Growing an Online Web Forum Community

This article examines the difficulties in growing an online web forum community beyond the technical aspects of simply installing a forum software. It is the marketing side that has stumped ambitious webmasters who have all but succeeded in bringing user participation to their forum. We are addressing a scenario whereby a fully functional web forum system has been set up but is gradually rotting due to its emptiness, even when visitors are coming by as a result of ongoing advertisement. What could the reasons be for a forum's failure to grow ? Can this be attributed to the forum software itself, the design of the site or is it an advertising failure ? I believe that the issue is not comprised of any single factor but rather the a collective of different contributing factors, and in this article, we are going right to the core in addressing all the contributing factors that lead an online web forum to its eventual doom.

The concept of an online web forum is not new and I'm sure that anyone who has used the internet for even the shortest period of time has encountered one. It is a type of online community where people meet up for discussions. Each forum will concentrate on a particular topic and can have varying amount of members, depending on the popularity of the individual forum. Members are allowed to posts topics which can be replied to by other members. These forums are managed by "forum moderators" and their job is to maintain the smooth running of their forum (technically), build up their forum community by increasing its member base, encourage participation from their members through posts contributions, maintaining the order and course of all conversations going on and also to achieve financial returns from their forum.

Of all the obstacles facing forum board owners, not being able to recruit members is the single biggest problem for them. This is attributed to the fact that recruiting members is no longer a technical problem, but rather a marketing & social problem. Lacking the ability to recruit members goes against the very definition of an online community. Without members, there is no community. The forum software is just a tool to achieve the ultimate purpose of a discussion medium. The question arises then, how can a community be created ? Clearly, the forum software alone is akin to a lifeless empty shell. While the shell itself can be purchased or downloaded freely from the internet, the hermit crab itself is not for sale!

Most forum starters fail terribly because of their first wrong assumption. They assumed that by setting up a web forum, people will automatically flock over to join their community and begin participating. The truth could never be farther than this. On the contrary, installing the forum software itself is the simplest phase of the entire process. The amount of work ahead, although unknown to the forum starter at this point, is daunting as it is enduring. The rest of the process needs to be completed in stages, and indeed there is a systematic way of doing things. Of course, one could try random unproven ways to build up a forum community that stands a small chance of succeeding in 2 years or probably 3 against the greater odds of its failure. But if you are one to favor success at first try, then please continue reading on.

We should now be questioning ourselves, not to what purpose will our forum serve, but rather, to what purpose would a user want to be on any forum at all ? Is it not blatantly clear that if we are able to understand the benefits which a user seeks in joining a forum, and then being able to provide these aforementioned benefits to the user, and preventing any other possible interference unto the benefits which the user seeks and we provide, then we will achieve success ? For example, if an auctioneer wants to sell away his exclusive home. His intention is to make the most possible profit from that auction. And if our goal is to own the home which he is selling, and that we can fulfill his needs by paying the highest price for his home, then wouldn't we be the definite winner of that auction ? By paying the highest price, we have thus removed any interference of a higher bidder. The seller is happy to deal with us because we are able to give him what he wants, while receiving what we want and preventing anything that will change his mind that could effect the deal. This analogy is the same in the forum business, as it has always been for all other types of businesses. If however, we know for a fact that there is a definite higher bidder that we could not afford to outbid, then its best to not participate in the bidding process at all.

At any given time, a user who participates in an online forum is looking for one of the benefits below:
Getting answers that cannot already be found on the internet
Fulfilling passion & interest on a hobby
Social lifestyle & friendship ( or seeking relationships )
Trading - information, software, songs ( indirect financial power )
Attention & Recognition seeking ( status & power )
Earning money or job hunting ( direct financial power )
Building profile or resume ( security, job preservation )
Private group ( exclusivity )
Research & surveys
Spamming / Marketing products or services

It is crucial that every forum addresses one or more of the benefits above, but sadly enough only a handful do. And not surprisingly so, these are the ones that ended up with rich ongoing participation and a high rate of member registration, a dream that only a minority of forum owners are privileged enough to brag about.

The next issue deals with the chicken and its egg, whereby without one, there could not be the other. In forum terms, without content your forum will always be empty and unappealing to users who would like to subscribe to it. And without user subscription, there can be no post contribution, which in turn will not fill your empty forum with some content. Hence you're going nowhere. Is there a way to address this issue ? Could you be thinking of making 5000 posts all by yourself, having an insanely conversation between split personalities of your different aliases ? Admittedly, some forum starters have tried to accomplish this, but eventually resign to the fact that it just doesn't work that way.

