Building an active forum community is not something you see being done overnight. It takes dedication, skill and patience to even get your first few users. If you are not 100% committed to your forum's topic, you may as well stop now. Running a community isn't just a case of setting it up and waiting. The phrase "if you build it they will come" is not true in this case.

Ok so, to get started you need to decide on a particular topic for your forum. A general talk forum is very unlikely to work, as you need to be able to capture a niche group of people. Once you have decided upon your genre, stick to it...there's nothing worse than seeing a forum going off topic before its started.

The next step is software. What bulletin board system will you use? Do you want to pay for it? What do you need it to do? These are common questions asked when starting a forum community. Simply choose a forum software that you will feel comfortable with, a good start would be a free system such as phpBB or MyBB. Once you know your forum is going places it may be advisable to upgrade to something with a few more support and feature options such as vBulletin or Invision Board.

Right, you have your forums genre, the software, what about a host? Well you wont need to be going overboard by paying hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, yet! Get yourself a small shared plan with a reputable company, check over at webhostingtalk.com for some of the best hosts. If you are not used to hosting, you may be better off going with a managed "hold-your-hand" type of host. If you go for one of the bigger hosts, they will more than likely have some kind of open source script installer such as Fantastico. This allows you to install several BB systems with ease.

So, now the crucial part: the setup. Jot down a few notes about what exactly you want to be discussed on your forum, then create around 3-4 forums. Do not go overboard and create hundreds of sections. If you do this, people will be distracted by the lack of posts and will leave. Once you have your few forums built up you can maybe look into adding additional forums.

Getting visitors to your site, and making them stay is probably the hardest part. Many sites and forums offer paid posts. Use them as a last resort as they give undesired results, which leave your forum full of off topic posts and advertisements. A very effective way of getting people registered is to create around 10 accounts yourself and post under the different names. Obviously not telling people you are the admin otherwise they would think you're insane!

Advertising is a fairly effective way of pulling in the punters. Try placing adverts on sites relating to your topics but which don't have a forum. This way people will come to you to discuss the topic.

Finally, keep your forums active. There are many ways to do this; competitions, giveaways, constant new topics being posted, and unique content. Unique content is essential. Don't take posts from other forums because you will not only be in trouble but it will also increase your risk of being banned from search engines.

Well I hope this article has given you some incite into running a forum! Be sure to visit the whichBB forums and site when making your choice!




© AdminFusion.com

==================

This article may not be republished in whole or in part under any circumstances.