08-04-2014, 06:52 AM
This is the most obvious question that i heard every now and then. "How to get people to join your new forum?"
Well the first thing is that there is no general procedure to follow to get new members. But there are some way that can help you get members to your new forum.
First Impression: Design & Looks
The first thing that all forum owners should care about is the design and looks. The best way to determine how is it, is very simple, ask yourself the question "Why will you join the forum??". Look your forum through the eyes of a new visitor & ask yourself these questions "Is the true purpose of this forum is highlighting in the main landing page?", "Does each and every branches of your niche (that you want to keep in your forum) are clearly divided into forums and categories??, "Are there sub-categories highlighting themselves properly through sub-forums??", "How does your forum looks? Does it looks like a customized forum makes a professional impression or simply reflects the impression of your forum scripts default looks??" etc. Once you have the answers to these questions you will definitely find your way to kick start your forum.
Professional looks to a forum is very important factor, it makes a heavy first impression to the visitor. The more your forum becomes personalized the more its better.
Note: If you have not bought any professional themes for your forum then my suggestion for them are; First of all change the default color of your theme, place a customized head banner for your forum, put a good personalized favicon image (or signature image), & lastly change all the category forum images.
First Impression: Content Wise
Content is the king factor for any blog or forum. Suppose a new visitor comes to your forum he/she gets impressed by your forum design, categories etc & then he/she does not find anything useful content inside your forum. Do still they will join your forum?? The straight answer is “NO”. If your content is truly great then the design or looks can’t even matter for your forum to grow.
The most important factor is that your forum must not look empty according to content. The more is the content the better. Forums means online discussion boards but it does not mean that you only have to post discussion type articles in your forum. Post blog type articles, how-to’s, tutorials etc in each category and sub-forum. Atleast 3 to 4 in each section this will help you to build the elemental structure of your board. Make 1 or 2 posts which are really important to the category “Sticky Topics”. After doing that make a minimum 10 posts in each category which are discussion type, focus on the hot topics of your niche while doing it.
........to be continued
Well the first thing is that there is no general procedure to follow to get new members. But there are some way that can help you get members to your new forum.
First Impression: Design & Looks
The first thing that all forum owners should care about is the design and looks. The best way to determine how is it, is very simple, ask yourself the question "Why will you join the forum??". Look your forum through the eyes of a new visitor & ask yourself these questions "Is the true purpose of this forum is highlighting in the main landing page?", "Does each and every branches of your niche (that you want to keep in your forum) are clearly divided into forums and categories??, "Are there sub-categories highlighting themselves properly through sub-forums??", "How does your forum looks? Does it looks like a customized forum makes a professional impression or simply reflects the impression of your forum scripts default looks??" etc. Once you have the answers to these questions you will definitely find your way to kick start your forum.
Professional looks to a forum is very important factor, it makes a heavy first impression to the visitor. The more your forum becomes personalized the more its better.
Note: If you have not bought any professional themes for your forum then my suggestion for them are; First of all change the default color of your theme, place a customized head banner for your forum, put a good personalized favicon image (or signature image), & lastly change all the category forum images.
First Impression: Content Wise
Content is the king factor for any blog or forum. Suppose a new visitor comes to your forum he/she gets impressed by your forum design, categories etc & then he/she does not find anything useful content inside your forum. Do still they will join your forum?? The straight answer is “NO”. If your content is truly great then the design or looks can’t even matter for your forum to grow.
The most important factor is that your forum must not look empty according to content. The more is the content the better. Forums means online discussion boards but it does not mean that you only have to post discussion type articles in your forum. Post blog type articles, how-to’s, tutorials etc in each category and sub-forum. Atleast 3 to 4 in each section this will help you to build the elemental structure of your board. Make 1 or 2 posts which are really important to the category “Sticky Topics”. After doing that make a minimum 10 posts in each category which are discussion type, focus on the hot topics of your niche while doing it.
........to be continued
"IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT, FAKE IT"