What I have brought to mind are just two issues among many. In order to achieve success at first try, you must also address forum leadership issues, the ability to lure users shamelessly to your forum, inducing excitement into your forum, forum exposure, a yardstick for measuring success, defeating competitors effortlessly, tweaking your forum for optimal publicity and profiting endlessly from your forum. These are just a few things that you must learn, among many others. The entire discussion could never fit into a single article. In fact, an entire book has been devoted entirely on this issue. The Killer Web Forum Building Tactics e-book was written for forum builders who may find it difficult to kick start their empty forum. It also addresses many issues that the seasoned forum builder may not have thought of, such as conducting interviews, implementing live chat rooms, different leadership roles and the evolution process of a forum. The e-book comes with outstanding support software in the members only area to solve the chicken & the egg problem, which is the most difficult stage in forum building. If you have ever wanted to succeed at forum building, then here is your chance. No other book has ever addressed this issue as completely as the Killer Web Forum Building Tactics. I came by here to offer free advice to others who would like to build up their forums. Do drop me a mail if you need my help on this.

Cheers, and have a good day.
Keller

Some good points. I'd add the following:

1. Be patient. Plan for the long haul, building slowly. Once you hit "critical mass" (a balance of sufficient members - frequently about the 500 mark - and sufficient diversity in posts), you'll begin to see much faster growth. Don't try to shortcut this or go for the quick buck.

2. Pay very close attention to SEO and promotion - if people can't find you in the search engines, they can't find you.

3. Listen to your members. Give them what they want, within the mandate of your forum. If they are telling you they want more smilies, give them more smilies. Solicit their opinions. Make them feel that their opinions count - that's what a true community is all about.

Thank you for your comments, minstrel.
The points you made is already in the book I authored. However, I would love to know your opinion on how a startup forum could achieve even the first 500 posts ?
Thanks,
Keller

Slowly... :)

I started mine by seeding it with some relevant posts - articles, opinion pices. Then I invited people on other forums or people I knew from online and a couple of friends to join and post. From there, as I got new members, I asked them for input on what they'd like to see in the forum, how they thought it could be improved. I found a couple of people to act as moderators and they recommended the forum to others they knew as well. It grew slowly at first but at an increasing pace, especially after around 500 members.

Hi minstrel,
I hope you don't mind my speaking openly and frankly and that you do not take offense in what I say here. :) Having said this, can I ask you what are your thoughts on your forum's potential success ? Especially with regards to some of the topics pertaining to programming & search engines.
It is very clear to me that this forum isn't one of the early birds on some of the topics you are hosting. Not being unique and not being early in itself posses an uphill struggle for market dominance. Unless your intention is just a moderate forum without really intending to achieve soaring success, I personally do not see how you are in position to challenge more established forums.
Again, please pardon my directness in the matter. I value your opinions greatly and would love to listen to your points.
Thanks,
Keller

I was speaking of the Psychlinks forum I own (in my signature), not this one. Joey owns vBulletin-FAQ - I'm merely a moderator - so you should really ask him about his vision for this forum.

Doc has it right, Slowly. I see a lot of new forums do posting contests and such yes you do get a lot of posts but most of them are BS. It's okay if you have a general conversation board but for an on topic forum it wreaks havoc. Everyone is there to win the contest after the contest is done a good portion don't bother coming back.

At any rate when I started my first forum; OurDJTalk. I posted a lot of on topic stuff, news articles (even ran a Google news feed for a while). Once in a while I would deliberately post "bad info", an incorrect post or two here and there so a member would correct me.

There is no one size fits all way to gain members and content for every board and owner. A lot of it's based on personal style and how much BS the admin wants to put up with in the name of having a "successful forum".

Ok. Sorry about that. My mistake.
Keller

This article examines the difficulties in growing an online web forum community beyond the technical aspects of simply installing a forum software. It is the marketing side that has stumped ambitious webmasters who have all but succeeded in bringing user participation to their forum. We are addressing a scenario whereby a fully functional web forum system has been set up but is gradually rotting due to its emptiness, even when visitors are coming by as a result of ongoing advertisement. What could the reasons be for a forum's failure to grow ? Can this be attributed to the forum software itself, the design of the site or is it an advertising failure ? I believe that the issue is not comprised of any single factor but rather the a collective of different contributing factors, and in this article, we are going right to the core in addressing all the contributing factors that lead an online web forum to its eventual doom.

