These days, I'm seeing many new forums with nearly zero posts being advertised (especially in signature lines) and just wondering if the lack of new posts is actually harming the chances of getting new members.
Of course, you have to advertise to get new members. But wouldn't it help to have posts up first?
Some things I did to get posts on my forum when it was new are:
*make posts on my own with the help of my admin
*ask friends from other forums where I'd posted to come by and post
*post exchanges with other forum owners
*posted as alternate accounts
*used forum posting services
Talk about how you get initial forum posts to make your forum look busy and worth joining when you start out.
Hello,
thanks for your tips how to get first posts up on your forum. I don't think it makes a good impression to promote a totally empty forum. For the new website I am launching soon, that also includes a forums section, I too used the strategies to post myself, to invite people from other forums if a signature or profile link was allowed and I used a site where you can offer points for completing different tasks such as visiting a website - or actively commentign and posting. I don't like the idea of fake accounts because it feels like being dishonest to the other memebrs when faking activity that dosn't really exsit. Also it could be discovered by a member who sees similarities in writing style.
If I do post exchanges, I try to make them long-term so that active participants on the site don't just disappear from one moment to the other.
Thanks for your interesting post.
Certainly having a lot of categories with no posts hurts advertising. Why would anyone seeing a site with no content ever want to join?
Content is what draws people in. And if that site has nothing then people have no reason to stick around. Plus it sends the message that site's admin is either lazy or unwilling to post themselves and that they expect everyone else to do all the work for them.
Don't get me wrong, doing post exchanges is a good way to help a forum grow a bit. But they shouldn't be the first thing someone goes to. They need to create a bunch of topics first since a lot of people won't create all the content for that site.
Admins with new sites should never ask for post exchanges larger than 20 to start with simply because they lack the variety of topics to support larger exchanges. (I've seen admins ask for like 50/50 and 100/100 exchanges when they had like 11 posts. I've also see those same admins never actually complete their part of the exchanges either. They get to like 10-15 posts and abandon the exchange or shut their forum down.)
Duplicate accounts can be a hit or miss thing. Since they're kind of dishonest and users don't often like feeling lied to. Plus, it's extremely tedious to reply to yourself.
Having friends post is likely the most effective method.
Getting a post package can be a help, but post packs tend to be really expensive (or laden with other restrictions) so they really can't be relied on extensively.
The thing is that there is no magic method to make forums look active that will work. The only way to make a forum look active is to make it active by constantly adding new topics.
I've never really understood the point in opening a forum and then having no content of your own to contribute. If you open a forum then you should have some content of your own up there before you even think about advertising it. I say this because having 0 content makes it look as though the admin doesn't care. So, if the admin didn't care enough to post content on their own forum, then how can you expect anyone else to care enough to post?
And don't get me wrong, content doesn't happen over night and sometimes it can take years before a forum finally gets off the ground, but really, a forum's success or failure comes down to the admin.
Duplicate accounts may seem like a good idea in theory, but you gotta make sure that you make them believeable because if you don't and you are caught, which I have seen happen, your members will feel betrayed, and are likely to leave.
I've found it helpful to engage the few members that stick around and have conversations with them in the various topics on the forum. In fact, it's what VZ and I did back in 2005 when we ran and resurrected both my brother's forum, and later on, my own as well. Eventually, other members will chime in as well and as long as you keep it up with each of your members, you will end up with a fair bit of content.
Post exchanges can be rewarding if the person you exchanged with has decided to stick around after the exchange is complete. But really there is nothing worse than requesting exchanges for a forum whose admin didn't care enough about to start a few topics let alone keep up with the few they had.
Also, don't make the mistake of having a bunch of categories and sections when you haven't many posts. This will only make your forum look dead. I've seen many admins make the mistake of having a bunch of sections and categories thinking that it will inspire content creation, when all it really does is confuse and overwhelm people. The best thing to do is start off small and evolve as time goes on. I speak from personal experience on this.
When I first started out I had like 5 categories, 5 sections in each and sub-forums for days. My forum at the time had a little over 300 posts and those were my stats for about 3 or 4 months..
I deleted some areas and consolidated the content into 3 categories (one was staff only) and 3 or 4 forums in each and somehow that did the trick because I would close that forum with a little over 2,500 posts the following year.
What I did was move active topics that were about a similar subject into its own area, and by sticking with this, I was able to gradually expand my forum. Ironically enough, I have more categories and sections now than I did then, but they are quite active.
