As someone deeply immersed in the world of webmaster forums and online communities, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing numerous forum owners start on their journey to create a vibrant online space. While each forum is unique in its vision and purpose, there are some common pitfalls that new administrators often encounter, as well as key principles that can lead to success. In this article, I’ll share my insights from experience and delve into these aspects, offering guidance for both aspiring and existing forum owners.
Choosing an Over-Saturated Site Topic
Selecting the right topic for your forum is a fundamental decision, and it’s one that can significantly impact your forum’s success. It’s tempting to create a forum around a topic that’s currently trending or immensely popular. However, choosing an over-saturated site topic can pose significant challenges.
For instance, creating a forum dedicated to a widely known celebrity or a general subject like gaming may seem like a good idea due to their apparent popularity. However, these topics are often already covered by countless other websites and forums, making it difficult for a new forum to stand out. The key here is to choose a niche that allows your forum to cater to a specific audience’s unique needs.
Making Too Many Categories and Forums
Once you’ve chosen your forum’s theme, the next step is to structure your community by creating categories, forums, and subforums. While it’s important to offer a range of topics to cater to different interests, creating too many categories can backfire. A cluttered forum with an overwhelming number of categories and subforums can intimidate visitors and make it challenging for them to engage.
My advice is to start with a concise structure and expand gradually as your community grows and user feedback informs your decisions. Remember, simplicity can be more inviting and less daunting to potential users. What I usually recommend is to start with your niche on top. Having around 4 forums centered around the niche. Followed with a Community Involvement category, again around 4 forums. And lastly, a category for your site’s announcements and feedback.
Waiting for the Posts to Start Rolling In
A common misconception among new forum owners is that once the forum is set up, users will naturally flock to it and start posting actively. In reality, it’s essential to remember that forum success depends on your involvement and the content you create.
If you’ve chosen to create a forum, it should be about a topic that genuinely interests you. Building a strong and engaged community starts with you. You are supposed to be the reason they come to your site. You are supposed to be a community leader. You should take the lead and create engaging topics for your audience to post in. You, you and yourself have a load of work to do. Populate your forum with strong, original content and actively participate in discussions. “Build it, and they will come” only works in movies; in the world of online forums, your dedication is key to attracting and retaining members.
Too Many Chiefs, No Indians
In cases where forum owners lack personal interest or time to actively contribute to their platform, some may turn to recruiting numerous moderators with the hope that these volunteers will run the site, attract new members, and fill the forums with content.
While moderators can be assets to a forum, it’s important to maintain a balance between the number of staff and active members. Relying solely on moderators without your own involvement can result in a forum that lacks original content and user engagement. Your passion and dedication are what set the tone for your community, and moderators should complement, not replace, your involvement.
Heavy Promotion and General Begging
Desperation to boost forum activity can lead to excessive self-promotion and general begging for members. While promotion is crucial, overly aggressive tactics can be counterproductive.
Instead of heavy-handed self-promotion, focus on creating a welcoming and engaging community that naturally attracts members. Share your forum on platforms relevant to your niche and engage genuinely with potential users. But be independent from those platforms. The quality of your forum’s content and the user experience play a more significant role in attracting and retaining members than aggressive self-promotion.
Neglecting Mobile Responsiveness
In an era where the majority of internet users access content via mobile devices, neglecting mobile responsiveness can be a grave mistake. Some new forum owners might put their efforts into creating an appealing desktop version but fail to consider the mobile experience.
If your forum isn’t optimized for mobile, you risk alienating a substantial portion of potential users. Mobile users will quickly become frustrated with a non-responsive forum that doesn’t adapt to their device’s screen size and functionality. Ensuring your forum is user-friendly and visually appealing on both desktop and mobile devices is essential for attracting and retaining a diverse audience.
Ignoring SEO and Content Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is often overlooked by new forum owners. They might create quality content but forget to optimize it for search engines. Neglecting your SEO can result in your forum’s content going unnoticed by potential members and users who might be interested in your niche.
Forums can greatly benefit from organic traffic generated by search engines. It’s crucial to conduct keyword research, optimize titles and descriptions, and structure your forum content with search engine visibility in mind. SEO practices can significantly increase your forum’s discoverability and reach a broader audience. However, keep in mind: don’t go overboard. Don’t be obsessed about it.
Neglecting User Engagement and Community Building
Your forum isn’t just a platform for posting and reading; it’s a community where members connect. Neglecting community building can lead to a stagnant forum. Engage with your members, acknowledge their contributions, and create opportunities for interaction to build a vibrant community.
Neglecting user engagement and building a sense of community does not fit in one sentence.
Allowing Spam and Inappropriate Content
Members come and go every time. Permissive content moderation policies can lead to spam and inappropriate content, which will only make more users go than they come. Create clear and strict content guidelines and actively moderate your forum to maintain a positive environment.
Neglecting Regular Updates and Maintenance
To keep your forum running smoothly and secure, it’s vital to stay up-to-date with software updates, security patches, and maintain a vigilant eye on the technical aspects. Regularly communicate with your hosting provider, fix any technical issues promptly, and ensure your forum is safe and reliable for your members.
Conclusion
Building and maintaining a successful forum is a multifaceted journey. While these ten common mistakes and key principles provide some valuable insights, remember that the world of online forums is ever-evolving, and there are many nuances and challenges to navigate. Your passion, dedication, and commitment to your forum’s mission are your most potent tools for success. By addressing these pitfalls and challenges, you can create a forum that not only survives but thrives in the dynamic and competitive world of online communities.
As always, if you are in need of a community platform to seek advice: Admin Junkies – Admin, SEO & Webmaster Community
Nomad
October 21, 2023I am running multiple forums and none of my forums have more than 50 members and more than 1000 posts. One of the challenges I am facing as a community owner is building a member base and having active members. I am using multiple webmaster forums to promote my forums but nothing it working at the moment.
Alexander
October 22, 2023I have been running forums for several years, and one of the most common mistakes that I see other competitors do is giving up too early. Sure, running a forum is more hard nowadays with the likes of instant messaging through Facebook unlike the 2012 era, but you can still run a successful forum if you don’t give up.
Smokey
October 22, 2023Very insightful article to help new site owners! I’m sure we’ve all made some of these mistakes when we first started out. Some of these are common sense but let’s be honest, common sense isn’t so common.
Henrywrites
October 23, 2023Running forums can be a difficult task at the start, but it is necessary that forum owners understand that their involvement matters in everything that they are doing. Make content for your forums, always login to reply members posting on your forum and watch out for spamming. Those are the things one should look at doing to ensure that they have a solid foundation at the start.
The Raven
October 29, 2023Wow, such a wonderful article full of good advices. The more I read what you wrote, the more I want to start my own unique forum. I completely agree with you on forced advertisement. It is of no good to anyone, it just repulses people.
Another thing which is super important and yet very overlooked is mobile responsive design. I never payed attention to this but many users actually check forums with their phones which leads them becoming annoyed because mobile version is just bad.
Heatman
October 31, 2023Forum management is like running a small town as the sheriff. It’s very important to be very coordinated in everything that you’re doing in order to avoid your forum members turning on you especially when there’s a serious issue to tackle. Involve your team (staff members) in what you’re doing because you can’t run a forum all on your own.