For those who have successful forums...

[Quacker Jack]

How'd you start them up? I mean obviously advertise advertise advertise, but go into detail. WHat made it work out?

 

[Watch Me Sink]

Mine is far from a success, but look at SEO the most. Promotion forums won't get you anywhere.

 

[KeithSECTalk]

I kind of fell on a good staff through a merge.

You've got to advertise of course, but I think you have to do it in the right way, and at the right place. You don't really want 24/7 XBL nerds posting on your outdoors forum. You've got to be hitting up the right group(s) of people.

You've got to give people a reason to come back. Don't be desperate and install stupid mods. that you think you're community is going to like, but just keep to the basics and keep discussion going.

Always remember your loyal members. They make your site. Whether you have 50 registered loyal members on a day or 250 registered loyal members on a day. You still have to remember the guys that keep it rolling and come back.

 

[USHost247]

Mine is far from a success, but look at SEO the most. Promotion forums won't get you anywhere.

I beg to differ. There are pretty good promotional forums out there that is going strong.

 

[Justin M]

Mine is far from a success, but look at SEO the most. Promotion forums won't get you anywhere.

I beg to differ. There are pretty good promotional forums out there that is going strong.

I agree. They may not always be the best source in terms of traffic, but they can definitely help to get a forum started. Take forumpromotion here for example, with all the services offered it's fairly easy to get a good number of members & posts. On the other hand, larger forums will obviously look towards search engines, word of mouth, etc for most of their traffic.

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

Mine is far from a success, but look at SEO the most. Promotion forums won't get you anywhere.

I beg to differ. There are pretty good promotional forums out there that is going strong.

I beg to differ with you.

Promotion forums never actually teach you how to advertise, this topic is proof of that. If people were learning what they needed to be then topics like this wouldn't be here. Honestly, you can learn more in a day at a webmaster forum than in a year here, i'm proof of that (check my join date). They'll teach you new marketing techniques, how to manage and direct traffic flows, and how to use SEO to perfection (if you're #1 in Google, advertising isn't always needed 😉 ).

 

[Rich Edmonds]

To be honest, your running forums, SEO really isn't required. Most direct members that are committed ones come from referred sites and bookmarks. SEO proves no gain for forums as no services are offered as opposed to a car insurance comparison site or an online poker site. I don't really believe promotion forums should teach Forum Administrators as that would then bypass the main focus for them to carry on with - their community. There are lot's of resources out there now including blogs and sites alike containing valuable and useful information to help Administrators. Forum Promotion boards such as FP are just a tool to use.

Advertising is required if your are #1 or #100, web master forums are normally filled with wannabe kids thinking they know everything. I actually get told not to visit them from a colleague as they are misleading and argumentative to get their point across. As for managing and directing traffic flows, you don't really need to on a forum.

I just don't understand the craze about SEO when you are running a forum, it's definitely not a priority. You could have your forum at the top with just having activity and diverse content.

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

I don't know about you, but the majority of forums i'm a member on i've found while searching Google in my spare time. Heck that's how I came across FP. Note that some of these forums aren't very large, however they did some basic SEO to start with and attracted a crowd of us from Google which became their starting base, opposed to having the FP Package team as their base, which wouldn't be "active" members.

Promotion communities are around to help you learn how to "promote" - that's the main point, right? Part of promoting is advertising, no? Thus, Promotion forums should be teaching people how to advertise their forum and sites properly. They shouldn't need to visit 3rd party blogs and such if their a member on a site that already has the content that will help them learn ._.

web master forums are normally filled with wannabe kids thinking they know everything.

Now that seems like you're talking about promotion forums 😉

 

[Watch Me Sink]

web master forums are normally filled with wannabe kids thinking they know everything.

Now that seems like you're talking about promotion forums 😉

Damn! You must spread your reputation point to other users before giving to the same user.
I'd +rep that 50x if I could.

 

[Rich Edmonds]

I don't know about you, but the majority of forums i'm a member on i've found while searching Google in my spare time. Heck that's how I came across FP. Note that some of these forums aren't very large, however they did some basic SEO to start with and attracted a crowd of us from Google which became their starting base, opposed to having the FP Package team as their base, which wouldn't be "active" members.

Promotion communities are around to help you learn how to "promote" - that's the main point, right? Part of promoting is advertising, no? Thus, Promotion forums should be teaching people how to advertise their forum and sites properly. They shouldn't need to visit 3rd party blogs and such if their a member on a site that already has the content that will help them learn ._.

web master forums are normally filled with wannabe kids thinking they know everything.

Now that seems like you're talking about promotion forums 😉

Not really, previous analysis of forums I have done shows SE's providing the least amount of traffic. Forum Promotion is easy to find in Google, due to it being it's brand name, it doesn't really need to do anything to stay there. Forums get their activity from promoting on advertisement forums, SEO doesn't help new forums at all, how can it when their content is low and no quality?

