So I couldn't figure out what to title this post.. maybe 'random raging person & forum tips'? anyways.. I thought I'd share with everyone out there what mistakes I've made promoting forums and maybe share some tips too. The goal is to make people aware of what's coming if they're getting into forum thing and what to do if they're already there.. hope it helps?
I added numbering but I don't think it's suppose to prioritize anything. It's randomly mixed k.
1. Content isn't really everything.. people want a feel of belonging.
2. Long articles on forums don't really drive much activity. most people don't bother reading them.
3. You cant make forum active by advertising it on social media.
4. Each and every member is a building block. respect every single member and always give them change to fix their mistakes.
5. Never create 'looking for moderator' threads. you're then attracting fake people. give mod to person who's been active already.
6. You have got to be the boss and put in 95% of the effort when forum is new. don't expect any active form any members.
7. Be patient. forums are not blogs. forum communities are one of the hardest things to build so don't feel down.
8. Get one theme and stick to it even if it looks bad. your members will leave if they see constant changes.
9. Ppamming other forums might work to some extent but it's your personal choice who low you're willing to go for a few members.
10. Being old member on other forums doesn't mean you are allowed to sneak in links to your site. you got to be on right forum, means non competing forum.
11. People don't give a fu** about your fourm and they will continue kicking you down while down. you got to be strong.
12. When we want something from other people we talk to them, want to get more people to your forum? talk to people.
13. 90% advice on web on how to get more members on forums is full of bullshit.
14. Forums are not dying. it's perfect time to start a forum. failuire will hit hard but whole process that goes through building a forum community is NOT a waste. it's a lecture where 99% of learned lessons can be applied to real life.
15. Hold your ground. don't take suggestion about look and feel of forum. anything related to graphics is very subjective and you will be making changes for every new member if you take their advice.
16. Don't tell your friends about your forum. they will ask for custom goodies like userbar which you might not be able to provide.
17. If you're about to rage quit. don't shut the forum down, take a break and come back after month of so, it's normal.
18. Loyal member don't care about the content you provide, they're just because they want to kill some time and chill. Don't expect much contributions fromt these guys, they will often troll new members but it's normal.
19. Start small. if you only have 5 members they're no reason to have more than 2 sections. empty forum is a dead forum. stay with less sections.
20. Good content + a-lot of threads + no engagement = dead forum. You need somewhat okay content + less threads + a bunch of engagement. That's a successful forum.
21. Creating fake accounts to talk to yourself (increase engagement) is a real thing. No body wants to when when others are quiet.
22. You can't build a community by doing giveaways. It's like take away form KFC, except it's free.
23. Contacting big forum owners for tips won't work. The don't give a fu**. They don't have time.
24. If your forum niche doesn't represent who you are then you're in wrong niche. Be prepared to quit soon.
25. Your domain name is identity, don't be a fuckboi and let it expire. Someone will take it instantly.
26. Word of mouth is the biggest thing. Tell your members to invite their friends. SEO is worthless compared to this.
27. Stay at your level. Don't reach out tobig forums to beg for links in footer and shit. Talk to new forums and those who're as active as you. Do good business, help each other. Nobody will help you if you're not helping them.
28. Your forum sucks. I just said it, there will be thousand other users saying the same. Don't worry, it's normal.
29. Your hosting owns your forum. If you're big you don't use shared hosting.
30. Contact forum admins every few days about backlinks and shit. Most will say no some will say yes. Get 1 backlink a week and you're a successful man.
31. If you don't need a plugin don't isntall it. Plugins are a disease be very careful.
32. Don't waste money in useless services like followers like and other shit. This is worthless I've done it 100 times, it's a total waste in forums business. Lesson learned.
33. Forum is a not a place for your formal ass to act educated and try to 'help' people. Don't do that. That's doesn't match forum niche in general.
34. 90% are leachers. Get over it.
35. Drama is good for your forum. Keep it in right place and you're good.
36. Don't give a shit about how many clicks your ads on other forums get, just get the name out there. That's enough and be patient. It's in the god damn name!
37. Backlinks are only good for traffic from google and google isn't everything. So don't relay on Google. Word of damn mouth is the thaaang!
