Tips for Forums dying...

[Deleted member 25872]

Nowadays, we are seeing a lot of discussion board dying of inactivity and this could be for several reasons. What promotion tricks & advice would you give to a webmaster in this situation? Before marketing, I would advise engaging more with the community and their discussions.

 

[Deleted member 7467]

Have a forum that’s not a part of an over saturated niche. Or, make your forum stand apart. The second is much harder to do.

 

[Page]

All forums are not as active as they used to be, Not just normal discussion to promotion boards. It's not easy as it used to be and it won't get any easier

 

[Al]

"If you build it they will come" no longer applies. You have to love what you do and be prepared to put a huge amount of work into making it successful. The reason forums fail is because admins allow them to fail. Keep on going, don't be disheartened. Content is king. Post, post, post.

And use all options at your disposal to get people to notice you. It may be that for every 100 people who visit, only 1 joins. That's what I am expecting with mine and any better than that is great.

 

[Spikey]

When and if I get my forum going.. I don't really care if my forum gets 'big' I just want it to be active and a place to hangout even if it only ends up having 15 or so members I am perfectly fine with that.

 

[Jason76]

Getting a gang to discuss can keep it going. Unfortunately, you probably will have to pay them or do post exchanges. O.K., I think 10 to 20 active daily posters is a start.

Myself, a problem I have with my drumming forum is good material, but not active posters who are real drummers. Nonetheless, I'm thankful for what I can get a little - and they do a good job.

 

[Page]

that's what it's like nowadays is to do active posting or paid based, Not many that willing to spend time on the site

 

[Smokey]

Try to make at least 3-5 new threads daily, reply to existing threads to try to bring them back to life, advertise & promote across as many social media outlets as you possibly can, perhaps try to offer something somewhat unique depending on your niche?

 

[Deleted member 49125]

I agree with a lot of what’s been said already.
Don’t give in too easily. I was on one forum trying to help them out & they only had one niche & weren’t willing to expand. They ended up deleting it after less than a month. Have a goal for your forum but be prepared to adapt as the members come in. i.e. mine is holistic, but only a few people are into that. So I’ve had to incorporate other boards.
I’m on mine daily overseeing, posting content. Going to Proboards Support to see how I can make it more streamlined, what members may like, etc.
I am for the quality over quantity. I rather have a small group that appreciate my forum than have hundreds of members.
I do Affiliate Exchanges. I have done the “I join yours you join mine” but it can cause burnout so I make sure I’m off the computer thruout the day to be in nature & just Breathe!

 

[Page]

Also, keep in mind that I always have in mind when posting that I tend to post if I need to post so that I can keep it low and new members and traffic see members posting rather then seeing posts made my staff. having to much staff posting can look bad

 

[Excommunicado]

You’ve gotta give users a reason to come back to your forum, whether it be an incentive or something else, that’s for you to figure out.

 

[Maria Jonas]

No actions on irrelevant threads in the category may be the one!

 

[Twisted Fairytale]

I wrote about this approximately six or so years ago...

Forums were the first online social media and unfortunately the first to start dying out. They're being replaced with more connectable media platforms. Today's youth don't want to write out more than 120 characters to express their feelings and are all about being connected to other people. Dying forums are unfortunately a sign of the times.

If you're dead-set on a forum for your next website, you must find a niche that relies on forums. Think old topics: flight sims, connectables, etc. You can't create a forum for online connections. It just won't work.

 

[Page]

Not all young people. Allot that are making forum based sites still. If you add an age poll be far more at 18 to 35 years old age group then anything else. social media can help forums allot also as making them dead. Discord has killed things off also.

 

[Jason76]

Keeping a forum going is as simple, well actually probably hard, lol, as getting 10 or 20 members who love to post about the subject. I mean, these are people highly knowledgeable in the subject or at least badly want to learn.

 

[Deleted member 50656]

Keeping a forum going is as simple, well actually probably hard, lol, as getting 10 or 20 members who love to post about the subject. I mean, these are people highly knowledgeable in the subject or at least badly want to learn.

Yeah, I think forums that require the exchange of knowledge and/or discussion are good to keep forums rolling but again its about the niche they operate in. Support forums, old topics and things generally requiring more 'discussion are best.

For other niches, going beyond simple connectivity of people is imperative: Services, features etc.