zerotomed.com

There are some things that I have learned from running my science forum that I thought I might come along and relay some of these things to you. Now, I am not a forum guru. Hell, I am having a hard ass time getting my forum up to sustaining itself, but I do have to say that I understand what needs to get done for it to really start going somewhere. So, let me give you some of the things that I have learned from running the forum and also what I think might help you and me make our forums all the more powerful.

When running your forum, you need to ensure that you are constantly there posting new things. This is one thing that I find difficult because it is so damn hard to think up new things. I am having a hard time constantly making new threads, but I have some ideas on how I might be able to get some new ones up. Three words: post the news.
Having a contest is good, but don’t expect people to stick around once it is over. I learned this first hand. People came and were posting up a storm, but suddenly, the contest was over and people began to stop posting. It’s a good way to get initial traffic, but people aren’t really going to stick around unless they’re really passionate.
Don’t be afraid to use paid forum posting. Go onto digital point and pay ten people a dollar each to make ten posts each. Demand a minimum of two threads and when it is all over, you’ll have gotten eighty new posts and twenty new threads that people will hopefully reply to which will help your site grow even more.
Constantly update. If you see a forum hasn’t had a post in a few days, make a few new threads. Show people that the site appears to be active and they will quickly sign up. I need to start doing this some more because my site is looking a little dry. Perhaps I just need some more forum posting, who knows?
You need to use search engines if your niche is somewhat targeted. I run a science forum, so if I want to get people, I need to target certain keywords. If you can get listed strongly on the search engines, you’re going to find that you’re getting more sign ups.

These are just a few things that I think are imperative to understand when running a forum. It’s a lot of hard work and I definitely don’t think it’s something you want to do if you’re not going to really work with it. However, it can be very rewarding and because of that, I highly recommend people think about setting forums up. But, only do it if you’re ready to work. Forums are a lot of fun once you see people posting. Every time I get a new post or thread, I get so excited. It really does help a lot. Anyways…Good luck.