Tips to creating a Successful forum

1) Be actively online for hours daily
- It shows members that you are dedicated to your site.
2) Make at LEAST 10 forum posts daily including topics
-Also shows that you're active
3) Resolve forum issues and user issues FAST!
-A lot of people like to get responses fast just like Live Chat.
4) Act professional
5) Spelling counts! If you are NOT good at English hire a professional to do all your writing for you.
6) Promote, promote, promote!

 

Good tips grampo, it may come in handy to the new forumers.

 

Yeah I just started my own forum a few days ago. My only problem is, I don't know how to promote it much. Any pointers on how to promote?

 

This thread may help you.. if you still need help you can always make a new thread.

 

Great Tips for new forum owners those are surviving tips because if they don't know this they will have a lot of problems with their forums.

 

Yep. Those are the main things you focus on. Also, I forgot to add. Don't add TOO many forums.

 

Yea thats annoying, and another thing I'd like to add is to not advertise before your forum is incomplete. For example: Empty forums, default theme, nothing setup, etc.

 

Most new forum owners don't do proper research - not knowing how to build their community. Users love to be helped, so I agree with #3

#4: Learn how to act professional - sometimes you have to learn this before doing anything. Some forum owners are young, some are less mature.

 

Yea I would include that too, but age is not the factor, its their maturity.

 

I used to run a football forum and the tips listed by Gamrpro are spot on. I'd also like to add some that I learnt, to my cost:

1. If you want to earn revenue then think very carefully about what kind of advertising you insert. I found that my members hated inline ads, Adsense type ads and pretty much anything else I tried.

2. On the whole, forumers are never happy and are always moaning for change, so you have to keep thinking about improving your forum.

Sorry if this sounds negative but running that forum really put me off ever trying it again.

 

Ads are fine if they dont get in the way of content. I dont think anyone likes inline ads, I know I dont. Sometimes changing too often isn't good either. Or members won't be too happy with it. Change is good but not all the time.

 

Not everyone is capable of this one.

7) Do not be disheartened if your forum doesn't take off over night.
- It takes time to
-- Find the right crowd
-- Develop steady content
-- Get your forum's name out there
8) Be unique
- Your forum needs to stand out and offer something different.

 

#8 definitely, thats what forums lack now (Uniqueness)

 

thanks to gamrpro for the tips. I've made a forum since october 2010 but still little visitors. could be because I rarely update the post. one of the best visitors are on the galleries subforum. so I'll try to do the tips I got from here.

 

Always be sure to update your forum with new content, and one important thing is that you gotta advertise or it wont go anywhere. If you need help we are here

 

Great tips, and when you forum has unique content, everyone will like you for what you offer. Steady content? You need to add new content all the time as a forum owner, or staff member, its how new forums, and old forums grow.