Thinking about starting a new forum? It’s easier said than done, but it’s hardly impossible. I think what needs to be established before you do though, is why exactly are you starting one. Are you dreaming of a super active, tons of members, super forum? Regardless of your motives, here are a few tips to get your forum on its way.

Good Luck With That

As my five your old daughter likes to say to me when I give her the ultimatum, “Good luck with that.” Your forum is going to need a little more than software to get it going. You could try the bogus pay for post techniques, or the simple act of creating your own fake content to make it look alive. If you ask me though, I would say that is just pathetic. Why produce wasted garbage, and wasted time developing a ghost forum? Work on creating a real one, and you will be on your way. Use real people to create real discussions.

Two Important Tips

Two key factors play an important roll when starting a forum. You need to carefully select what topics to discuss within it, and you also need to be ready to answer as many posts as possible. If you take a look at this new Health Forum, you can see they have done two things very well when setting up the forum. They have limited the number of topics, organizing them in a way so the most popular items are visible first, and they have actively responded to many of the posts. They are on their way, but it needs more.

Limiting the number of topics on a new forum is important because it creates the busy looking effect that is needed to get new members to join. Spread a forum to thin with a bunch of topics, and it may appear like there is only one or two members. Organizing the content in a way to have the most popular stuff on topic is an obvious winning method. It is the most likely relevant content for the new visitor, and is the best way to draw them in. Leave the chit chat and introduction topics at the bottom. That stuff is for your true regulars, and they will check it out without encouragement.

Answering as many threads as possible I would hope is an obvious tip. Why start a forum if you are not going to actively participate? Money? Even it’s just the case of trying to make some online coin, you need to take part in your own venture. If you won’t who will. If you chat, they will come.

Making It Happen

When it’s time to start making things happen, as in getting lots of activity, you are going to need a little more than those two tips. Here are some non-marketing tips to keep your forum alive, growing, and well.

• Aggressively moderate spam – As best as humanly possible. Spam on a forum is like an ad saying “This forum dead.”
• Offer additional resources on the forum – An example would be the Links Topic for the health forum, or some type of tool that the visitor would use off of your site.
• Limit the number of ads
• Ask non-members to join at the bottom of threads besides your default location
• Remove all non-essential form elements for registering – I would even avoid using a captcha here.
• Use polls to start some new threads – Polls are a natural topic starter, and often generate comments.
• Allow new members to include their signature in their posts just after a few posts – Don’t use nofollow
• Reply to threads with answers and possibly another question to keep the thread alive, and the visitor returning
• Stay consistent to your rules when moderating
• Have a good reason to believe people would want to join – Has anyone even asked you to, or suggested you have one?
• Be prepared to grow, and be prepared to hire a full time moderator if things really get going – Consistent quality is mandatory to maintain the forum. There is nothing harder than getting a growing forum that took a turn for the worse, to rebound and get going again. You don’t want a mass exodus!

Know Your Competition

Another key factor before starting your forum is getting to know what your would be competitors are doing already. Are there a bunch of other forums already discussing your topic? Are they doing it well? Do you think the owners are making money or benefiting from it? Find what you think visitors like on their site, and consider adding similar features. Don’t look for the things you want or like, look for the things the visitors are active in. You can fulfill your needs as the forum develops.

Just remember, if you are considering a forum know that it does require some work, a lot more than a basic website, and remember to define a clear reason for yourself on why you are developing it. Knowing that will help make all future descisions easier.