Utilize post exchanges to fill your forum with posts. But also, make sure you have engaging topics to talk about yourself (you know your forum's theme better than anyone else). Admittedly post exchanges aren't all that great at engaging. They do help numbers which can help sway some people though.
The first step to a successful board is admins willing to work. By this, I don't mean sit in the background and gather funding.
An admin should be on the front lines making topics, posts, engaging with whatever activity your forum has no matter how new it is.
If an admin is willing to do this, there's an awesome chance your staff will follow suit and when you do advertise, people will see the effort made and it increases your chances of gaining new members.
How to make duplicate accounts and post on your own forum:
Create clear identities.
When I do this I use:
An intelligent writing style
A gangster/slang writing style
Childish style
A girl
Those are 4 identities that are very easy to fake for me. Whenever ur in doubt, just mix up wording. So if intelligent style uses "furthermore" then I usually avoid that word and all synonyms (for ex: additionally) on the other identities.
Also: www.postloop.com is an amazing site for automated post exchanges. It's faster than FP but less personal.
In my forum I have about 3 categories with a total of 10 boards and 9 sub-boards and 22 threads. It's a sort of writing club so I really cannot make it look active all by myself. I am trying my best, got some hits but it ended up with no new members.
Hm, I wouldn't recommend creating a duplicate account just to fill the forum with posts. I better go with post exchanges or pay others to post. Mostly because it's double the work and the discussion won't really grow since it's only one brain thinking.
sara06, genre has a role in activity too. Writing is quite a time-consuming hobby in my opinion, and it needs creativity that no everyone has. There are also other writing forums/websites, or even in other kind of forums there are sections for writing. I would recommend to ask help from your friends who also like writing to post some while you keep on advertising, especially in communities who also like writing. But it's best to start small and focused indeed!
Sara06 as a writer myself I post my stories on blogs or subsections of non-writing forums that are highly active. I also go on some larger writing boards, but to be honest it's gonna be very difficult for you to get writers without an audience on your board.
If you had 10 writers committed to posting each day you might get it going. But you'd need them to come all at once really. A writer won't stay for long if its just them and you.
Ignore my grammatical mistakes here, I don't try to write well when I'm on my phone lol
I wouldn't bother advertising mybforum until there is at least 3 for 4 topics in each section and a few replies to each topic, least it will look active and members will join and hopefully post a bit.
I think it all depends on the forum topic also.
My forum is about poker but I am going to do a general board so people who are not big fans of poker can still use the forum for general discussion.
Yeah, obviously you need to post content to get your forum active. Anyone who just tries to advertise an empty site is simply wasting their time and money.
Especially when you realise that there's no real 'incentive' for a random new user to be active on a site where no one else is already posting. What, you think people are just gonna give up their time to post your site's content for you or something?
Of course, your forum should have posts first then you can advertise and you would get good benefit from advertisement, anyone sees your forums would like to join. But no one likes to join an empty forum.
You can post in your forum yourself by creating multiple accounts but it should look natural.
You can also take help of paid forum posters to post content in your forum, you can get some affordable and quality forum posters from any freelance website such as Freelancer.com etc.
I think that you need to have posts in order to make it successful. I agree with all you have said Beverly. Asking others to post is a great way to get the ball rolling.
I believe it is, advertising a small site is the most important step, but almost absolutely zero people will join a forum with empty slots, and areas unless you have some sort of giveaway, ect. going on. Forums should always have some posts prior to advertising, unless the forum is a small section of the site. An example would be my blog. Websites with a small forum on the side don't need to worry about the forum posts as much, as the main content is outside of the forum, not the forum itself.
You guys are correct. Its pointless to advertise a small site that has little to no content.
I will admit to having a forum that fits that category in my signature. Mainly because I thought it was a great domain and I wanted people to know I had it here on the forum.
My excuse, I probably have too much on my plate when it comes to forums. I put my priorities to my forums that have active communities already and then spend whatever else energy I have left on the not so successful sites I run.
You could call it laziness or boredom after so much. A forum doesn't become popular over night, sometimes years before it gets an active community. So there's really no rush when it comes to building a forum. I say take your time. It can't hurt to promote it in a signature though whether there's content or not. Might get lucky and a person might sign up and do all the hard work of getting it started for you when your not looking, but good luck right! lol