The concept of an online web forum is not new and I'm sure that anyone who has used the internet for even the shortest period of time has encountered one. It is a type of online community where people meet up for discussions. Each forum will concentrate on a particular topic and can have varying amount of members, depending on the popularity of the individual forum. Members are allowed to posts topics which can be replied to by other members. These forums are managed by "forum moderators" and their job is to maintain the smooth running of their forum (technically), build up their forum community by increasing its member base, encourage participation from their members through posts contributions, maintaining the order and course of all conversations going on and also to achieve financial returns from their forum.

Of all the obstacles facing forum board owners, not being able to recruit members is the single biggest problem for them. This is attributed to the fact that recruiting members is no longer a technical problem, but rather a marketing & social problem. Lacking the ability to recruit members goes against the very definition of an online community. Without members, there is no community. The forum software is just a tool to achieve the ultimate purpose of a discussion medium. The question arises then, how can a community be created ? Clearly, the forum software alone is akin to a lifeless empty shell. While the shell itself can be purchased or downloaded freely from the internet, the hermit crab itself is not for sale!

Most forum starters fail terribly because of their first wrong assumption. They assumed that by setting up a web forum, people will automatically flock over to join their community and begin participating. The truth could never be farther than this. On the contrary, installing the forum software itself is the simplest phase of the entire process. The amount of work ahead, although unknown to the forum starter at this point, is daunting as it is enduring. The rest of the process needs to be completed in stages, and indeed there is a systematic way of doing things. Of course, one could try random unproven ways to build up a forum community that stands a small chance of succeeding in 2 years or probably 3 against the greater odds of its failure. But if you are one to favor success at first try, then please continue reading on.

We should now be questioning ourselves, not to what purpose will our forum serve, but rather, to what purpose would a user want to be on any forum at all ? Is it not blatantly clear that if we are able to understand the benefits which a user seeks in joining a forum, and then being able to provide these aforementioned benefits to the user, and preventing any other possible interference unto the benefits which the user seeks and we provide, then we will achieve success ? For example, if an auctioneer wants to sell away his exclusive home. His intention is to make the most possible profit from that auction. And if our goal is to own the home which he is selling, and that we can fulfill his needs by paying the highest price for his home, then wouldn't we be the definite winner of that auction ? By paying the highest price, we have thus removed any interference of a higher bidder. The seller is happy to deal with us because we are able to give him what he wants, while receiving what we want and preventing anything that will change his mind that could effect the deal. This analogy is the same in the forum business, as it has always been for all other types of businesses. If however, we know for a fact that there is a definite higher bidder that we could not afford to outbid, then its best to not participate in the bidding process at all.

At any given time, a user who participates in an online forum is looking for one of the benefits below:
Getting answers that cannot already be found on the internet
Fulfilling passion & interest on a hobby
Social lifestyle & friendship ( or seeking relationships )
Trading - information, software, songs ( indirect financial power )
Attention & Recognition seeking ( status & power )
Earning money or job hunting ( direct financial power )
Building profile or resume ( security, job preservation )
Private group ( exclusivity )
Research & surveys
Spamming / Marketing products or services

It is crucial that every forum addresses one or more of the benefits above, but sadly enough only a handful do. And not surprisingly so, these are the ones that ended up with rich ongoing participation and a high rate of member registration, a dream that only a minority of forum owners are privileged enough to brag about.

The next issue deals with the chicken and its egg, whereby without one, there could not be the other. In forum terms, without content your forum will always be empty and unappealing to users who would like to subscribe to it. And without user subscription, there can be no post contribution, which in turn will not fill your empty forum with some content. Hence you're going nowhere. Is there a way to address this issue ? Could you be thinking of making 5000 posts all by yourself, having an insanely conversation between split personalities of your different aliases ? Admittedly, some forum starters have tried to accomplish this, but eventually resign to the fact that it just doesn't work that way.

What I have brought to mind are just two issues among many. In order to achieve success at first try, you must also address forum leadership issues, the ability to lure users shamelessly to your forum, inducing excitement into your forum, forum exposure, a yardstick for measuring success, defeating competitors effortlessly, tweaking your forum for optimal publicity and profiting endlessly from your forum. These are just a few things that you must learn, among many others. The entire discussion could never fit into a single article. In fact, an entire book has been devoted entirely on this issue. The Killer Web Forum Building Tactics e-book was written for forum builders who may find it difficult to kick start their empty forum. It also addresses many issues that the seasoned forum builder may not have thought of, such as conducting interviews, implementing live chat rooms, different leadership roles and the evolution process of a forum. The e-book comes with outstanding support software in the members only area to solve the chicken & the egg problem, which is the most difficult stage in forum building. If you have ever wanted to succeed at forum building, then here is your chance. No other book has ever addressed this issue as completely as the Killer Web Forum Building Tactics. I came by here to offer free advice to others who would like to build up their forums. Do drop me a mail if you need my help on this.

