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How can I get more visitors on my forum?
Question
How can I get more visitors on my forum?
Answer
Below are some recommendations we've found useful for increasing the popularity and visitors of our forum.
Increase popularity of your site
As
your site becomes more popular and more users begin to use it you will
also notice an increase in popularity on your forum. If you have not
already ready read through our promoting your web page section we highly recommend you start there. This page has a wealth of good information on promoting your web page.
Enable guest posting
Not all forums have guest
posting enabled by default. Not all users enjoy the thought of having
to register to post messages on the forum, enabling this feature can
increase the popularity and use of your forums dramatically. If you
start to notice an increase of abuse from guests this feature can be
disabled at a later time.
Allow guests to view the forums
Always
keep your forums public if you wish for new people to join. It is very
unlikely for someone who doesn't know what the forum is about or what's
on the forum to register as a member. In addition this allows search
engine crawlers to index pages on your forums.
Mention the forum on all your pages
Your
forum should be a focal point on your web page, which is why it should
also be mentioned on each of your web site pages. For example, the
Computer Hope navigation found at the top of this page and every other
page has a link to our forum. mentioning the forums on your home page is good, but not all visitors are going to get to your web page through the home page.
Tip: Make
sure your visitors can also get back to your home page from your forums.
Create posts for popular topics
You
can't expect visitors to create all the posts on your forum, especially
when it is first starting. Therefore it is up to you to create some of
the initial interesting, controversial, or otherwise provoking posts
that will make people want to respond or make a comment on the topic. It
is also a good idea to set a daily, weekly, monthly schedule where you
visit the forums and create an interesting post.
Start small
It's
a common mistake for many users who create forums to create a lot of
different topics or channels that can be posted into. Don't overwhelm
the user, especially if it's not needed. It's best to start off with a
forum with only a few channels (4-6) and then as more channels become
needed create those channels.
Participate on your forums
Forums
often require a lot of maintenance and should be a place you frequently
visit to create posts, respond to other posts, and make sure everything
is running smoothly.
Participate in related forums
There's
no better place to pick up other users who enjoy participating and
commenting in forums then other forums. Try to visit forums that relate
to your forums and participate on them. This does not mean visiting the
forum and advertising your own forum. Visit the forum and create
valuable posts that contain a signature advertising your own site
or forum.
Keep your forum header small
As mentioned on our promoting
a web page the average person gives each page they visit 4 or less seconds. If your forums have a large header
(e.g. large logo, large web page name, big picture, large
advertisement, or lots of empty space) that causes a user to have to
scroll before being able to view some or all of you're boards you're
greatly decreasing the odds that the user will read any of your posts or
subscribe.
Hold competitions or give out prizes
A great way to bring in more subscribers is to give away awards and prizes to visitors who are participating on the forum.
It takes time
No
site can expect to create a forum and instantly get thousands of users
and posts. It takes time for users to visit, register, and participate
on the forum. Keep working at each of the above suggestions and users
will begin to visit more and bring their friends on.
Question
How can I get more visitors on my forum?
Answer
Below are some recommendations we've found useful for increasing the popularity and visitors of our forum.
Increase popularity of your site
As
your site becomes more popular and more users begin to use it you will
also notice an increase in popularity on your forum. If you have not
already ready read through our promoting your web page section we highly recommend you start there. This page has a wealth of good information on promoting your web page.
Enable guest posting
Not all forums have guest
posting enabled by default. Not all users enjoy the thought of having
to register to post messages on the forum, enabling this feature can
increase the popularity and use of your forums dramatically. If you
start to notice an increase of abuse from guests this feature can be
disabled at a later time.
Allow guests to view the forums
Always
keep your forums public if you wish for new people to join. It is very
unlikely for someone who doesn't know what the forum is about or what's
on the forum to register as a member. In addition this allows search
engine crawlers to index pages on your forums.
Mention the forum on all your pages
Your
forum should be a focal point on your web page, which is why it should
also be mentioned on each of your web site pages. For example, the
Computer Hope navigation found at the top of this page and every other
page has a link to our forum. mentioning the forums on your home page is good, but not all visitors are going to get to your web page through the home page.
Tip: Make
sure your visitors can also get back to your home page from your forums.
Create posts for popular topics
You
can't expect visitors to create all the posts on your forum, especially
when it is first starting. Therefore it is up to you to create some of
the initial interesting, controversial, or otherwise provoking posts
that will make people want to respond or make a comment on the topic. It
is also a good idea to set a daily, weekly, monthly schedule where you
visit the forums and create an interesting post.
Start small
It's
a common mistake for many users who create forums to create a lot of
different topics or channels that can be posted into. Don't overwhelm
the user, especially if it's not needed. It's best to start off with a
forum with only a few channels (4-6) and then as more channels become
needed create those channels.
Participate on your forums
Forums
often require a lot of maintenance and should be a place you frequently
visit to create posts, respond to other posts, and make sure everything
is running smoothly.
Participate in related forums
There's
no better place to pick up other users who enjoy participating and
commenting in forums then other forums. Try to visit forums that relate
to your forums and participate on them. This does not mean visiting the
forum and advertising your own forum. Visit the forum and create
valuable posts that contain a signature advertising your own site
or forum.
Keep your forum header small
As mentioned on our promoting
a web page the average person gives each page they visit 4 or less seconds. If your forums have a large header
(e.g. large logo, large web page name, big picture, large
advertisement, or lots of empty space) that causes a user to have to
scroll before being able to view some or all of you're boards you're
greatly decreasing the odds that the user will read any of your posts or
subscribe.
Hold competitions or give out prizes
A great way to bring in more subscribers is to give away awards and prizes to visitors who are participating on the forum.
It takes time
No
site can expect to create a forum and instantly get thousands of users
and posts. It takes time for users to visit, register, and participate
on the forum. Keep working at each of the above suggestions and users
will begin to visit more and bring their friends on.
