How to Create a Successful Forum - Part 4

hoangvu

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Increase registrations in the forum

We have said many times about the importance of content, we also mentioned the possibility of creating start "at home" the first threads (eg in the form of tutorial) but, as evident in the growth of a forum is essential for the production the contents passing through the users.

A forum that has few users, therefore, will inevitably destined to have much content (and, therefore, little success and life expectancy).

While on the Internet "Content is King" is equally true that the success of a internet marketing forum is essential to have a good attendance:

+ Members => + Content => + Traffic => + Members => ...
Content and number of active users, therefore, are closely interlinked and constitute the binding rings key in the "chain of success."

A major concern of the administrator of a forum, then, is to find new members willing to participate actively in the life of the community.

Techniques to increase the number of subscribers to a forum

There are several techniques to increase the number of participants in a forum, here I will list those that, in my opinion, are most effective:

Make the button Record

One of the most common mistakes is to "hide" button will bring up the registration to the forum. It sounds crazy but it's true. Sometimes the link to access the registration form is small and hidden in some menu in the midst of many other connections. If you want people who visit your forum enroll, you must try to do everything to "Attractive Place"!!!, which is a great "Register" button on top so that it is apparent to all.

Avoid lengthy registration procedures and / or complex

To register for a forum is just an email address, choose a username and password. Stop. Let us, therefore, to create registration forms kilometrici with questions such as "Where were you born?", "How did you meet?", "What are your interests in life?" ... create forms long and complex to be completed is a clear disincentive to user registration. Stick, therefore, to what is really important, any other information - if necessary - can be inserted at a later time by accessing, for example, in some management functionality of the profile (now present in each board).

Incentivized recording

A common technique to increase the number of members is to limit access to certain content only to "registered users". In this way, users who want to access a restricted content will first have to register for the forum. Another technique rather utlizzata is to limit the number of threads displayed unregistered users (for example, after 5 topics read the system hangs and prompts you to register to continue reading). Personally I do not particularly passionate the latter technique, however, there is no doubt that it can help to increase the number of members.

Be provocative!
Another technique to increase the number of members is to open discussions on issues rather felt, perhaps starting positions supporting the controversial and debated topic ... in this way it is likely that a user come to the event on the topic (maybe tracked through a simple search on Google) feel compelled to answer you! This technique, of course, should not be abused and is to be used with common sense, otherwise you are likely to do more harm than good.

Few users? Create the fake
At the beginning of the life of a forum may be useful to create fake, that dummy accounts that are exchanged opinions in threads created ad hoc. This technique allows to increase the number of subscribers (real) because users are encouraged to participate in a forum if they see that there are other people with whom to discuss. In this case, '"other people" is fake .... but better than nothing. I emphasize that this technique can and should be used only at the beginning of the life of a forum. When the forum started, create fake can backfire (and useless).

Give importance to members
One of the best ways to increase the number of subscribers is to give importance to those who are already there! When a user asks for something try to answer right away, do it in a generous and education. This attitude, in fact, be "recognized" by visitors, seeing the manner in which they are responded to, will definitely encouraged subscribing to the forum to take advantage of "such attention."

Create sections "high participation"
A typical example is the "Market" or "Ads". Sections of this type are in fact real catalysts registrations! to post or reply to an advertisement, it will be necessary to be registered on the forum ...

Difference between "registered users" and "active users"

The number of users, as mentioned, is one of the main metrics value for a forum. But even more important than the number recorded is the total number of active users.

For "active user" means a user who participates in the life of the frequency and constancy forum. Many users, in fact appointed, but then do nothing, or write a response or open a discussion and back "into oblivion."

The real added value of a community, therefore, is not given by the sheer number of subscribers, but by the amount of users participating effettivamnete the discussions! A user writes 1000 post is much more important than 1,000 users who write a single post!

Transform a simple writing in an active user

Stimulate participation, this is the rule to follow. As mentioned try not to let the thread unanswered, strive to provide help to all, be proactive in offering your help to others: if someone leaves a question, therefore, has given him an answer and invite them to ask again.

This will substantially reduce "subscriptions empty" and there will be a virtuous circle that will lead to the production of new content always and registration of new users.

Another way to encourage user participation is to reward their effective participation in the community, for example by introducing a rating system that assigns users different status depending on the number of posts made. A user just arrived automatically be qualified as a "newcomer", with more than 100 posts as "active user", more than 500 posts as "Expert", more than 1,000 as "Guru" and so on. With this simple trick, in fact, users will feel encouraged to write and to participate in discussions in order to obtain the credit arising from the social status achieved! It may seem trivial but it is not at all. If your forum became a popular meeting point for a given substance, the fact that a user can be qualified as an "expert" could mean a lot!

From a technical point of view, then, there are some tools to "catch up" inactive users: there are, in fact, several plugins for the management of inactive users that provide, for example, to send mails to certain deadlines by which s' invites the user to return to participate in the forum.
 
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