want on your forum.
On common suggestiong that you will find is to start with fewer categories than you think you’ll eventually have. It’s usually better to start with a “Digital Editing” board and split it off in to “Gimp”, “Photoshop”, and “Others” as the board grows up rather than starting with a lot of empty categories.
4. Be on the lookout for spam
Aside from spam being annoying, too much of it can make it look like your forum isn’t cared for. If you’re already active on your forum answering questions then you’ll be around to see spam as it happens and be able to take care of it quickly.
5. Be patient
This is the one I have the hardest time with. A good forum takes time to build. For the first few months it may feel that you’re talking to yourself but keep at it and you should have a successful forum that you can be proud of.
6. Did I miss anything?
Do you have a favorite tip? Let us know what’s worked for you in the comments.
Question, Comments...
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