Not entirely no, promotion boards were first created as a platform. They are simply the means to advertise, there isn't that much to learn about promoting your forum. I remember the good old days of Advertisement Centre and Mokata when they were incredibly active and had thousands of adverts, hardly any help on how to advertise as there was no demand. SEO wasn't even known by Administrators and yet forums were getting popular and active, SEO hardly plays a part in a forum as much as referring sites from promotion.

As for web master forums, everyone knows they contain people that think they know best. Promotion forums contain a few kids, but they normally go quiet when a more experienced member corrects them. So I find your argument both false and irrelevant.

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

Not really, previous analysis of forums I have done shows SE's providing the least amount of traffic.

Now unless of course you happened to compile your results into a standard form of presentable media, I don't really care how many studies you do for your own personal notes. Without some sort of evidence and presentable proof, there is no reason for anyone to base their actions upon your words 🙂

Forum Promotion is easy to find in Google, due to it being it's brand name, it doesn't really need to do anything to stay there. Forums get their activity from promoting on advertisement forums, SEO doesn't help new forums at all, how can it when their content is low and no quality?

You're correct, as FP's name is branded it doesn't have to do much right now to hold it's spot, though that won't last forever unless a constant flow of backlinks appear to counter other sites that move into the niche. However I strongly disagree with the bolded statement above, this is not how most fourms gain traffic at all. Why would a gaming forum gain members from being promoted here when the core memberbase are looking for places to advertise? Now that doesn't make much sense to me... wouldn't you get more traffic from advertising on a Youtube account that you upload gaming videos to, or even advertising via signatures on major gaming boards? You are of course assuming that all new forums have "low quality" content, which isn't always the case. In example to Nathan's forum, the "content" it started with (style, and original posts) were of some of the highest quality i've ever seen. It's quite clear that if his site had ranked well in Google off the bat for his certain keywords, people would have been drawn in from the style alone, which has been proven to play a major role in translating guest traffic into a strong memberbase 😉

They are simply the means to advertise, there isn't that much to learn about promoting your forum.

If you stop looking at it like a forum, and more as an "online business" - which it really is as you spend your time and money on it - then why do we have online marketers that get paid extremely well? It's simple, because they know the proper methods of advertising sites / services / forums / affiliate systems. They're spend time learning the different methods and approaches, and thus they can charge proper amounts of money accordingly. If they can learn these methods, why can't FP - or any other promotion site - teach their memberbase? Honestly guides you can purchase on affiliate marketing sites can work wonders when applied to forums, because no one else is exploiting them in that way.

As for web master forums, everyone knows they contain people that think they know best. Promotion forums contain a few kids, but they normally go quiet when a more experienced member corrects them.

The same happens on webmaster forums in general, only the audience is more suited towards the older crowd and thus it happens less often. The problem is more transparent on promotion forums, the sheer amount of drama here isn't something you'd even imagine if you were a member of a decent webmaster forum, they don't have the same issues (though they do have their own set mine you, won't say they don't).

So I find your argument both false and irrelevant.

Try again mate 😛

 

[Rich Edmonds]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

 

[birdy]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

Exactly why I did not answer this one .......... pointless.

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

Thanks, it just means i'm a good debater really, as the point is to present your point the best you possibly can :shrug:

Oh well I suppose, each to his own thoughts :great:

 

[Pixel Pirate]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

A debate is about who is right and who is wrong and if Ghost is right all the time ( which he isnt). Then I guess Everybody else is like Obama or Fox News. Spreading lies and being wrong all the time.

 

[Watch Me Sink]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

Exactly why I did not answer this one .......... pointless.

What exactly are you referring to by saying pointless? Your argument (or lack thereof) or the topic?

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

Isn't one right to themselves in every debate? One who thinks something is right and somebody else who thinks something opposite is right conflict, and try to point out the holes in the other's argument? It is a matter of who presents what they think is right better than the other (like Ghost said). I could lose an argument about gun control by simply saying "I like guns", but if I present it better such as "The right to privately own guns is protected by the second amendment to the Constitution, in the same way that freedom of religion, press, assembly and speech are protected by the first amendment". Of course this argument would have no value in a country other than the USA, but you get my point (at least I hope you do).

 

[Azza12342]

I wont carry on this pointless conversation as you miss each point and have to be right in every debate you enter into.

Leo Ghost is right and your wrong, deal with it.

I also would like to ad that Promotion Forums are really bad when it comes to advertising with my own points. So I just recently opened up my new forum, wow I got about 38 UV's from FP (More just directs), anyways, I wasn't stupid enough like everyone else and didn't put a advertisement board in my forum, why? Because 90% of people on FP, will look at a forum, if they see a advertisement board, they will then make a ad of their forum and leave to never return.

1. That makes spam on your board, and 1 post - 1 accouters (So to speak)
2. For me and probably alot of other people, seeing 1 member with 1 post that last logged in 2 months ago draws me off any forum.
3. It's rude to just "use" someone like that...

 

[aymenbnr]

work on seo and social bookmarks,article directories,video sharing,
that must work