Which One is better and why, a Q&A website or a Forum?

[Mackie]

Please give your opinion on which is better and why, a Q&A website or a Forum?
I'm thinking about building a Q&A website but I think forum can be better, is it right?

 

[ron13315]

for me, of course forum is the best choice.

 

[web-project]

For SEO and for specific target are will be better FB, as for general SEO, I think the best option is forums.

 

[MightWeb]

For what purpose? A forum is great for..- Well, a forum - a community portal. A Q&A website is good for..- Well, a Q&A website! What's your target with the website, and its goal?

 

[Carl0251]

Forums all the way. With a Q&A website you are much more limited.

 

[Hyuga]

WIth forums you have alot more choices, so I suggest you a forum

 

[Noticemenot]

Forums are much much better than Q&A websites.

 

[metafser]

Forum is better everyone knows about it. But Also Q&A site is important. Depend on your topic. I suggest you to make a larger Q & A site. You have lots of opportunity. Just think, how many forums is leading in this world?

 

[ypson]

They are 2 different tools and should be used in tandem rather than a choice, if your setup calls for such.

The Q&A pertains to customer service while a Forum is a community.

EDIT: You might refer to those websites where a question is asked and many people provide answers, in which case it depends, something like stackoverflow would not work as well in a forum form. My answer above assumed you are referring to those knowledge base sections vs a forum.

 

[professorrosado]

I grappled with this just recently. To me the question is, do you want to build a community or do you want to provide what your market wants - answers? I have seen great drops in "communities" as it seems that people are on "Fast Forward" mode on the Internet these days.

I believe that if your topic is more technology oriented, people may find a refined and moderated Q&A site more exacting to their needs. More general topics and public interchange would be best suited for the forum environment.

If you could restrict roles on a forum to closely mimic a Q&A / expert site, then you may find a comfort zone for many betwixt the two.

 

[Noticemenot]

Forums is better choice than Question answering sites.

 

[irichard]

Forum is better. Website are limited and you have a lot more choices.