Cheers, and have a good day.
Keller

Are those highly successful sites on that list on your website all of your forums? Or are those the sites that bought your e-book?

Hi b2w,
No, those are not my sites, but rather it serves to demonstrate the level of success a forum is capable of achieving. I have been involved in the forum building business many years ago, and have since built and sold a number of them. Confidentiality agreements prevent me from mentioning my sites. All my knowledge of community building is in that book, but more importantly, the membership system contains a service that cannot be found anywhere else, and its purpose is to help start up forums grow. :)
Anyway, it's good that you asked that question. Thanks for visiting my site. I appreciate your taking the time.
Keller

Hi b2w,
No, those are not my sites, but rather it serves to demonstrate the level of success a forum is capable of achieving. I have been involved in the forum building business many years ago, and have since built and sold a number of them. Confidentiality agreements prevent me from mentioning my sites. All my knowledge of community building is in that book, but more importantly, the membership system contains a service that cannot be found anywhere else, and its purpose is to help start up forums grow. :)
Anyway, it's good that you asked that question. Thanks for visiting my site. I appreciate your taking the time.
Keller

Does your book have anything to do with SEO or does it just consist of how to get more member theories? I'm looking ot buy a cheaper book to fit my needs. The SEO Book doesn't fit into my "forum" budget at this time. Thanks!

Hi b2w,
That book, for the most part provides crucial information for both entry level and seasoned forum builders. It is my believe that SEO plays an important role, but it is only one of the many aspects to be considered. By the way, are you referring to search engine friend urls and mod_rewrite ?

Hi b2w,
That book, for the most part provides crucial information for both entry level and seasoned forum builders. It is my believe that SEO plays an important role, but it is only one of the many aspects to be considered. By the way, are you referring to search engine friend urls and mod_rewrite ?

I'm talking about everything that has to do with SEO. From everything that I have been gathering all over the web from Admins is that SEO is the key to getting people to your forums.

I have my niche, my own personal touch, I believe my styles are great for the eyes, I keep up with my content, I'm submitting my forums to directories, I've setup my board properly with the tips I get from here and other vB Help boards...what else do I need to do?

SEO SEschmo

word of mouth is what gives a new forum the most members, after your well established i see SEO being more of a factor......

B2W,
Try visiting vbseo (http://www.vbseo.com). It might be what you are looking for.

SEO SEschmo

word of mouth is what gives a new forum the most members, after your well established i see SEO being more of a factor......

I've pruned my list and was told that was bad so I stopped so I'm down to 285 members and 120k posts. My board was launched on 2/16/06. Do you think my board is established now? And in the beginning it was word of mouth and then my co-mod went myspace and that's how we got the other half. I'm just looking for guidance as what to do next.

there a cagillion things you can do

myspace is most excellent

make some sigs and banners or avatars with your url on them discreetly, make a thread on your site "support our site" have them add them to thier sigs or profiles on other boards similair to yours and people will come, dont spam but if you have it in your sig and help people they may want to join

realworld ads! most overlooked IMO way to advertise. make flyers and ask bridal shops or w/e your target frequents to lay some flyers at thier counters, take and write your url on all your money and spend it, put flyers on lightpoles, there are many way to do it for almost free.

get a refferral ID put into the profiles on your forum, then remind members to invite thier freinds "and they can even use your own link" ;)

start a war with another bigger bridal site in public, people will flock to the thread, and see you (doh! that only works for the kind of forums i run, might work for you...lol)

theres more, ill post

oh and go to the library, write up a bunch of small slips of paper with your url on it. slip them into books on your topic, i would even go to the local book stor and slip them in bridal magazine and bridal books, so when they are bought, the person opens it and says, "oh, looks cool, let me check that out"

muahahahaha

theres caddy thinking outside the box. good stuff caddy. dont forget that PPC is also a good way to bring people in. PPC(pay per click) campaign can get unique vistiors and wont cost an arm and a leg.


Link echanges with other sites similar to yours will definitly increase traffic. once you start link exchanging you will notice your stats climb almost instantly.

Thanks guys! And I've been through "the battle of the wedding boards" type of thing before Caddy! Maybe it's time to do it again. ha!

well hello



this must end my day today.. just read all the posts above...emmmmm...

I m getting tired and seeya later

Yes, my next project is not about registration quantity. We are working on a registration application that requires an admin to moderate every registration attempt.

Thanks guys! And I've been through "the battle of the wedding boards" type of thing before Caddy! Maybe it's time to do it again. ha!


Thats how my first forum got started.... They lost... :D