10 Important Factors For Developing A Successful Forum
A forum has a few definitions , including:
A place for general public to meet and discuss different topics.
A medium for sharing ideas and experiences.
A medium that has many similarities with newspaper, a radio or television program, or a website.
A public presentation where peers and experts along with the audience can take part in different discussions.
After going through the above mentioned factors, it can be said that most "forums" should be public in nature. Another important objective of a forum should be to develop itself as a platform where general or subject oriented discussions and voicing of individual opinions are always encouraged. The participants can be anyone, or can be of a niche area. It may be a traditional forum or an online forum the basic factors are always the same. When we talk about Internet Forums, we typically do not deviate too much from this basic ideology. So keeping this in mind, we shall proceed to ascertain what we need to build a successful Internet Forum.
First and foremost, we shall need to identify why I am to build this forum. Quite frankly, when I say 'what do you need to build a forum' , you may pretty well suggest - Willingness or desire to create one and operate it. And a closely related topic can be "Need of a forum for the topic ". Willingness means you are dedicated towards building a spot for like-minded people. It also means that you can devote time to making it - which is easily a very important factor.
As already mentioned in the first point, you should also determine if there is a need for building the forum you are. Without the need, you may pretty well build the forum, but that might be the end of it as well.
Coming to more practical points, the third is to decide on the software and technology necessary to create the Forum. When we say a Forum, in Internet lingo, we usually mean a Message Board. Among various message board softwares available these days - some are free / open source and some are paid - yearly or one time. As the creator / Administrator you will have to purchase or acquire this software or decide on this platform. Some of the better known softwares include - vBulletin , Invisionboard, phpBB , FusionBB, BBPress, Simpe Machines Forum, Vanilla, UBB Threads, PunBB and many others.
So what next - the choice is many, but an important aspect might be finding a expert who can help you in installing the software, customizing it to your needs and helping with it's design. While some of you may already have the expertise, it would be best to consult with a developer who has the expertise in working with a few of these softwares. Running a message board or forum, requires dedicated attention over time - so having a knowledgeable expert you can keep returning to or having on a full time basis is needed.
Although nowadays most forum softwares come with a sleek looking design template of its own, it is important to know that the default design will exist on hundreds of forums. But for you to succeed, you must think of getting a new template to make your website forum look better than the rest. If you have a budget , think of getting a custom template designed for your site only. Adorn it with your website logo , colors and theme - for example , if your forum is for Books , having the look and feel of a bookstore, book cover or library and anything similar might be an idea. Custom icons such as bookworms, page marker, buttons and anything that you can think off - just goes on to show how much contextual you want your site to be.
Apart from the basic software and its template , you may not necessarily need further modifications, but the Forum business is quite competitive. Running a forum requires keeping your members happy and interested in your ongoing activities. Since majority of your visitors can be returning visitors, and your site thrives on their discussion, commenting - try to find out if any custom modifications can keep them engaged. Some of the commonly known modifications are having a Points system. Every user interaction can be rewarded with points, user badges and contests and prizes.
Once you have got your Internet forum up and running, you will need to fill it up with new members, attract more and more traffic from other hangouts, chat rooms, Forums and most importantly the Search Engines. Without ample members, a forum will dry up and become dead. Not only will you have to get members, give them topics to discuss and comment on but also you will have to ensure that they are some unique offerings. All the regular members come to forums to participate but you as the site owner, will have to take the initiative . Start off addictive games, controversial topics, share new and thought inspiring articles .
From my experience I can tell you that getting off to nice start is not that much difficult . In my time, I have had the good luck and opportunity to administer 3-4 semi-large to large forums. One on the topic of webmasters, one on Television and one adult in nature. The largest had over 100,000 members and this brings me to the topic of controlling the forum and forum activity. As the Admin or from the Admin group, you must keep a popular yet strict stance on Forum policies and rules. without proper rules set, not only will you run into trouble, much of your time will be wasted in unnecessary activities when it could have been spent in popularizing and monetizing the forum. The need for Rules and Guidelines can not be underplayed while making a Internet Forum.
As your forum grows and keeps growing , I believe you will find the need for building a Team. A committee formed from amongst your existing forum members, who will help you out in running the administration. Not only will their task be administrative, but also in content generation, advertising elsewhere, liaising with the members and also helping your site in showing a democratic face - so to speak.
And last but not the least , by far, should be the need for making money out of the whole deal. While many of us make Forums because they can - they have the resources in terms of money, hosting space, webmaster abilities, experience in gathering a team of like-minded individuals, in the end the forum will not run for long unless it helps the owner in gathering money - directly or indirectly. As the site owner, you can generate income through PPC Ads, Banner Ads, Text Links, Product Endorsements, Forum Memberships, Newsletter sponsoring and several other ways and means. But I can again tell you from my experience, that the more popular the site becomes, generating money will become a necessity .
