What Makes A Forum Succeed?

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

Feb 28, 2016 13:30:24 GMT -8 nariadreaming said:

Yes, but close to 4,000 of our members have come from other sources- largely through our social media marketing, and strategic use of targeted keywords/google results.

Yes, you have a dedicated membership willing to devote a lot of time to the board.

You and they should be commended.


But your board is more of a business. You have an attorney, trademarks, etc. It's a financial investment and doing those things suggested are necessary for your forum.


But most admins don't set up with a business model in mind. Their purposes are different.


And that's what makes ProBoards a great hosting service. It can accommodate everyone's dream forum.

[Former Member]

Just having a group of members (doesn't matter how large or small) who care about your forum just as much as you do. And you know this because you see them there all the time. And usually they have all been posting together for a time and are friends or acquainted with the admin and with each other, with new posters hopping in the group along the way..

The dedication of those people and the admins is what makes a great board.

[JJ]

Feb 28, 2016 11:28:25 GMT -8 ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥ said:

I agree, JJ . One can do all of the things suggested and still have a form that lacks members and posts.

The majority of forums start out with very high aspirations, they do the right things, yet it doesn't mean they will bring in, and keep, members.

And it also depends on the meaning of success. Some feel they are a success with a small core of members who post consistently; while others feel it's more important having many members who post infrequently.

♥ ℒʊ√ ♥, some years ago when I was just getting started, I got in with a group of people with websites with the idea that we would each help each other, participate at each other's sites and advertise for them as well, etc. It didn't take me long to discover that the majority of the site owners were mostly interested in having a huge number of members. For many of them up to 90% were members with zero posts. Some had one or two posts but had not visited in years. But that was ok with them. Anyway, I didn't like the tone of one of the sites, there was too much bashing going on. So I tried to delete my membership, I failed. I asked the owner to delete my membership, she refused. I was told that deleting me would affect the total number of her members and she wouldn't allow that. I couldn't understand that thinking, but I'm getting more familiar with it.

My heart goes out to those who do all the right things to open a website, nice skin, nice layout, etc. But bottom line, it's the owner that sets the tone, and some people just are not cut out to run some types of websites. Not that they aren't capable people, they just need to find their niche. Just because someone enjoys visiting certain types of sites doesn't mean they can run one that is similar. It's important that site owners tap their own skills, whether it's chatting, knowledge of current music, how catch a lot of fish, etc., and go with that for their topic.

For example, I am not capable of running such a large website as the ones recently mentioned here. I know myself pretty well, and I am one that needs to be in control, if I had a huge site, meaning I'd need a lot of staff to help, I'd be constantly fretting about everything!

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

There are as many reasons for a forum, as there are forum creators.

Success will mean something different to each of them, JJ .


The only true success is if you achieve the success you set as your goal when you created your forum.

[Former Member]

I agree with alot of what has been said.

It all depends on what type of community you are trying to build. Smaller communities are fine too, some people like the intimacy of a smaller forum. 

Define success ?

My definition of a successful forum is one who offers great content, whether that be through content curation or through unique content based on the opinion of the author.   

One great way to create unique content is to search the web on a topic in your niche.

Find topics within the last month, and order it by date.  This will give you a set of results(media,video,posts) that are currently trending or being talked about.  If you find something of interest, say a video or article, write about it giving your opinion, in turn ask your members opinions(people love to be asked their opinion).

I have seen a few comments by people who have tried out a few SEO methods and get discouraged when they cannot see it working for them.  The truth is you cannot just put in a few keywords and hope for the best.

I wrote a little piece about here: staying-relevant-niche

Yes your personality comes into play and how to portray yourself. That should be a given though, nobody is going to return to your forum if they don't like you.

Regards

[Skidjit]

I like that. "Define success." What makes a website successful?

That was what was in my mind when backreading everyone's posts thus far.

I've been a member of one website or another since the early 2000's. Sadly, I've seen them come and go.

I feel my site is very successful. We only have a small handful of regular members. Most of us don't post daily, but do sign in to backread when we get a moment. Then when we do find the time to post, it's all at once.

Bring your well established group of friends with you when you create your forum. That really was how I did it. Overmoderation from a major Warner Brother website was driving away many of our friends. I had to do something to keep the rest from leaving too. Our site is like an online home. Nice and comfy.

It's not about how many people are at your site but the quality of people who are there.

Put your personality into your site. I mean, if your friends are following you because they like to hang out with you OR that they like the way you think. Keep that flowing. I love to play games. I love to have serious book discussions as well as goofy ones. Don't ever take yourself too seriously either. That makes things too stressful for YOU and your members. Keep it fun.

We have different sections that I aim mainly TOWARD my members. I think about them. What do other people like? If it's more personable to them, go for it. It keeps them interested.

VARY what your site does. We as admins can create different categories for our members tastes ALL of their tastes.  I mean sometimes they feel like games, but other times they feel like discussion, other times they feel like just hanging out and getting to keep up with each other. Don't do ONLY role play, but don't leave that option out either.

~ A discussion category.
~ A game category
~ A trivia game category all of it's own.
~ An off topic category (my site is Harry Potter theme. But we can still talk about movies, tv shows we are keeping up with, and video games, plays etc. that are not harry potter.)
~ A writer's category for fanfiction, poetry (which I'm not into poetry, but some of my members are.)
~ and yes... role play too. But we do it the old fashioned way.

and so much more. I think you get the idea.

