How To Advertise Your ProBoard

[Graham]

Advertising isn't allowed here - try the Advertisment board

[Felix Felicis]

It may not be new to add, but joining groups (such as RPG Circle or WebRing) actually help your chances of being joined. Not only does it add you to a community, but it also means people recognise your site as a member at a glance.
The bigger one usually don't spam your email, and all you need to give up is space in a header or footer.
I ahve recieved many members through this method.

Also, Search Engines really do work, I got many active members through Google. But remember, many will search a topic and go through the results until they find something they like. If your forum looks untidy and doesn't look professional, you may not get any members through this.
If your not good with graphics, many people throughout this site, and others, will be willign to help you out

[InitialDS]

I prefer word of mouth much more than search engines. Mainly because you and your members don't know who joined. That person could mess a perfectly good forum up. I do believe they can work for theme-related forums. Especially if it is very popular.
Well, that is just my humble opinion.

[xpinkprincess87x]

I added my site to both yahoo and google. My number of members is creeping up slowly and to be honest I'm delighted so far! (i got a problem tho, how do i link my banner in my sig back to my site??)

[kaiba369]

You already have a clickable banner.

[libson]

Thanks for the links! ;D
Also googling Advertise you ProBoards gets you a load of ProBoard forums which lets you advertise on their board which helps

[CityNightRush117]

I haven't tried any advertising yet... but I can give a few pointers on advertising.

1. Add an ad into any forum accounts you have. Place either a hyperlink or a basic catch phrase into your sig. (I've got one in mine but I'm sure I'll get warned for that soon).

2. Go into any online gaming site that has no restrictions as far as advertising goes (ex. RuneScape). Although I despise RuneScape, it does have it's uses. Simply stand around somewhere with heavy traffic and keep typing your site URL, someone will most likely comment about it but that's not what you're looking for, you're looking for new members and visitors right?

3. If you belong to any site that allows the stamping of a tag (ex. a spriting site, a graphics site, a photo gallery, etc.), then try adding a small but attractive banner somewhere on your work. It acts as both a watermark and an ad at the same time.

4. Adhear to ProBoards basics on Advertising. Find a search engine and see if you can add your site into their archives.

5. Find other Proboards or websites and make them your affiliate (it helps if you tell them about yours too).

6. Try to get the admin settings just right. Make your ProBoards look inviting and perfect to the audience you are trying to attract (do NOT make your skin an industrial-theme if you're trying to attract hippies). Other settings such as Live Chat, Registration Confirmation, and Members only access settings may have to be adjusted to experiment on what people want to see first. Who knows, maybe people will want to see your site first before they register.

7. If you're fixing up large areas of the forum, activate construction mode. In doing this, members or guests will know that you warn the public before you act.

8. Post, post, post! To make idea number 1 a success, you'll need to post in wide areas of sites. You simply cannot think that posting once on a site will attract new visitors. By posting frequently over a wide range of topics, more people will recognize your ad and may try it out.

That's all I've got... for now. And please do not destroy this post, I'll get the sig off now.

[Quaalude]

I added my site to both yahoo and google. and a bunch more places , I Affiliated With Both New and Older Forums , I Think We Did Alright ! QC

And i want to Say Thank You For The Above Ideas .

[JenF]

One way I advertised my forum (although not sure if it's allowed) was to use wikipedia, the community I am in has a page and I took the opportunity to post my url in the third party links bit.

[Virus Sniper]

myke said:

• META TAGs - a lot of people will tell you that META TAGs are a waste of time, and that most major search engines no longer use them. However, smaller search engines do use them and they cannot hurt. I use META tags on my forum, and search my keywords and find my site, so META Tags do work.
  
  Below I will post an example of how a graphics forum may set up their META tags. This will go in the bottom of your headers:

___________________________________________________

<head>
<title>The Name of Your Site/Forum</title>
<meta name="description" content="Short Description Of Your Site/Forum">
<meta name="keywords" content="Add Keywords Here Separated By A Coma, For Example;

photoshop,paint shop pro, graphics, design, avatars, banners, custom">
</head>

___________________________________________________

So we just put something similar to that in our header? Someone explain this to me.

