Do you make these common forum mistakes?
Building an online community is hard work. For a forum to be successful it needs quality content, dedicated members and daily interaction. All these necessities are linked (triggered by a chain reaction). Put it this way, without quality content, there will be no dedicated members. Without dedicated members, there will be no interaction. As simple as that.
In this article, i will state a few common forum mistakes which forum owners always trip into.
Failing to create new content.
Many forums are enthusiastic when it comes to posting on the first day of opening. Some forums reach around 4,000 posts within the first day. What happens when time goes by? The hype is extinguished and members slowly lose motivation and the amount of new content (posts) is reduced. It is important for staff members to step in and post new content daily (on a regular basis). The staff and owners should also set a target for a set number of posts per day.
Just remember, you need to ensure that there is a good amount of fresh content on your site to keep visitors and members interested.
Failing to get involved, interaction.
Don’t just sit there and work behind the scenes. It is important for the forum owner to interact with their memebers and getting to know them. Creating friendships and bonds will really develop a positive community spirit. The forum administrator should be setting the lead, this will encourage your members to follow you. Example, if you want your members to be active and chatty, you need to set an example by doing so yourself.
Not only will your community become a more welcoming and active place, you will also understand your members and be able to cater their needs before they jump to another competing forum.
Failing to explain the purpose of your forum
It is easy to forget that every visitor to your website will literally give you only a few seconds before they decide whether to even look at another page on your site. Don’t make things hard for your visitor - make sure the purpose of your forum is explained clearly and prominently.
A visitor should be able to understand what your forum is about as soon as they arrive on your site. If they don’t, the chances are they will leave before giving your site a chance.
Failing to be Different.
Why would a member register at your forum if their current community has everything yours has and most likely better features/additions? Try to separate your forum from all the others, integrate something extremely unique which can only be found at yours. Example: Exclusive Resources.
You need to be different, have a different design which is unique, create unique content, just do anything to be different!
Those are some common forum mistakes which i notice many forum owners fall into. If your forum has no links to the points i stated, then you are on the right track and all you need is time and hard work.
Good Luck with your forums!
© MESKOS Forum Development Blog 2008
Reading Your Way to Success.
Building a Successful Forum.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
“Failing to be Different. ”
Then again, make sure that you don’t go too overboard with the addons and only look at quality addons. Otherwise your board will seem unprofessional - every board which has a “cash mod” seems kinda immature.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:39 am
I’m guilty of the first two, thanks for this!