My aim is to be a member first, and hope my members don't think I'm some high king/queen sitting on a throne above them. I AM one of them... just someone who can tinker and sometimes fix things when they go wrong.

....

Encourage your members to be a part of the creation. It's OUR site, not just mine. Know your members and their interests. I had one member I knew liked a certain character. I created a theme she could use that would not be too much for her old computer to handle. (I had to turn off a lot of plugins and images for her. But made it comfy as well.) A couple of members love to create their own type of trivia game threads. I created a place so it would be easy for them to be prominent from the home page. And as of this week, another member will have one of her threads content more prominent on the home thread, but now it will work much easier because of a brand new plugin that was created. ()thanks MSG) 

....

Bottom line RULE for the site. ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL TO EACH OTHER. When people start bickering, that's the beginning of the end.

.....

I think success might be different because of the type of site it is. Are you running a business? If yes, then you need tons of people. If you are running a site, like mine, to hang out with your online friends to get away from it all, then a small group or slightly larger is perfect. It's not about the bells and whistles, it's about the people there and having fun.

[JJ]

Excellent points, Skidjit! You pointed out something really important, know your members and post things tuned to their preferences. I've made a number of themes in colors that some members prefer, too, it makes them feel special.

I remember in the "old" days, I had some members that were still on dialup, goodness, did they have problems on the web. I redecorated my site to make it as plain as possible but still attractive, and loaded quickly. I learned how to take graphics through an optimizer and shrink the file size, etc. But I'm mighty glad everyone is now on some sort of higher speed system, because I love to decorate!

As you said, it's OUR site, not mine, without the members, I'd just be talking to myself.

[Mixed]

Catching up on this thread, I have found something very interesting - the different definitions of success from each person.

There are so many good points made in this thread now. It is a matter of how to apply them and use the perfect combination for YOUR individual forum.

And I want to mention, that while someone said the points weren't valid for a website, I find the pointers given by @synthtec can be applied to companies, websites, and anything else that you want people to know about. Of course, again, it depends on the combination used and the community you are trying to build.

There are too many good points to address them all now, but I would like to emphasize the point of letting members feel they are actually a part of the forum and allow them to make it a home. This especially applies to RP forums. An RP controlled completely by the staff can feel very restricting. Granted, some players prefer that kind of structure so even those have a place. But I think those that allow members to have a say in the plot can blossom that much further than those RPs controlled by only a few individuals.

[JJ]

I haven't been in here for a while, several trips to the hospital, not going to go into it here. But my recent experience has taught me a lot about what makes a forum succeed, it is the members. When my folks were informed about what was going on with me, they stepped up and kept the site alive and fresh. They send loving messages to me and encouragement and lots of love and hugs. That's what it's all about people. Maybe that seems too touchy feely for some of you, but to me, it meant the world.

I think it is interesting that there is a long existing thread on what makes a forum FAIL, but not much in here on how to make it succeed. To me, that is sheer negative thinking. It says to me that people would rather bash websites, than praise them. It says to me that people would rather find fault than provide support.

Please provide insight and help for beginners in a positive way, it can mean so much to someone starting out that is floundering and wanting to know how to proceed.

Thanks, JJ

[mmhmm]

Sorry to hear of your illness, JJ, and really glad to see you posting here again. When anyone on our forum is suffering hardship, the whole community pulls together to offer love and support. Like you, I see that as what it's really all about.

[JJ]

Thank you, mmhmm yes, that is what it is all about. Visiting a website where there is cohesion among the members is refreshing and an uplifting experience.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

((( JJ ))), I hope you continue to get stronger with each passing day.

And yes, yes, yes! It is about the community of a board. That's what many of us want. I know when I was in my head-on collision four years ago, our members caring and support really touched my heart. I knew there would be no question that the board would remain active during my recovery, but it was the messages many posted privately or through PM, that showed how powerful internet relationships can grow and become.

[JJ]

Yes, ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥, the friendships we make online are very real to many of us. I lost a very dear online friend recently, she died suddenly, just a few weeks after her husband. It was a shock to all of us. I had been chatting via email with her regularly, she sounded so strong and actually ready for this next chapter in her life. I was devastated, she was my online buddy, and as real as the day is long. Then, something rather amazing happened. I cried for days after she died, and felt lost. I got a new member on my website. Within a matter of days, it was like we had known each other most of our lives, even though he lives in the UK and I am in the US. My friend that died was originally from the UK, but settled in Australia as a young woman. But she used similar terms and lingo as the new member. It's several weeks into my new friendship, and already, I am feeling comforted that the emptiness I was feeling is being filled anew. Nothing will ever replace my friend in my heart, I will think of her often till the day I die. But we CAN make new friends, real friends that make us happy and fill a niche.

But you know, Luv, as ye give, so shall ye receive. If we want our members to feel like family, we must treat them like family. We need to get to know them, get to know what their interests are, etc. When I post new tidbits, videos, graphics, etc., my website family plays a major role in my selection. It is very important that a site owner not make the website simply an extension of his or her personality, it needs to reflect the personalities of the members as well.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

My sympathy on the loss of your dear cyber friend, JJ .

And what a blessing on your new found one.

You know the old saying about a door closing and a window opening? Wonderfully, that's just what happened for you.

And I like to think of a forum as a living organism. The head (admin) and the body (members) are both essential for life.

[JJ]

That's a good one, ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥ because it IS a living organism and it will die without nourishment. Thank you for your sentiment, she was a real blessing in my life.