Best ways to advertise my forum
- Thread starter Kobby
- Start date
There are a number, including ones people don't tend to do but should. Here are some ideas:
- Postloop.
Just submitting your forum and gaining some points will give it exposure. My advice would be to set the post-per-day max relatively low (i.e. under 10). Build up points by posting on other forums or purchasing them.
- Reddit.
If you've got tutorials or articles, submit them to reddit. Make sure they're of good quality and accessible to guest viewing.
- YouTube.
Post a few videos and link back to your forum. Great way to promote a gaming or tech community (reviews, game -walkthroughs etc.)
- Emailing a targeted list.
This is something I've been wanting to try but I can't bring myself to start a new forum (I haven't owned one since early 2012) when it's 1) so time consuming 2) so competitive. Basically you should give away a product in your niche or sell it at a small cost and build up an email list. Then you target those people with posts and discussions from your forum.
-Signature Links.
Be active on other forums. Post well and people might be interested enough to check out your forum.
- Postloop.
Just submitting your forum and gaining some points will give it exposure. My advice would be to set the post-per-day max relatively low (i.e. under 10). Build up points by posting on other forums or purchasing them.
- Reddit.
If you've got tutorials or articles, submit them to reddit. Make sure they're of good quality and accessible to guest viewing.
- YouTube.
Post a few videos and link back to your forum. Great way to promote a gaming or tech community (reviews, game -walkthroughs etc.)
- Emailing a targeted list.
This is something I've been wanting to try but I can't bring myself to start a new forum (I haven't owned one since early 2012) when it's 1) so time consuming 2) so competitive. Basically you should give away a product in your niche or sell it at a small cost and build up an email list. Then you target those people with posts and discussions from your forum.
-Signature Links.
Be active on other forums. Post well and people might be interested enough to check out your forum.
The problem these days ... there are 1,000 ways of "getting your forum out there" ... but only 10 of them work.
It's sometimes difficult getting the balancing act right, between modest promotion and overload in other web circles. Apart from many of the obvious promotion websites, maybe also try local classifieds which offer free ads in categories surrounding "groups" .. "communities" or "general" sections.
The areas of success are narrowing over time, but I would also consider "politely" interacting with forums on a similar theme to your own (even if they are giants in the field). Just make sure you work into it slowly and DON'T register an account and come out of the blocks promoting your own forum - that will do far more damage than good).
Also, on the "visual" side of things, I watched a documentary the other night, which suggested in the next few years, video advertising (such as YouTube etc.) will have a larger slice of the cake than it does now, so if you are handy with movie maker software, that may be an angle to consider too?
Hope this provides some food for thought?
All the best,
Cal 🙂
It's sometimes difficult getting the balancing act right, between modest promotion and overload in other web circles. Apart from many of the obvious promotion websites, maybe also try local classifieds which offer free ads in categories surrounding "groups" .. "communities" or "general" sections.
The areas of success are narrowing over time, but I would also consider "politely" interacting with forums on a similar theme to your own (even if they are giants in the field). Just make sure you work into it slowly and DON'T register an account and come out of the blocks promoting your own forum - that will do far more damage than good).
Also, on the "visual" side of things, I watched a documentary the other night, which suggested in the next few years, video advertising (such as YouTube etc.) will have a larger slice of the cake than it does now, so if you are handy with movie maker software, that may be an angle to consider too?
Hope this provides some food for thought?
All the best,
Cal 🙂
This is a very interesting topic because there are thousands of things you can do but a lot may not work.
Firstly, its not a one man job so I would recommend hiring staff to help you with it. You may want to post in the Job Center forum to find staff.
Now lets move to the actual methods. I think that you really need to work on your SEO. If people can find you on Google, then thats already a great advertisement from Google.
Other ways includes using promotion forums like us, signature links on forums and building quality content (for SEO purposes)
Firstly, its not a one man job so I would recommend hiring staff to help you with it. You may want to post in the Job Center forum to find staff.
Now lets move to the actual methods. I think that you really need to work on your SEO. If people can find you on Google, then thats already a great advertisement from Google.
Other ways includes using promotion forums like us, signature links on forums and building quality content (for SEO purposes)
Also, one thing to avoid is "gimmick" systems, which promise to list you in X amount of search engines and X amount of directories. In all honesty, 95% of them are so far down the pecking order, "IF" any of your content is genuinely listed, you may find them 250 pages deep in any given web search.
Of course, as mentioned above, carry your signature around the web with you (blogs, forums, news articles etc) ... but be careful to read what is acceptable in signature content, as some sites can be strict in this department.
Another small avenue, is including a signature/URL/Logo in any email correspondence connected to your forum members.
At the end of the day, there are numerous "little things" you can address, as the "BIG GUNS" usually cost a fair amount of money and still can't guarantee significant exposure/success.
Hope this helps?
All the best,
Cal 🙂
Of course, as mentioned above, carry your signature around the web with you (blogs, forums, news articles etc) ... but be careful to read what is acceptable in signature content, as some sites can be strict in this department.
Another small avenue, is including a signature/URL/Logo in any email correspondence connected to your forum members.
At the end of the day, there are numerous "little things" you can address, as the "BIG GUNS" usually cost a fair amount of money and still can't guarantee significant exposure/success.
Hope this helps?
All the best,
Cal 🙂
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What I do is get all my friends to be active in the forum. If you don't have friends make fake profiles and talk to each other. Post some "how to's" are always great. Then after I have 1000-2000 posts I start to promote great posts on the social networking sites. No one wants to be in a dead forum. Also when people do join get them in the dialogue and make sure to answer any questions they may post with your fake accounts or have your friends do it. The more activity it looks like the better off you'll keep the new people coming back.
I think the best way would to be firstly, focus on your niche name and what you are offering and work on SEO. Also...
1, Social Media, advertise on as many social media networks you feel comfortable with.
2, Signature on other forums which can help build some quality backlinks. Be active on multiple forums and over time people will click your link your signature and register.
3, Quality content within your forums. Make sure you and your staff try to create new topics that are helpful with catchy titles to help search engines rank these threads.
4, Blog, Having a blog connected to your forum can help SEO substantially again, quality content, catchy titles and use keywords.
5, Time - If you look around at large online communities you will notice that many of them started years ago, it took a lot of time and work to get to where they are now, so be patient and don't get discouraged and give up. If you're putting in hard work, over time you'll get quality members and traffic to your site/forum.
6, Contest! Hold cool contest with good prizes, this will get attention and possibly a good amount of new active members on your forum.
Hope this helped.
1, Social Media, advertise on as many social media networks you feel comfortable with.
2, Signature on other forums which can help build some quality backlinks. Be active on multiple forums and over time people will click your link your signature and register.
3, Quality content within your forums. Make sure you and your staff try to create new topics that are helpful with catchy titles to help search engines rank these threads.
4, Blog, Having a blog connected to your forum can help SEO substantially again, quality content, catchy titles and use keywords.
5, Time - If you look around at large online communities you will notice that many of them started years ago, it took a lot of time and work to get to where they are now, so be patient and don't get discouraged and give up. If you're putting in hard work, over time you'll get quality members and traffic to your site/forum.
6, Contest! Hold cool contest with good prizes, this will get attention and possibly a good amount of new active members on your forum.
Hope this helped.
How much should one pay cash for "Contest Winners"? Assuming it's not like a posting contest/referral contest but more of like a "Create Best Banner", but entries must be posted in forum. You gain members and at least +1 post per entry member. Of course some (time) advertising on related forums/sites would be needed.
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