Getting people to post in your forum is probably the hardest
thing to do. First, not all of your readers will post messages.
In fact, only a small percentage will post regularly, and
most will never post at all. Second, nobody want to be the
first person to post a message. In fact, topic starters (people
that start new topic of discussion) will be a small percentage
of your posters; the rest will simply reply to topics that
have been started.
In order to get the forum to a point where it is self-sustaining,
you will have to do a lot of work. Here are some tips that
you can use to get your forum rolling:
If nobody will start a post, start it yourself
Register yourself as several members (you with multiple identities)
and talk to yourself. (Note that this will not work in forum
with logged IP). This will create enough "seed" posts to get
people to read and perhaps add replies of their own.
Find topics that interest people
If you get a mental block and cannot find anything interesting
to talk to yourself about, then go to other web sites and see
what people in those communities are talking about in their
forums. You can also look at usenet newsgroups. Digest these
ideas and regurgitate them using your various identities.
Advertise your forums relentlessly
Make sure your forum is accessible from every page of your
site, particularly the index page. Make the link highly visible,
or outright talk about it on the home page. Add a link to your
web site and forum as part of your email, usenet and forum
signature. Frequent other forums and mention your site and
forum from time to time (be careful to comply to their rules
and not to spam).
Use your forums to support your web site
You can ask your visitors "What do you think about this article?" (or
tool, tutorial, etc.) and ask them to post their comments in
the forums. Additionally, use it as part of your customer support
program. For instance, I use our web site forums to support
our free PHP scripts.
Use your forums to annouce new changes to your site
This is a great way to make announcement because people can
write their thoughts about the new feature (or article) you've
just added.
Find allies
There are many webmasters that have the exact same delimas
as yours. Look for sites with empty or low traffic forums and
email these webmasters. Offers to join their forums and post
a few messages, then ask them if they can return you the same
favor. If they want to know why you are bothering them, ask
them to read this article.
Barter
Even if they don't have a forum, offer to write about their
web site or add a link to their site in exchange for some posts.
Recruit moderators
As your member population grows, find a few good posters (the
ones that post high-quality messages and replies) and ask them
if they want to help you moderate the forum. Give them more
rights than other users so that they can edit and/or delete
other people posts at their descretion. They will help you
keep the forum in order, make sure all the rules are followed
and help you answers questions. Many people are happy to take
on this challenge.
Do email follow up with your members
Send email to members that registered, but have not returned
in a long time. Tell them what has change since their last
visit and why it may be worthwhile for them to return to your
site. Try to do this about once every quarter, but do not do
this more than once a month. Be sure to respect their rights
by including appropriate unsubscribe information and take their
name off the mailing list at their request.
Offer incentives
Some forums like this one offers incentives for forum members
to make posts. For instance, we offers free advertising in
exchange for posts.
Hire a Professional
This would be my last option, but it may work for you. There
are professional message posters out there that will participate
in your forums by starting threads and posting replies. This
is a good solution if you are really stuck and need someone
else to help you get the forums going.
Some other things to keep in mind is that you should start
your forums small with perhaps 3-4 categories, then slowly
expand and create more categories. This way, the forums does
not look so empty. Additionally, some forums software has
polling features. Use these to your advantage. Controversial
polls and topics can create flurries of activity.
Pinyo Bhulipongsanon is the owner of GreatNexus.com
Webmaster Resources offering visitors with features
such as webmaster forums, webmaster directory, webmaster
dictionary, programming scripts, and webmaster articles.
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