Advertising ideas... How to get the word out

[ChU v2]

Starting and making the forum is the fun part. But how do you get the word out and get some active members? A few ideas I have used are:

1. Zoints SEO vBSEO
2. Word of mouth
3. Ads on other sites

What's your ideas?

[no mods]

-Decent Content
-Friendly Atmosphere
-Luck

[cpvr]

You don't need vBseo.

-Friends
-Unique content
-Friendly community

[Bradley_Wint]

- Affiliations
- Unique Product/Service offering
- Unique Discussion
- Patience
- Integration

One more odd thing, I find once you make a post in a forum, it sparks others to post. Leaving a forum for someone to start a thread takes much longer.

I just checked your site and I see you have the front page restricted to members. In my opinion, you have to follow the funnel technique of conversion. Let guests see the content. I can't remember the ratio but 1:500 people will move from viewing to registering. Forcing to register is a turn-off for some if they are just surfing. If a surfer can see it though and is interested, he will take the time to register.

[ChU v2]

- Affiliations
- Unique Product/Service offering
- Unique Discussion
- Patience
- Integration


One more odd thing, I find once you make a post in a forum, it sparks others to post. Leaving a forum for someone to start a thread takes much longer.

I just checked your site and I see you have the front page restricted to members. In my opinion, you have to follow the funnel technique of conversion. Let guests see the content. I can't remember the ratio but 1:500 people will move from viewing to registering. Forcing to register is a turn-off for some if they are just surfing. If a surfer can see it though and is interested, he will take the time to register.

The last thing you said I think is a biggie, I get frustrated when sites block their content from guests. I just changed that about my forum actually today, you must have click before I made the change.

[Animecraving]

affiliate, search engines, SEO, friends,

[Bradley_Wint]

The last thing you said I think is a biggie, I get frustrated when sites block their content from guests. I just changed that about my forum actually today, you must have click before I made the change.

The front page is still blocked to guests.

[ChU v2]

The front page is still blocked to guests.

Oh, just the news section, I'll fix it. Thanks

[nyunyu]

active members
good content/service

I use adword and considering vbseo to help boost the traffic.
Well, about using vbseo, even if its not working, I can still sell it to others through vbseo.com :)

[ChU v2]

active members
good content/service

I use adword and considering vbseo to help boost the traffic.
Well, about using vbseo, even if its not working, I can still sell it to others through vbseo.com :)

How does AdWords work out for you? I thought about using it. Using that mod 'websites who referred members today' works out pretty good to see if the ads are working.

[nyunyu]

well, for starters, I opt in adword with budget optimizer ($1/day - 30day cycle)
I have an increase of visitors within the first hour. for my budget of $1/day, I finished it up within 3 hours. lol..seems like I got myself a good niche. :D

According to adword gurus, you will see some improvement on your traffic using adword, and together with SEO product such as vbseo, I wonder if it might get me more members.

Now, I just wait for the traffic to convert into signups. :)

I highly recommend using adword. You just pay when someone click on your ads.

[ChU v2]

well, for starters, I opt in adword with budget optimizer ($1/day - 30day cycle)
I have an increase of visitors within the first hour. for my budget of $1/day, I finished it up within 3 hours. lol..seems like I got myself a good niche. :D

According to adword gurus, you will see some improvement on your traffic using adword, and together with SEO product such as vbseo, I wonder if it might get me more members.

Now, I just wait for the traffic to convert into signups. :)

I highly recommend using adword. You just pay when someone click on your ads.

Ya I was doing research on it, but I haven't set it up yet, I have Zoints SEO installed, but I don't notice much of a difference, maybe I'll try AdWords. Thanks.

Speaking of Ads though, does anybody know where to get the ad where it underlines certain words on your forums and when you hover over them it turns into a popup ad?

[SBlueman]

Those are inline ads. Many ad sites run those now.