Any tips to starting a site?

[Evolution06]

This is my problem.. I have been setting up sites for 3 years for a lot of people, friends and myself but I have never had a site of my own over 30+ members now my new project is free web hosting for guild/clans for all sorts of games... I play world of warcraft for a few hours each night after work but I am not sure how I would go about getting the word out about my site.. like where to go what to do etc.. Anyone have any suggestions on what would help me get the word out I have installed Zoints SEO and submitted my site to search engines but I know that is not nearly enough so now I figure it is best to ask the pro's what I should do now to help me grow.

[lasto]

well being nosey i went to vist your site and this is what i got.

You are not authorized to view this page

[Evolution06]

Where are you getting that message? I just clicked my link in my signature and it works fine. Let me know where you are getting that message and I will try to fix it.

wow 40+ crawl.yahoo.net indexing my site all the sudden and it keeps growing in #'s hmm

[SEOvB]

Advertising and marketing.

When i first get to your site, i think Nice skin, but what the hell is this forum about? Replace the stanard welcome header message with something that as a little more shine and information to it. Include brief but detailed information like what your site is about, what features you offer, and anything else thats useful to your demographic.

Next is advertise your forum/business. Since its directed at other guilds, WoW is a pretty massive place to advertise this to, and you should take advantage of it. Create level 1 alt characters on other servers, and just start contacting guild members/masters to and let them know about your site. Don't spam them in game, just get them to come and check it out.

[Evolution06]

When i first get to your site, i think Nice skin, but what the hell is this forum about? Replace the stanard welcome header message with something that as a little more shine and information to it. Include brief but detailed information like what your site is about, what features you offer, and anything else thats useful to your demographic.


That is some awesome advice sir, I just wish I could make that welcome message stand out more but my head is cloudy atm and I can not come up with any good idea's I want to throw a image in there that attracts the eyes of guest. But that is some awesome advice though thanks!

[lasto]

sorry about that m8 i never noticed your sig i got it from the drop down menu in postbit.

[Vtec44]

Referral contest, free t-shirts and decals to winner(s). That's what I did for a 2nd site that I'm starting. The first one took about 3 years before it started to take off. This one took less than a month and I have a over 5000 posts already. Plus, it helps when you have a group of close friends that are willing to put in the time and effort to help out.

[SEOvB]

That is some awesome advice sir, I just wish I could make that welcome message stand out more but my head is cloudy atm and I can not come up with any good idea's I want to throw a image in there that attracts the eyes of guest. But that is some awesome advice though thanks!

All Hail The Mighty {Guest/Visitor/Some Other Catchy name} (make this h1 or h2)
Welcome to {insert name} where we offer {insert product/service}. Our service provides you with {some fancy details, list your 3 best} all for {price}. To enjoy our wonderful service, {registration/signup instructions} is all you have to do! Doing so will entitle you to enjoy the most wonderful of features such as {different then the first 3 you listed/minor features/hosting plan details/whatever}

{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}

We look forward to having you join our great family of {Guilds/Webmasters/Whatever You've Got} today!

Replace whats in between the {} with actual information...obvisously :up: Be sure to run a spell check, as having spelling/grammar errors will give the impression of some 5yr old running the show.

Try to populate your forums with members, Make some yourself, post under different names, find other webmasters to trade posts with, whatever you've gotta do.

[Evolution06]

Referral contest, free t-shirts and decals to winner(s). That's what I did for a 2nd site that I'm starting. The first one took about 3 years before it started to take off. This one took less than a month and I have a over 5000 posts already. Plus, it helps when you have a group of close friends that are willing to put in the time and effort to help out.\

lol that works.. now.. I have a idea for my g/f to do she ways trying to think of a hobby!

All Hail The Mighty {Guest/Visitor/Some Other Catchy name} (make this h1 or h2)
Welcome to {insert name} where we offer {insert product/service}. Our service provides you with {some fancy details, list your 3 best} all for {price}. To enjoy our wonderful service, {registration/signup instructions} is all you have to do! Doing so will entitle you to enjoy the most wonderful of features such as {different then the first 3 you listed/minor features/hosting plan details/whatever}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
{Something Cool Here}
We look forward to having you join our great family of {Guilds/Webmasters/Whatever You've Got} today!

Replace whats in between the {} with actual information...obvisously Be sure to run a spell check, as having spelling/grammar errors will give the impression of some 5yr old running the show.

Try to populate your forums with members, Make some yourself, post under different names, find other webmasters to trade posts with, whatever you've gotta do.

Dude! you are awesome for taking the time to write that out for me! thanks!!

[Guest210212002]

One problem you're going to run into is that you're in a VERY congested field, and will have a LOT of competition. You're going to need something extra-enticing to draw traffic away from the myriad of other sites out there doing the same thing.

[cheat-master30]

Advertising and marketing.

When i first get to your site, i think Nice skin, but what the hell is this forum about? Replace the stanard welcome header message with something that as a little more shine and information to it. Include brief but detailed information like what your site is about, what features you offer, and anything else thats useful to your demographic.

Next is advertise your forum/business. Since its directed at other guilds, WoW is a pretty massive place to advertise this to, and you should take advantage of it. Create level 1 alt characters on other servers, and just start contacting guild members/masters to and let them know about your site. Don't spam them in game, just get them to come and check it out.

Great point, and I'd agree. Not once place do I actually see a description of what your forum does (to topic creator) except the title in the blue bar at the top of the browser. There isn't really a mention of Guild/clan hosting, and it all seems so... generic. There are no topical forums, no real support forums. It all seems just like any other computer site with all the same forums that brings in. The icons are good, but they have nothing to do with the topic. I mean, look at most of it. All but one forum are nothing to do with the subject at hand, or what your site actually offers. It looks professional, but needs to look as such while STILL keeping to the theme. Nothing wrong with you as an individual, or anything like that, just that the reason it might not be catching on so much isn't about promotion and such like, but because it looks like... any other forum about technology.

You also need to make the banner stand out a bit more, since it's not much bigger than ordinary text. Plus, you have a hosting site... with ONE mention of hosting on the page. The other tips are pretty much the same. Fill up all the forums, give the impression of activity, promote it well and add features that your members might like and that may further your site.

Edit: Oh, and don't be too disheartened... you can't expect big activity in a month or less...

[Evolution06]

This is all great info guys thanks! I have only been setting up sites and providing support since 06 when I first acquired a interest for web design so I have never really tried to get a site going of my own so this all helps me to progress forward just wish I had the skills to create a more intense skin of my own.

I will take in all the info I can get because I want this project/dream to grow I see a lot of free guild hosting sites but what I am trying to offer is all the perks of a paid company cPanel + Fantastico and support and whatever else I can think of down the line with next to no ad's on their sites at all.

Should I start over from scratch and do a fresh install and rebuild everything you think?

[cheat-master30]

Do not start from scratch. Just make it more guild site like, and add more features, smilies, etc. Oh, and post like crazy.