36. Relax. You can't build a successful community in a year. 3 years sounds like okay target.
== tips originally shared on trafficgangster.club community ==
I added numbering but I don't think it's suppose to prioritize anything. It's randomly mixed k.
1. Content isn't really everything.. people want a feel of belonging.
2. Long articles on forums don't really drive much activity. most people don't bother reading them.
3. You cant make forum active by advertising it on social media.
4. Each and every member is a building block. respect every single member and always give them change to fix their mistakes.
5. Never create 'looking for moderator' threads. you're then attracting fake people. give mod to person who's been active already.
6. You have got to be the boss and put in 95% of the effort when forum is new. don't expect any active form any members.
7. Be patient. forums are not blogs. forum communities are one of the hardest things to build so don't feel down.
8. Get one theme and stick to it even if it looks bad. your members will leave if they see constant changes.
9. Ppamming other forums might work to some extent but it's your personal choice who low you're willing to go for a few members.
10. Being old member on other forums doesn't mean you are allowed to sneak in links to your site. you got to be on right forum, means non competing forum.
11. People don't give a fu** about your fourm and they will continue kicking you down while down. you got to be strong.
12. When we want something from other people we talk to them, want to get more people to your forum? talk to people.
13. 90% advice on web on how to get more members on forums is full of bullshit.
14. Forums are not dying. it's perfect time to start a forum. failuire will hit hard but whole process that goes through building a forum community is NOT a waste. it's a lecture where 99% of learned lessons can be applied to real life.
15. Hold your ground. don't take suggestion about look and feel of forum. anything related to graphics is very subjective and you will be making changes for every new member if you take their advice.
16. Don't tell your friends about your forum. they will ask for custom goodies like userbar which you might not be able to provide.
17. If you're about to rage quit. don't shut the forum down, take a break and come back after month of so, it's normal.
18. Loyal member don't care about the content you provide, they're just because they want to kill some time and chill. Don't expect much contributions fromt these guys, they will often troll new members but it's normal.
19. Start small. if you only have 5 members they're no reason to have more than 2 sections. empty forum is a dead forum. stay with less sections.
20. Good content + a-lot of threads + no engagement = dead forum. You need somewhat okay content + less threads + a bunch of engagement. That's a successful forum.
21. Creating fake accounts to talk to yourself (increase engagement) is a real thing. No body wants to when when others are quiet.
22. You can't build a community by doing giveaways. It's like take away form KFC, except it's free.
23. Contacting big forum owners for tips won't work. The don't give a fu**. They don't have time.
24. If your forum niche doesn't represent who you are then you're in wrong niche. Be prepared to quit soon.
25. Your domain name is identity, don't be a fuckboi and let it expire. Someone will take it instantly.
26. Word of mouth is the biggest thing. Tell your members to invite their friends. SEO is worthless compared to this.
27. Stay at your level. Don't reach out tobig forums to beg for links in footer and shit. Talk to new forums and those who're as active as you. Do good business, help each other. Nobody will help you if you're not helping them.
28. Your forum sucks. I just said it, there will be thousand other users saying the same. Don't worry, it's normal.
29. Your hosting owns your forum. If you're big you don't use shared hosting.
30. Contact forum admins every few days about backlinks and shit. Most will say no some will say yes. Get 1 backlink a week and you're a successful man.
31. If you don't need a plugin don't isntall it. Plugins are a disease be very careful.
32. Don't waste money in useless services like followers like and other shit. This is worthless I've done it 100 times, it's a total waste in forums business. Lesson learned.
33. Forum is a not a place for your formal ass to act educated and try to 'help' people. Don't do that. That's doesn't match forum niche in general.
34. 90% are leachers. Get over it.
35. Drama is good for your forum. Keep it in right place and you're good.
36. Don't give a shit about how many clicks your ads on other forums get, just get the name out there. That's enough and be patient. It's in the god damn name!
37. Backlinks are only good for traffic from google and google isn't everything. So don't relay on Google. Word of damn mouth is the thaaang!
36. Relax. You can't build a successful community in a year. 3 years sounds like okay target.
== tips originally shared on trafficgangster.club community ==
I plan on adding more stuff to it down the line
