Discover How Online Discussion Forums Drive Traffic and Boost Site SEO

Why build a discussion forum? Businesses use them to enhance employee productivity or communicate with customers: Sports fans use them to discuss their team's performance, schools provide educational support to students, "foodies" compare recipes, and so much more. Forum audiences are as diverse as human interests. Because of this, their reach and influence as a search marketing tool should be studied and integrated in most if not all search engine marketing strategies.

How Do Forums Work?

A forum's main topic is generally set by the owner, also known as forum administrator, but the bulk of the content is provided by members of the forum. In a forum, visitors have the ability to start "discussions" with other members in the form of topics, also known as "threads." Once a forum user (guest or member) has read a thread, they'll generally have the option to post a reply which can then be read by the community. These discussions can develop without all users needing to be online at the same time.

Forums can be thought of as containers, or archives, for information fostered by the community. Depending on the permissions community members have (as set by the forum administrator), members can post replies to existing threads and start new threads at will. Most forums allow people to browse through postings before registering and, once they feel comfortable, they can set up an account and submit their own posts.

Who Should Create a Forum?

If you're passionate about a subject, there are few better ways to indulge your enthusiasm than by creating a forum for others to share and learn about the topic you love so much. Not only can you write about something you really enjoy, meet and become friends with people that share your passion, but there is often the opportunity to make good money while you're doing it. What could possibly be better?

If you love kayaking, start a kayaking forum. If you love collecting Cherokee arrowheads, start a Cherokee arrowhead collectors forum. If you love skydiving, start a skydiving discussion forum! You can be sure of this: there will be others who share your zeal.

With over 2 billion people that now have access to the Internet, there really isn't an interest, avocation or hobby that's so obscure there aren't others who share your passion. In fact, the more eccentric and unseen the subject, the more likely it could go viral and be of interest to a much larger audience. If your forum takes off and you have a large number of people visiting it every day, selling advertising space can often generate substantial monthly income for the forum owner.

Adding Community to Your Existing Site

Building a forum community is a great way to add value to an existing site and can create a sense of belonging for your visitors. This can encourage repeat visits and generate more interest in the site as a whole. With a discussion forum, there will be richer and more varied content being added to your site. You no longer need to be the sole contributor creating content, but rather many people joining in with their opinions and perspectives will help grow your site.

Also, if you're marketing a product or service, you can generally rely on rapid and unvarnished feedback from a forum community. You can quickly find out how your product is working in the real world and respond more efficiently to customer needs. Moreover, forum communities foster personal relationships between members which can help get information rapidly disseminated as well as increase pageviews and product-use through word of mouth.

Creating a Forum

There are basically two ways to create an online discussion forum; the hard way, and the easy way. The "hard" way requires a fair amount of technical expertise and involves installing forum software on a host server, creating a database, and configuring the forum once it's been installed. Further, installed forum software will also usually require some level of ongoing maintenance to insure proper functioning.

The smart and simple way to create a discussion forum simply requires choosing a free, web-based forum host. For those of you not interested in taking on the responsibilities of installing software and configuring databases, "remote" forum hosting offers a much simpler, more reliable, and less demanding free solution. Also, remotely hosted forums can easily be linked to websites or be operated as stand-alone entities.

Who Wants to Make $100 a Day Online? How to Use Forum Posting to Make Money Online   The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Having A Forum On Your Website   Are You Afraid to Spend the Money on a Membership Site?   

Discover Forum Moderating Tips Pros Use to Build Large Forums!

Before you open the doors to invite guests and prospective members to explore your new forum, the rules of engagement should be somewhat established. We say somewhat because they'll probably change over time as others contribute to the management and growth of your community.

