How do I get my new forum "Out there!!!"???

As a first post I thought I'd try and pick all your brains and get some ideas for ways of promoting a new forum for geeks.

It's a computer/science/technology forum, and whilst a few friends and colleagues have signed up and are having fun posting, I wondered if there was something I could do to get the word out?

I've submitted to Google - which is indexing it okay - and I know that over time there will be a natural take-up, but as with all forums, if you don't have activity you don't get anyone visiting or joining.

I don't have any money to use to buy links or anything, so it'll have to be things that I can do in my spare time.

What about these places that give you posts in exchange for posting on other people's sites - are they any good?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

Some ideas: Twitter & Facebook are always good resources, advertising on as many promotion forums as possible is also a good ideas too

 

Well first off there is many things you can do, you already submitted to Google. You can also try an make a Twitter for your forum, I just recently made one for AdminBB.

The most affective place to advertise I would say is www.ForumPromotion.net you also want to advertise on other webmaster forums assuming they have a section for showcasing/advertising.

Post exchanges are one of the most helpful ways for you to get your forum started, there are many places you can do post exchanges. AdminBB has a section for Post Exchanges as well. You can also try www.postloop.com I have tried it myself and it does work, along with forumpromotion's post exchange section which is another great place to do post exchanges.

Hope this helped

 

I'm a big fan of Postloop (that's a referral link--full disclosure ), which is what I believe you're referring to--it's been a major factor in my forum growing to over 100 members and 1500 posts in under three months (that's probably not a major feat, but it's already doing better than my last forum did...hahaha). You do have to put a little work in posting at other forums (unless you just want to pay for posts), but for someone like me who doesn't want to spend money on promotion if possible and enjoys posting at forums anyway, it's a great solution. I'd also recommend Forum Promotion, targeting other similar sites/blogs, and branching out onto Twitter to share news and find potential members.

 

Thanks for the helpful advice, so far. Just out of interest, how do the post exchanges work?

 

Well on ForumPromotion, basically you just post in the section saying you want for example a "5/5 Post exchange" Then someone does 5 one your forum, and you return it vice versa an example would be http://forumpromotion.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=68261

and for postloop check it out: http://www.postloop.com/how_it_works

 

Both of those look interesting.

I've signed-up with Postloop to give that a try, and will check out forumpromotion.net when I get the chance.

Thanks,
Shaun

 

Yes, as Kaiser said Forum Promotion is a great way to get started, and also affiliating with a lot of sites to get your name out there is also good.

 

Alright cool, you can buy points or earn them from there. To earn simply start posting on other forums. But if you're lazy you can always buy points.

 

Promote on other sites too by putting a signature link to your site and becoming a regular member of those that are in a similar niche. Really helps bring in over some members

 

As a follow-up to that (good point), don't spam your site's link in the other forums. Instead, become an active, respected member of the community, and before long, people will start to notice the little link that's in your signature.

 

Yea true, thats how I have Gained a fair amount of great regular FP members. I always advertise forum promotion happily, it truly has helped me. www.forumpromotion.net

 

Well I've made a start with Postloop and am slowly getting the hang of it.

I've had to very quickly increase the minimum rating for posters due to quality control issues, but expect that's just a part of setting up to suit the standards I want for my own forums.

I'll have a look the forum promotion site later (got my hands full with Postloop at the moment ... lol).

Cheers,
Shaun

 

A good option to use, especially considering your niche, would be Youtube. If you have people (or do it yourself) create video tutorials on how to do different things such as installing a new video card, or setting up a wifi router, and post these on Youtube with decent tags and titles with a link back to your forum, you'll start to see traffic improve.

You could try, for example, disabling comments and leaving a "feel free to ask questions in our friendly geek community" style message with each video.

Play the slow game. Don't expect fantastic immediate results, and plan for the day when you can stop using forum promotion forums and post exchanges. Because these things aren't real.

 

Interesting ... something I hadn't thought about. Thanks.

Well, yes, that's true ... but to attract new registrations you've got to have an active and broad forum (or at least the perception of one ) - so I think there is a value to such devices, at least in the beginning - to get you kick started.

Thanks for the input though.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

This - and using Twitter/facebook - its a great way to spread your forum, also; getting links on blogs, related sites, and others, help you.

 

For me the signature just has been a great way, you may think it dosen't work but I have gained many members because of my sig on other forums.

 

You put your cigarettes on other forums? o_O :p
/off-topic

 

ROFL, thats why you shouldn't smoke like me haha, edited.

 

I've used Twitter extensively to promote my Dead Island forum. I have the hashtag saved and daily will run that search and follow those who have discussed the game. If just one in five follow back, that's a great result. I don't just spam links either. An automated Twitter is a pointless Twitter. Instead, I communicate and network with other fans. Ask questions and respond to answers. Allow people to see the real me. Then, because we have built that relationship, when I do post my link, people are much more likely to take it seriously.

I have close to 700 followers on Twitter now on my forum account.