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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by ChU v2

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]

Originally Posted by Bradley_Wint

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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.