Forum Rules

While the details will probably evolve, you'll want to implement a basic framework of rules as soon as possible. Getting people to agree to guidelines as they join will be far easier than imposing new rules on an established community down the road. Below is a short list of suggestions to get you started:

Rudeness, insulting others, personal attacks, threats or inflammatory posts should not be tolerated Repeat, redundant posting to increase post counts should be discouraged No advertising, spamming, solicitation or commercial self promotion should be allowed Prohibit discussing any illegal activities No posting of lewd comments, language or photos No posting of misleading or irrelevant comments, stay on topic No posting of disturbing material (benign images that suddenly change to a screaming face) Limiting members to a single forum account is advised

While this list is by no means all-inclusive, it will hopefully provide an overview of the types of forum behavior that should be monitored and controlled. For additional ideas, try Googling the term "sample online forum rules."

Recruiting Moderators

As your forum community grows, so will the need for additional moderators; you'll know when you need help. It will be that moment when you've reached your limit on how many threads you can monitor, questions you can answer, and squabbles you can defuse.

Recruiting moderators is a natural progression in the growth of every healthy forum community.

While choosing the right moderators is good for everyone, empowering the wrong personality can wreak unimaginable havoc. Below are a few key points to consider when selecting candidates:

Has the user contributed regularly over a period of time? Are they knowledgeable? Do they have good grammar, spelling and syntax skills? Does the user have the right personality? Are they even tempered, likable, and fair minded? Do they have the time to commit to being a moderator?

When extending invitations to prospective moderators, try approaching users who post a high number of quality posts and appear to be committed to the forum. Approaching candidates can be as simple as private messaging them and asking them to become a moderator. Explain why you've considered them and clearly define their role.

Moderator Responsibilities

Clearly defining moderator responsibilities is of utmost importance. They must know what's expected of their position as well as which decisions and activities are assigned to others. Moderators are typically assigned a particular discussion forum or user group and are expected to perform the following functions:

Visit the forum at least once each day Keep posts clean and move off-topic posts to appropriate categories Communicate with unruly members and advise them of the consequences of disruptive behavior Edit postings when necessary so that they conform to the forum's content guidelines. Delete or move single posts or entire threads when necessary Lock or unlock posts as required

Supporting your volunteer moderators once they've assumed their new roles is also critical. Be sure to communicate frequently with them, recognize and reward their contributions and give them some time off occasionally so they don't get burned out.

Moderator Conduct

To promote cohesiveness and decorum, moderators should be responsible for their own "code of conduct." While similar to general forum rules, moderator codes of conduct are intended to preserve neutrality, authority and confidentiality. Below is a list of suggestions for your consideration. Prospective moderators should agree to:

Be respectful of all members, each other, and represent your forum with professionalism Be discreet and maintain confidentiality regarding moderator activities and member information Consider member feelings before hitting the submit button, both in public forums and private Deleting member posts should be done only after conferring with the forum admin or other moderators Resign from moderator duties if there is a breach of confidentiality or the code of conduct is not followed

Moderation Tips

Because each forum and its audience are unique, moderation styles and guidelines will differ. Consequently, you'll want to craft your own strategy as it applies to your community. As a general overview of forum moderation practices, the list below provides a starting point.

Be professional: Personality is good but don't take liberties or get lazy. Try to use correct grammar, punctuation and capitalization when you're typing. How you present yourself reflects upon your forum and people's perceptions. Watch out for trolls and spammers. Always be vigilant and proactively seek them out and take action to minimize their annoying posts. Watch for members abusing other members. Don't tolerate flaming; disagreements are fine but any more than that will discourage guests from joining and drive quality members from your forum. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate. Choose forum staff carefully. Make sure the people you choose lead by example and are patient and fair. To expand on the previous point; watch for troublesome forum staff. Don't let moderators intimidate other members or dole out unnecessarily harsh penalties for infractions. Conversely, timid moderators can be just as harmful to the health of your forum.

Summary

As your forum community grows and more people participate in the discussion, you'll most likely be amazed by the things people say. You're the host, so the responsibility for maintaining a functional environment falls to you. A good moderating strategy will help that goal immensely. Hopefully this article has provided a solid reference for establishing a moderating plan for your community. For more tips, tricks and strategies on building your forum, please refer to our previous articles in this series. Thanks for reading!

Who Wants to Make $100 a Day Online? How to Use Forum Posting to Make Money Online   The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Having A Forum On Your Website   Are You Afraid to Spend the Money on a Membership Site?