What You Should Know Before Starting A Forum

[Deleted member 44219]

Hello there. With there being thousands of forums out there, it's going to be tough to start one so I'm here today to tell you about everything you should know before starting a forum.

1. Find a niche that it isn't constantly used. With forums being so common now, all of the topics have been pretty much taken now. Don't go for a tech forum or gaming forum. There are too many of them and we don't need any more. Try researching a bunch of topics for a forum or look at what you've done in life and make forum out of that.
2. Make sure you know what you're getting into. Forums are not easy to run. They require you to be active a lot of the time. Your users are also expecting the site to be updated from time to time. You'll also need to look for staff and moderate content on the forum.
3. Be responsible. If you aren't responsible on Social Media or in real life then you aren't responsible to run a forum. Your attitude and maturity also comes into play here so make sure you have a good attitude towards others and that you are mature enough to behave.
4. Don't expect to gain users immediatley. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and SnapChat took time to grow; the same is with ForumPromotion.net. They all took time to grow and it's the same with your forum. Try submitting it to Google using Google Webmaster and maybe try promoting on it other sites, including ForumPromotion.net(The forum you're on just now).
5. Make sure the site looks good. Once you start up a forum, it needs to look good. That means having a layout and a theme. Do not use the default theme for too long. You should only have the default theme for 1 or 2 weeks and by then, a theme is essential or no one will like the look of your forum.
6. Make sure your forum software is a high-quality one. Forum software such as phpBB, MyBB, SMF, XenForo etc. are all good forum software. Do some research into them first to see if they suit your needs. Do know that these forum softwares have plenty of mods, themes and a great community to help you.
7. Don't set up a Discord server! By setting up a Discord server, you're asking your forum to commit suicide which it shouldn't. If you set up a Discord Server, all of your users will flock to that and barely anyone will post on the forum itself.
8. Be active in your forum. If people enter a forum that has a CEO/Founder/Leader who's barely online then it shows that you're too lazy to handle a forum and should pass it on to someone else who's more worthy of it.
9. Keywords help you get searched so start keywording! Keywords are essential to helping your forum get more visibility in search results. Make sure the keywords are related to your forum or else someone might be confused about why a music forum is in the results when they search up a gaming forum.
10. Don't constantly advertise it or spam posts about it. Doing this, you are just asking to be hated on. If you constantly advertise, you will get users but some of them might just write hate posts to get rid of those ads. Spamming posts on other forums or Social Media is the same with over-advertising. You're asking for hate.
11. If users don't join, find other ways to gain users. There are plenty of other ways to gain users for your forum as long as they're executed the right way. One of the most controversial ways is creating dummy accounts. Be careful not to break character in these accounts or else they can easily be proved as a dummy. Around 2 - 5 dummies are enough. If you want to risk it then go for more but always remember to not break character either. Once actual users start signing up then delete those dummy accounts and if users start asking about them then either don't reply or pretend that they insulted you or something.
12. What else do you think someone should know when starting a forum?

 

[Page]

13. Take years to grow and still got nowhere

 

[simonweb]

Good list!

Make sure your forum software is a high-quality one. Forum software such as phpBB, MyBB, SMF, XenForo etc. are all good forum software.

I would strike phpBB (and probably even SMF) from that list and instead add IPB.

13. Take years to grow and still got nowhere

But I hope you at least had fun and learned new things along the way? 😉

 

[Bryn]

Make sure your forum software is a high-quality one.

Doesn't Jcink count?

Also...

Don't set up a Discord server! By setting up a Discord server, you're asking your forum to commit suicide which it shouldn't. If you set up a Discord Server, all of your users will flock to that and barely anyone will post on the forum itself.

I recently set up one for mine, but I don't make it public. Should I be alright?

 

[Page]

But I hope you at least had fun and learned new things along the way?

Always, you always learn many things everyday! just by reading content

 

[Deleted member 44219]

Make sure your forum software is a high-quality one.

Doesn't Jcink count?

Also...

Don't set up a Discord server! By setting up a Discord server, you're asking your forum to commit suicide which it shouldn't. If you set up a Discord Server, all of your users will flock to that and barely anyone will post on the forum itself.

I recently set up one for mine, but I don't make it public. Should I be alright?

If it’s not public and you only invite; let’s say...Higher ranked users then you should be alright.

 

[Bryn]

If it’s not public and you only invite; let’s say...Higher ranked users then you should be alright.

Right, good to know

 

[Alexandoy]

I guess it's too difficult to think of a niche that is not commonly used because as you said there are so many forums and almost all topics are taken already. There was a time that I had planned a local forum for gardening particularly the backyard garden for edibles. But the problem was the survey I made yielded just a few potential members. Maybe there should be a market for the niche before you start the forum so that you can compete with social media.

 

[Shannon Apple]

Nice post Dan. ^^

I see people making that fatal mistake time and time again. They try to make a forum based on what they think will be successful, instead of picking something relating to their own interests and experiences. Finding a niche is all fine and dandy, but if you as the admin are not interested in that niche to begin with, the likelihood of success is very small because you just won't have the same passion for it. You could find staff who are knowledgeable on the topic, but... you as the admin really need to be able to interact with users, discuss, debate etc. If you're not showing this kind of enthusiasm at the beginning, how will the staff and potential users?

I think just go with something you are passionate about yourself and try and think of a way to attract users that other forums are not doing. Depending on that niche, you might be able to add some sort of interative element, something to get users to stop for more than three seconds and consider your site.

I guess, write down a list all the things that you enjoy, and stuff relating to that. Then use google to see what is already out there on the topic. That's what I'd do.


As for Discord... just don't turn it into a forum of it's own. Keep the thing as a chatroom where users can get to know each other. Host forum events. We do really silly popularity contests on the forum from time to time. We are due another one soon lol. It is a great way for new and old members to have a laugh and be silly. Some manufactured light-heated drama has it's charms and generates activity.

 

[Nomad]

I own a handful of websites and none of these are forums. However, I did try to launch a forum in the past. I tested with a couple of free forum scripts and then settled with SMF. I tried to bring new members on the fourm by promoting on social media and asking friends and family, My promotion tactics did not work and I gave up on forums. I still have a desire to start a forum some day. These tips are really helpful.

 

[Deleted member 17779]

This is a pretty good list. I would make sure that people do some posting on their own forum in order to get some topics started. I've seen some people open a forum with no topics or anything on it and get frustrated that no one comes to post on their forum. However, this can fall under the owner being active on their own forum rule you listed.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

This is a pretty good list. I would make sure that people do some posting on their own forum in order to get some topics started. I've seen some people open a forum with no topics or anything on it and get frustrated that no one comes to post on their forum. However, this can fall under the owner being active on their own forum rule you listed.

Yeah. It makes sense. If about 3 people were to start a forum together then they should all start making topics. Depending on the amount of boards, around 17 - 27 topics by the owner(In this case, the only member) to get things started.

 

[Deleted member 17779]

This is a pretty good list. I would make sure that people do some posting on their own forum in order to get some topics started. I've seen some people open a forum with no topics or anything on it and get frustrated that no one comes to post on their forum. However, this can fall under the owner being active on their own forum rule you listed.

Yeah. It makes sense. If about 3 people were to start a forum together then they should all start making topics. Depending on the amount of boards, around 17 - 27 topics by the owner(In this case, the only member) to get things started.

Yeah. It doesn't look good to open a forum with no post on it. It would look at least someone better for the owner to post some topics in each area of the forum, even if the owner is the only person doing so. It looks better than a completely empty forum.