Building a Community with Discussion Forums

2) How do I get people to start talking?

This is one of the most difficult parts in the process of building a community. People won't start talking unless you give them a reason. Get several friends to create discussions, always participate in them, ask for moderators and opinions on how to improve the forums. Also, be sure to include a link to your forums on every page of your website. It also helps to run a contest where users can get prizes for their help (ask for a logo, a good name, forum ideas, etc.) or a simple poll regarding a current (and, if possible, controversial) topic.

3) How do I keep the forums active?

Once your forums are active (say, over 100 posts per day), you are not going to need to do much. Be sure to keep SPAM out of your forums by immediately deleting any blatant advertisements. This is the job of the forum moderators, who should be carefully selected based upon their knowledge of the topic and the time they are willing to spend moderating a forum.

4) Facts and tips.

• Do not expect to make a lot of money using banner advertisements in your forums. The click-through ratios will be too low to justify the money advertisers spend. Don't bother with click-through networks either, you'll make a pittance. In case you still want to put advertisements in the forums, be sure they are located at the bottom of each page to increase the click-through ratio; since users are more likely to click on them after they have read the conversation.
• Try to ask for as much feedback as you can. Visitors love to participate in the building process of the community.
• Don't hesitate to delete (or edit) posts that contain either blatant advertisements or bad language. Not doing so will generate fights that might turn off some of your most active forum members.

That's all for now. If you followed all the tips here, you will be on a route that will build a good reputation for yourself on the Internet. It will also act as a "lead generator" for your site, as people who participate in your forums, and will come to know and trust you, will be more likely to buy your products or hire you.