Where do you advertise?

Where do you think is the best place to advertise your forum whether its new or old to find quality members. I know once I tweet out to my 12,000+ followers on twitter I will hopefully get some, but where else is a good place to start?

 

Depend to the forum you have if the forum is about computer technology, you could advertise to some forum that seemingly alike to yours like computer forums. Or to some tech blogs, you just have to contact the owner of the blog. You might spend a bit for this though.

 

Right I was wondering if I posted it in other "like" forums if that would be considered forum jacking. I didn't feel comfortable just swooping in on someones forum and have them view me as a competitor. You bring up a interesting point though. Perhaps I can contact forum owners and see if they would let me advertise my forum, if I let them advertise their forum, and sort of network it that way.

 

Do you belong to other boards? What are their thoughts on you posting your link ?

 

Other forums and blogs are great to find like minded people who'd be interested in your forum. As long as you're bringing in good replies and content, most webmasters won't mind you posting a link in your signature or your URL field in the blog comments. Do this with care, try to bring something to the site. There's a difference between spam and decent promotion. Also look at any chance to promote your site: talk to your friends, try to buy some ads from adwords for instance or other systems etc.

 

Try learning some search engine optimization. This way when folks are actively looking for your niche subject matter you're in the top 10 of Google. The advantage of this is the traffic is 24/7. And it becomes pretty passive once you're ranking for the most part assuming that your space isn't competitive. At the end of the day you want to try various methods. Don't rely too much on just one.

 

I use a link in my sig on any site I belong to.

 

Definitely belonging to others boards, and especially other boards that at least somehow relate to your subject matter, and posting your link in your sig, if allowed, would be effective.

 

It depends on the forum you go to. Some likewise forums offer a section for promoting as long as you follow certain guidelines. I use Twitter and use the # to target specific groups and get those people to follow me. Follow them back to not lose those followers. If you have a large following on Facebook, use that to your advantage as well. Social networks are great for this. If you have the income, you can also pay for banner impressions on a few select sites if you ask them to add you as a sponsor to their site. Some places like this.

 

I run a Young Adult book forum dedicated to popular fiction such as

The Hunger Games, Michael Grant's Gone & BZRK series, The Enemy by charlie higson and much more.

I advertise on book related sites and I use the power of tumblr and twitter to get myself out there so people know how to find me

 

I'm just one of those people who uses forum signatures to advertise my site.

 

Mostly Facebook. I've tried everything on it: comments on popular pages, mass messaging, posts in some pages, admin recommendation... over time, that worked for me.

 

I advertise my site using Adwords, just a relevant keywords, right amount of bids, appealing tag lines and image ads and constant learning equals high return of investment.

 

Twitter is great as is having your own facebook page dedicated to your forum or site

 

Twitter and tumblr mainly....i need to figure out new places to promote

 

I think joining a lot of admin forums, and completing post exchanges is a good place to start. You need to make your forum look active to encourage new users to join, and some of those admins might stay active on your forum. You should also advertise on sites and forums related to your niche.

 

Anyone here using paid adverts for their forum?

 

Nope, just signature links, links on online game sites and banners/buttons on other sites that network with us. We grow mainly from word of mouth and from our links, we've never spent a dime on advertising.

 

You could try advertising on other forums, where allowed, and through your signatures.