Implementing A Forum, Advantages of implementing a forum Options

[JeffSmith_NH]

My hosting company offers an off the shelf forum implementation that is customizable and I am considering adding one to our website . I had the following questions for whoever started or maintans HighRankings forum.

Other than the obvious benefit of adding a valuable service to clients, what are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a forum? How does the forum impact SEO?

Regarding setup and configuration - what features did you start with in the original setup that you wish you didn't.
What features do you wish you had started using from day one?

Are all of the Moderators employees of HighRankings? If not, how did you solicit their help?

How did you determine the categories to be included in the forum.

How did you attract users to the forum.

Is maintaining/moderating the forum time consuming - or self maintaining?

Thanks!

[Scottie]

Hi Jeff-

Starting and maintaining a forum is not a matter to take on lightly. I'll answer your questions in no particular order...

Jill had quite a following based on her newsletter and participation in other forums before she ever started this one. She always said she'd never start her own forum because it was too much of a hassle... but here we are!

Moderators here are not paid. We are all volunteers. Why? Because we like it here! Some moderators came with us from other forums, some evolved as we established a presence here. Moderators and members are the key to a successful forum- they set the tone and the atmosphere. Whether or not you pay your moderators is up to you and how your forum/industry is set up.

On other forums I've started, I pretty much start out talking to myself! I try to make at least one post a day so there is something new going on and a reason for people to join. If I don't already know people who would make good moderators, I watch for new members that seem to be sharp and around quite a bit and ask them to be a moderator. They are usually flattered and accept.

If you don't know what categories to include in your forum, I'd say you don't know the topic well enough to be starting a forum.

Maintaining and moderating a forum is a big time commitment. Don't start unless you are willing to be actively involved several days a week.

Most forum packages are search-friendly these days. Check before installing yours that it is the most recent version- many hosts don't stay up to date on their add-on applications.

Best of luck!

[qwerty]

On other forums I've started, I pretty much start out talking to myself!

True that! I started a forum four or five months ago, and so far I've got something like 20 members, only a couple of whom have posted more than once (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

However, I see lots of people reading the forum, and quite a few are coming in from searches. So it's worth it to me. For all I know, there may never be scintillating discussions on this forum, but it's clearly a benefit to the site.

[anthonyparsons.c...]

True that! I started a forum four or five months ago, and so far I've got something like 20 members, only a couple of whom have posted more than once (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Do you mind sharing the URL to that forum Bob?

[cyanide]

Yeah, it's tough and can take a lot of time to build up, but as scottie says, you have to be dedicated and post. Even if you have to create fake usernames and talk to yourself ... (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

nobody wants to join a forum that looks like a ghost town... especially now, when there are so many.

invite friends, associates and anyone you can think of to join and post

I started one recently too. my partner and I went nuts telling everyone we knew. We had 35 people sign up the first week !

1 month later, we have 60... not bad

[qwerty]

Do you mind sharing the URL to that forum Bob?

It's not an SEO forum. The subject matter is (gulp) fashion, which I know almost nothing about, but I'm learning. Most of my posts are links to news items I find online, but we're ranking well for many of them. Apparently, we've become very popular for the story I've got about a commercial for a hamburger that involves a model on a mechanical bull.

So, if you want to find us (it wouldn't feel right linking directly to the forum), search google for model bull hamburger (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[Jill]

search google for model bull hamburger

Wow...now there's some nifty SEO-ing there Qwerty! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/lol.gif)

[qwerty]

Yes I'm very proud. It's done in honor of my childhood pets, the (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/guinea1.gif) :guinea2:

But the fact is, we've gotten hits this month on searches for hardees mechanical bull download, hamburger sex, and bull sex :tooth:

[Scottie]

(IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

And are those terms converting well for you... ???

[Renagade Master]

I've been looking into the benefits of forums for sites as a small part of my thesis. Which I'm not going to repeat here for the fear of killing the thread or the reader with boredom!!

So my (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/penny.gif)

1) If your site has a topic for users to discuss, then it will be used. Product based forums will generally be drop-in/drop-out, a theme will guarantee returns.

2) Building loyalty when there is little activity will be tough, it's at this stage you'll have lots of work to do. You could try to be a little controversial, to encourage discussion, and get people returning to see replies to their posts and others to view the latest replies.

3) You will probably have many more browsers to posters. I haven't worked out a method for convertersion, let me know if you do. You could have a newby category for people to test posting and see how it works.

4) You should try to make the forum easy to use, have functions that show all posts since last login or last refresh. Allow users to unsubscribe from some categories they are not interested in.

5) I also think having less buttons and clutter is a good design, the design used at UKClimbing is good.

6) Allow some level of personalisation such as nicknames and profiles.


So to answer your question:

What features do you wish you had started using from day one?

I would start with a very simple but usable design then add features as requested by your users, they like to see a site develop. Or just add them when you think of good stuff.

Are all of the Moderators employees of HighRankings? If not, how did you solicit their help?

I can't talk for HR, but generally normal users can be promoted from the community, this is an effective psychological hook. Publicise any promotions and other users will become more committed in the hope they'll get promoted later. People have different motivations for wanting to be mods.

How did you determine the categories to be included in the forum.

You really should know the answer to this one. What are the questions you are commonly asked? Two I would recommend is newby and 'down the pub' for general chat and friendship building.

How did you attract users to the forum.

Tough one. If your site/forum is original, which is tough these days and your site has good ranking then the users will find you. Can you write articles to distribute to similar sites that refer to your forum?

Is maintaining/moderating the forum time consuming - or self maintaining?

I believe when you have many mods the workload will reduce, but someone needs to pay for the bandwidth, storage and upgrades. Having mods in different time-zones will help give 24hour cover.

I hope this helps.

[qwerty]

(IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

And are those terms converting well for you... ???

"Conversion" is kind of hard to define for this particular site. It has a two-fold goal: to increase her presence in the minds of the general public, and to get interest from professionals who would be interested in working with her.

Posts like the one I wrote of help with the former, but not directly with the latter. However, I believe that in the long run, just about everything that helps with the general public is going to help with people in the business. As the site grows (and the forum is certainly part of that process), it becomes more of an authority, and that makes it harder for pros to miss. That's also part of the strategy with the directory. I got an email from a well-known photographer last week saying he found us by googling himself, and he appreciated the fact that he was listed.

So if meeting the two goals of the site can be called conversions, conversions of both types are increasing (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)