A place for general public to meet and discuss different topics.
A medium for sharing ideas and experiences.
A medium that has many similarities with newspaper, a radio or television program, or a website.
A public presentation where peers and experts along with the audience can take part in different discussions.
After going through the above mentioned factors, it can be said that most "forums" should be public in nature. Another important objective of a forum should be to develop itself as a platform where general or subject oriented discussions and voicing of individual opinions are always encouraged. The participants can be anyone, or can be of a niche area. It may be a traditional forum or an online forum the basic factors are always the same. When we talk about Internet Forums, we typically do not deviate too much from this basic ideology. So keeping this in mind, we shall proceed to ascertain what we need to build a successful Internet Forum.
First and foremost, we shall need to identify why I am to build this forum. Quite frankly, when I say 'what do you need to build a forum' , you may pretty well suggest - Willingness or desire to create one and operate it. And a closely related topic can be "Need of a forum for the topic ". Willingness means you are dedicated towards building a spot for like-minded people. It also means that you can devote time to making it - which is easily a very important factor.
As already mentioned in the first point, you should also determine if there is a need for building the forum you are. Without the need, you may pretty well build the forum, but that might be the end of it as well.
Coming to more practical points, the third is to decide on the software and technology necessary to create the Forum. When we say a Forum, in Internet lingo, we usually mean a Message Board. Among various message board softwares available these days - some are free / open source and some are paid - yearly or one time. As the creator / Administrator you will have to purchase or acquire this software or decide on this platform. Some of the better known softwares include - vBulletin , Invisionboard, phpBB , FusionBB, BBPress, Simpe Machines Forum, Vanilla, UBB Threads, PunBB and many others.
So what next - the choice is many, but an important aspect might be finding a expert who can help you in installing the software, customizing it to your needs and helping with it's design. While some of you may already have the expertise, it would be best to consult with a developer who has the expertise in working with a few of these softwares. Running a message board or forum, requires dedicated attention over time - so having a knowledgeable expert you can keep returning to or having on a full time basis is needed.
Although nowadays most forum softwares come with a sleek looking design template of its own, it is important to know that the default design will exist on hundreds of forums. But for you to succeed, you must think of getting a new template to make your website forum look better than the rest. If you have a budget , think of getting a custom template designed for your site only. Adorn it with your website logo , colors and theme - for example , if your forum is for Books , having the look and feel of a bookstore, book cover or library and anything similar might be an idea. Custom icons such as bookworms, page marker, buttons and anything that you can think off - just goes on to show how much contextual you want your site to be.
Apart from the basic software and its template , you may not necessarily need further modifications, but the Forum business is quite competitive. Running a forum requires keeping your members happy and interested in your ongoing activities. Since majority of your visitors can be returning visitors, and your site thrives on their discussion, commenting - try to find out if any custom modifications can keep them engaged. Some of the commonly known modifications are having a Points system. Every user interaction can be rewarded with points, user badges and contests and prizes.
Once you have got your Internet forum up and running, you will need to fill it up with new members, attract more and more traffic from other hangouts, chat rooms, Forums and most importantly the Search Engines. Without ample members, a forum will dry up and become dead. Not only will you have to get members, give them topics to discuss and comment on but also you will have to ensure that they are some unique offerings. All the regular members come to forums to participate but you as the site owner, will have to take the initiative . Start off addictive games, controversial topics, share new and thought inspiring articles .
From my experience I can tell you that getting off to nice start is not that much difficult . In my time, I have had the good luck and opportunity to administer 3-4 semi-large to large forums. One on the topic of webmasters, one on Television and one adult in nature. The largest had over 100,000 members and this brings me to the topic of controlling the forum and forum activity. As the Admin or from the Admin group, you must keep a popular yet strict stance on Forum policies and rules. without proper rules set, not only will you run into trouble, much of your time will be wasted in unnecessary activities when it could have been spent in popularizing and monetizing the forum. The need for Rules and Guidelines can not be underplayed while making a Internet Forum.
As your forum grows and keeps growing , I believe you will find the need for building a Team. A committee formed from amongst your existing forum members, who will help you out in running the administration. Not only will their task be administrative, but also in content generation, advertising elsewhere, liaising with the members and also helping your site in showing a democratic face - so to speak.
And last but not the least , by far, should be the need for making money out of the whole deal. While many of us make Forums because they can - they have the resources in terms of money, hosting space, webmaster abilities, experience in gathering a team of like-minded individuals, in the end the forum will not run for long unless it helps the owner in gathering money - directly or indirectly. As the site owner, you can generate income through PPC Ads, Banner Ads, Text Links, Product Endorsements, Forum Memberships, Newsletter sponsoring and several other ways and means. But I can again tell you from my experience, that the more popular the site becomes, generating money will become a necessity .
Source...