Help me kickstart my forum!

[olddocks]

how to kickstart a webmaster forum?

Give me some ideas please! i have a site where i have integrated a forum in a social network. Just a simple one!

No matter what i try i am finding really difficult to make my forum takeoff!

Wondering if any gurus out here help me out!

[swapw]

Originally Posted by olddocks

how to kickstart a webmaster forum?

Give me some ideas please! i have a site where i have integrated a forum in a social network. Just a simple one!

No matter what i try i am finding really difficult to make my forum takeoff!

Wondering if any gurus out here help me out!

First and foremost, you need to be involved in the forum itself. If you haven't done so, now is a good time to do that. Others that see your dedication will follow.

Second, get a graphic designer to change the look of it. Anything that's appealing to eye helps.


-Swapw

[Tripta_Kneoteric]

Restrict the categories to few most important ones, at the onset.

Participate in your own forums, and make it appear lively.
Invite your friends to join and contribute.
Develop backlinks to increase the chances of it to ranking high on Search Engines. This is because, you would get new visitors through Search Engines.

Try to procure links from webpages which are most relevant apart from the resource or link pages.
This might cost you comparatively higher than just a link, since this could get you traffic.

Most important, keep a track of the visitors through Google analytics. This would help you decide from where you could expect more visitors. Hence, to invest accordingly.

[dmdelectronics]

Check my sig

[noblesoft]

You need to make valuable contributions that will show that your forum is unique, that alone will help you do the kick starting as you requested.
Also try to develop back links to increase the chances of your forum and so to help ranking it high on Search Engines. This is because, you would get new visitors through Search Engines. Also try to register it in other forums and autosurf sites so that traffic can be made. The more frequent your site appears the more surfers will become interested.


[self promoting content removed]

[photocrats.com]

Originally Posted by olddocks

how to kickstart a webmaster forum?

Wondering if any gurus out here help me out!

Try to hire female moderators more than male moderators.

[vilelink]

You can hire some Quality writers to post few Posts in your thread.
Talk about it in other forums, blogs, create an article for it, spread them out in Web 2.0, put it in signature links. etc etc... If you have something Great to tell and share, People will come...

Try to hire female moderators more than male moderators.

i wonder why you said that

Good Luck

[greenfinger]

Originally Posted by vilelink

You can hire some Quality writers to post few Posts in your thread.
Talk about it in other forums, blogs, create an article for it, spread them out in Web 2.0, put it in signature links. etc etc... If you have something Great to tell and share, People will come...



i wonder why you said that

Good Luck

A woman's touch is always welcome on a forum. You may find poster's attitudes change considerably when corresponding with the fairer sex. This I dare say impacts the atmosphere of the forum. Some may find it more approachable

[Scuba Steve]

just work at it, nothing comes easy, the more content you have the easier it will be to find online

[CodeR]

Its all about hard work and the right staff!

[gregdavidson]

Offer a free download like I do for my forum. Over time your forum will build itself up.

[dimva]

Have some kind of contest, maybe reach 100 post and receive a free domain or something similar.. It use to attract some members.
Good luck!

[C.Whyte]

YES, I agree with dimva on his last post! I love forums where you get rewarded for posting

Also, you can buy traffic to your site... that always seems to work.

Sidenote: keep the forum clean from spam... if left unchecked, it will significantly hurt your active member numbers.

[BradP]

Originally Posted by photocrats.com

Try to hire female moderators more than male moderators.

Putting aside male or female moderators, how to get them in the first place?

Are they paid or doing a voluntary service?

[Atom]

Originally Posted by BradP

Putting aside male or female moderators, how to get them in the first place?

Are they paid or doing a voluntary service?

Usually voluntary.

[Atom]

In my case, when I've been a mod/admin in the past, it was always a case where I was approached, but it was without an offer of pay, so in essence I was a volunteer. There was one case where after having been an active poster as a regular member for quite a while, I accepted the offer of mod by the admin, this eventually led to random payments here and there, but this was not an open policy, nor between mods, so it was really a matter between the owner and the particular mod. But the general rule for new mods is volunteer. However, you may need to do some asking as your forum has little appeal.

[webcosmo]

I have started a forum recently as well. This is a very competitive market. I think to get success you have to get your friends sign up first, post regularly. Also post on other forums as well. Good luck to you.

[coolslko]

Originally Posted by olddocks

how to kickstart a webmaster forum?

Give me some ideas please! i have a site where i have integrated a forum in a social network. Just a simple one!

No matter what i try i am finding really difficult to make my forum takeoff!

Wondering if any gurus out here help me out!

Well........first most important thing is that post some good useful and informational articles to your forum with catchy titles and do atlest one or two posts daily to your forums, then paricipate in other forums and leave a link to your forum as a signature links, also post comments on articles and blogs and also leave link to your forum.

Also ask your friends, relatives, colleagues to join your forum. Also submit your forum to some forum directories.

It will also better to offer something free to new members in its initial stage......