Reference number: CH000898
How can I get more visitors on my forum?
Question:How can I get more visitors on my forum?
Answer:Below are some recommendations we've found useful for increasing the popularity and visitors of our forum.
Increase popularity of your site
As your site becomes more popular and more users begin to use it you will also notice an increase in popularity on your forum. If you have not already ready read through our promoting your web page section we highly recommend you start there. This page has a wealth of good information on promoting your web page.
Enable guest posting
Not all forums have guest posting enabled by default. Not all users enjoy the thought of having to register to post messages on the forum, enabling this feature can increase the popularity and use of your forums dramatically. If you start to notice an increase of abuse from guests this feature can be disabled at a later time.
Allow guests to view the forums
Always keep your forums public if you wish for new people to join. It is very unlikely for someone who doesn't know what the forum is about or what's on the forum to register as a member. In addition this allows search engine crawlers to index pages on your forums.
Mention the forum on all your pages
Your forum should be a focal point on your web page, which is why it should also be mentioned on each of your web site pages. For example, the Computer Hope navigation found at the top of this page and every other page has a link to our forum. Simply mentioning the forums on your home page is good, but not all visitors are going to get to your web page through the home page.
Create posts for popular topics
You can't expect visitors to create all the posts on your forum, especially when it is first starting. Therefore it is up to you to create some of the initial interesting, controversial, or otherwise provoking posts that will make people want to respond or make a comment on the topic. It is also a good idea to set a daily, weekly, monthly schedule where you visit the forums and create an interesting post.
Start small
It's a common mistake for many users who create forums to create a lot of different topics or channels that can be posted into. Don't overwhelm the user, especially if it's not needed. It's best to start off with a forum with only a few channels (4-6) and then as more channels become needed create those channels.
Participate on your forums
Forums often require a lot of maintenance and should be a place you frequently visit to create posts, respond to other posts, and make sure everything is running smoothly.
Participate in related forums
There's no better place to pick up other users who enjoy participating and commenting in forums then other forums. Try to visit forums that relate to your forums and participate on them. This does not mean simply visiting the forum and advertising your own forum. Visit the forum and create valuable posts that contain a signature advertising your own site / forum.
Keep your forum header small
As mentioned on our promoting page the average person gives each page they visit 4 or less seconds. If your forums have a large header (e.g. large logo, large web page name, big picture, large advertisement, and/or lots of empty space) that causes a user to have to scroll before being able to view some or all of you're boards you're greatly decreasing the odds that the user will read any of your posts or subscribe.
Hold competitions or give out prizes
A great way to bring in more subscribers is to give away awards and prizes to visitors who are participating on the forum.
It takes time
No site can expect to create a forum and instantly get thousands of users and posts. It takes time for users to visit, register, and participate on the forum. Keep working at each of the above suggestions and users will begin to visit more and bring their friends on.
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