Getting a forum off the ground?

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can increase my webmaster forum members? I am currently running a contest but very few seem to be participating. I have added the forum to all of my forum signatures (here and others), and I have notified the 800+ SearchBliss members, but currently only have only 30 members. Any suggestions?

They have: 75 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

i have seen your forum
it looks nice. it has a pr 1.
i think webmasters will be more interested in participating in high pr forums.
also there will be a greater chance for your site to be seen in search results if there is a high PR.
i think your forum will get a boost in membership and activity if it gets good PR

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

antispyware wrote: i have seen your forum
it looks nice. it has a pr 1.
i think webmasters will be more interested in participating in high pr forums.
also there will be a greater chance for your site to be seen in search results if there is a high PR.
i think your forum will get a boost in membership and activity if it gets good PR

First fo all it has a PR of 3,
http://www.searchbliss.com/forum/default.asp
but this isn't the point. If webmasters join just for PR, then their posts will be useless. This is not the purpose of a forum, and I don't want spam for PR.

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

SearchBliss, your forum has way way to many forums. If you have fewer forums the forum would look more active. Active forum means more members joining. Look, you have a forum for WYSIWYG Editors. Come on, don't you think that is excess?

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

teammatt3 wrote: SearchBliss, your forum has way way to many forums. If you have fewer forums the forum would look more active. Active forum means more members joining. Look, you have a forum for WYSIWYG Editors. Come on, don't you think that is excess?

Good point teammatt3. I didn't think of it this way. I will certainly take you advice. Thanks

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

teammatt3 wrote: SearchBliss, your forum has way way to many forums. If you have fewer forums the forum would look more active. Active forum means more members joining. Look, you have a forum for WYSIWYG Editors. Come on, don't you think that is excess?

I have reduced the amount of forums. What do you think?

Thanks again.

They have: 16 posts

Joined: May 2006

i am alos trying to launch my forum on marketthatsite and would love if anybody had any ideas on how i can increase members etc.

thanks

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

The problem with webmaster forums concentrating on the marketing/SEO side is that you've got two really big, really popular forums to compete against. Why should someone join your site when the others have so much to offer?

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

Megan wrote: The problem with webmaster forums concentrating on the marketing/SEO side is that you've got two really big, really popular forums to compete against. Why should someone join your site when the others have so much to offer?

I'm not sure what your point is? Are you referring to the SEO and Marketing forum on SearchBliss compared to the other forums on SearchBliss, or SEO and Marketing forums on other sites?

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I'm referring to two very large sites that are forums focusing on marketing and SEO (primarily). Namely WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint. That's tough to compete against. I heard that Digital Point is now offering some sort of text link ad network, and they also have google ad revenue sharing. How can you pull people away from something like that?

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

Megan wrote: I'm referring to two very large sites that are forums focusing on marketing and SEO (primarily). Namely WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint. That's tough to compete against. I heard that Digital Point is now offering some sort of text link ad network, and they also have google ad revenue sharing. How can you pull people away from something like that?

It's tough, how does TWF and do it...compete?

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Well, I don't see sites like that as being direct competitors to ourselves because we are not really focussed on promotion and marketing. We're much more design/development oriented, although we do end up with a lot of promotion and marketing people as well. We do have a decently good design and some good people around so that helps a lot. It's always a lot of work to keep plugging away and make this an interesting and informative place to be. We have a lot of plans to make this site even better and position ourselves in the market. Stay tuned Smiling

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

Looking better

    Get rid of the entire forum dedicated to rules, no one will read it anyway.
    Make the threads inside all the other forums.
    Get rid of "NEW - Webmaster Forum Contest!" and make it a thread, not an ENTIRE forum.
    Take out "Google Forum" and put it back when you get a lot more post and you need to seperate them.
    *Internet Marketing and SEO Talk should go before Search Engine Talk. I just think SEO is more important then talking about the SE.
    Move the forums under "Webmaster Forum Suggestions and Feedback" to "Community Talk"

*Not real important but that's what I would do.

SearchBliss's picture

He has: 267 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

I took some more of your advice, it does look even better now. Thanks teammatt3!

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