[Loucifer]

jenf said:

One way I advertised my forum (although not sure if it's allowed) was to use wikipedia, the community I am in has a page and I took the opportunity to post my url in the third party links bit.

That seems like a really good idea - I like that!

[ariesrain]

I've been following this thread for a while now, guess it's time to offer my two-cents.
Word of mouth is a must. It's the easiest way to get members, and one of the more effective ways. If you have any MSN or Yahoo contacts, kind of bring it up. When they ask how you are, say "frustrated" or "I'm going to go nag Support, BRB". They ask you why you're frustrated and you can say "Oh, I'm just having a few issues with my forum..." and they get curious. If they show no interest at first, drop it for a while and bring it up again a few weeks later. Also, PMing new members with a personal welcome makes them feel truly welcomed and they're more likely to tell friends about your board if it's friendly, because not always will an attractive layout get members to tell others.
Affiliating really does work. I know for a fact that I've gotten two members through affiliation. One said that they just like to stare at the marquee until they see an attractive mini-banner, so make sure that yours is as good as you can get it. Animation is nice, but regular pictures with words work too. Mine isn't animated at all, but is a nice golden color with a pretty, readable font.
Good ol' advertising. At least 6, maybe 7 members have joined mine from looking at an advertisment on someone else's forum. Of course, you can't just go everywhere and advtertise like a madman. First, you have to know that you're following the rules. No one wants to join a forum that broke the rules when they were advertising. Second, it always helps to be a member, and an active one at that. Administrators usually always look at the advertisements that are posted on their site. If you've been an active, rule-abiding member, they will most likely consider joining. Members will also look at ads when they're bored. If they know and trust you, then there's a very good chance that they'll look at your board.
Shiny signatures. Not necessarily animated, but pretty. Eyecatching. If it's colourful and not crammed with words, people will like it and decide to check out the link. Black and white banners are nice and can attract eyes if done right, but colourful banners will probably win if placed next to a black and white one. It's important that the quality of the banner is good and that nothing is too smushed up.
Not begging. I used to beg, and yes, it got one member. But they were never active after two or three days. It's very nice to have a big number on your board, but it's even nicer to have a small one with active members. You have to seem superior almost, but maybe not quite. People looking at your ad will think that they're missing out on something completely awesome and that has no problem at all getting members. If you beg, you'll seem annoying and noobish and people will click the back button as soon as they see "For the love of God, please join!!!"
Activity. Potential members want to know that they won't be left alone for three weeks before getting a reply. That's boring and pointless. Do what it takes to make people active--contests, chat, and above all, be active yourself!!!
Tell your members. This kind of goes with word of mouth, but what I mean is "We might be getting chat, but we need more members first" Things like that. It actually works. For me, at least.

[katbaker172]

Hello and thanks for the help. While i am here can you advertise your site through leaflets etc, Posters . I have a parenting forum and a couple of members have suggested asking if schools if i can put up a poster advertising it. Im not sure if its aloud. I apologise if already asked and answered but i have read most posts and couldnt see.

[HoudiniDerek]

katbaker172 said:

Hello and thanks for the help. While i am here can you advertise your site through leaflets etc, Posters . I have a parenting forum and a couple of members have suggested asking if schools if i can put up a poster advertising it. Im not sure if its aloud. I apologise if already asked and answered but i have read most posts and couldnt see.

If the school and everything does not care that you are doing it, then I see no reason why you should not be able too. In my perspective, it is another aspect of word of mouth advertising.

I would make sure that my forum is visible to the public though in case school officials want to see what it is about before they allow you to affiliate with them and go public about the forum, but otherwise, I think you are well within your rights to try and recruit members that way.

[katbaker172]

Thank u very much thats what i wanted answering now i can get going withthe posters etc. Thanks