I have failed to create a successful forum
- Thread starter Smartea
- Start date
D.O.A.
Well-known member
It's getting harder and harder to fill a niche and retain users, lead them away from the big social sites and 10 second video apps... All you can do is keep pushing until you have a couple people who seem interested enough to join you and contribute. The running gag with my forum is we started with 15 moderators and 5 members, which is basically true, those first few users who contribute content and show interest are the ones you want to promote, giving them a stake in making it work and attracting more users. The first few years are the hardest, but persist. 17 years later we have just over 400,000 users and a very active forum. Be in it for the long haul.
philmckrackon
Well-known member
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Mr Lucky
Well-known member
That has nothing to do with creating a successful forum.
It’s about having members who contribute discussion, nothing to do with tinkering with code. The countless hours would be better spent creating content that might engage users, or else doing a bit of SEO or marketing to get your forum out there and visible in Google searches
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ENF
Well-known member
Indeed. Starting a new forum-based site or even adding a forum to an existing site isn't a "build it and they will come" situation. You can build it out, have all sorts of flashy features, but without engaging content that grabs people, it will just die.
Just keep posting something every day. At least a couple of paragraphs. The more active it is, the more it'll show up on google and the more people will see it as active.
I started with three members (including myself). I wrote lots of articles for it and had those on an articles page. And managed to get one of those as the top google search for that topic, by using a specific phrase and linking the article on multiple other sites (not randomly, that's spamming but it can be done). Also having a youtube channel for the forum where you can add links for your site as well.
It only takes a couple of keen members to post a lot. Have forum word games, that can build up thread counts and keep the forum active when people do the games every day.
I think it took 6 months before people started joining up more. Just post loads. Even if no-one replies to them. The more threads you have, the more threads to be found on google. Contact other sites and ask if you can post an article or a link. Share some of the articles with Medium for a backlink. Sign up to something like Hubspot to get listed on there.
Have an account for the forum on Instagram, Linked in, a Facebook page, Quora, Flickr and multiple other sites - where you can add a website link that will be a backlink. Then your posts get higher up google. I got to the top of google within 3 months (compared to a similar site for the same searches). That wasn't enough to bring in members still. So you still have to keep posting every day. So topics come up when people google for them. What is the topic of your forum? And are you in the Uk or elsewhere?
I started with three members (including myself). I wrote lots of articles for it and had those on an articles page. And managed to get one of those as the top google search for that topic, by using a specific phrase and linking the article on multiple other sites (not randomly, that's spamming but it can be done). Also having a youtube channel for the forum where you can add links for your site as well.
It only takes a couple of keen members to post a lot. Have forum word games, that can build up thread counts and keep the forum active when people do the games every day.
I think it took 6 months before people started joining up more. Just post loads. Even if no-one replies to them. The more threads you have, the more threads to be found on google. Contact other sites and ask if you can post an article or a link. Share some of the articles with Medium for a backlink. Sign up to something like Hubspot to get listed on there.
Have an account for the forum on Instagram, Linked in, a Facebook page, Quora, Flickr and multiple other sites - where you can add a website link that will be a backlink. Then your posts get higher up google. I got to the top of google within 3 months (compared to a similar site for the same searches). That wasn't enough to bring in members still. So you still have to keep posting every day. So topics come up when people google for them. What is the topic of your forum? And are you in the Uk or elsewhere?
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motowebmaster
Well-known member
I feel your pain, experienced a couple forum failures as well. My XF forum license was originally purchased for a previous forum that didn't survive. I wanted to try XF and a partner wanted to run it, but he wasn't prepared for that kind of leadership. Today that same license supports a forum I started nearly 20 years ago, it isn't the largest I've ever owned (or as fun) but it's a stable community.
Still believe that successful forums can be started today, but agree that today's circumstances are different. Any user can come to my site and see a treasure trove of relevant threads and posts.
Today's population thrives on "being heard" versus "listening". Since I don't allow non-motorcycle topics, my site isn't as fun either
Still believe that successful forums can be started today, but agree that today's circumstances are different. Any user can come to my site and see a treasure trove of relevant threads and posts.
Today's population thrives on "being heard" versus "listening". Since I don't allow non-motorcycle topics, my site isn't as fun either
javakhir
Well-known member
depends on niche! do not listen to everyone! there are many lucky ones who had started forums before anyone, but that does not mean they can do it again on different niche, nowadays forum gets success if created by many professionals work as a team, pyramids method still works & will work for next millennium! one man physically not able to manage it!
1 man = 100 years
100 men = 1 year
1 al bot = ?
1 man = 100 years
100 men = 1 year
1 al bot = ?
cpvr
Member
Exactly. Just keep building and working on your forum. That’s all that matters.
Zwielicht
New member
It's definitely not an easy thing to do.
I've only had my forum for a short while right now, but I feel the reason it's doing well despite being so new is simply down to the fact that I built it with a community that I was already well-known in. If I wasn't already part of that community, I don't believe the forum would not have gone anywhere.
With that in mind, maybe you could try again in the future, but try building up a reputation in the niche you're building the forum for. Join subReddits, find existing forums (and take note of what they're lacking), look for Discord groups in the niche and just contribute.
I've only had my forum for a short while right now, but I feel the reason it's doing well despite being so new is simply down to the fact that I built it with a community that I was already well-known in. If I wasn't already part of that community, I don't believe the forum would not have gone anywhere.
With that in mind, maybe you could try again in the future, but try building up a reputation in the niche you're building the forum for. Join subReddits, find existing forums (and take note of what they're lacking), look for Discord groups in the niche and just contribute.
