Ack!

You're in good company - there are plenty of us who've done the same thing; came for a look but then *had* to buy it.

Good 'init!! :D

Cheers,
Shaun :D
 
See that's what happens when you hit the net drunk, my recurrent theme today, you set out to purchase vB, note all the bugs, and then end up with xenForo in your pocket when you wake up the next morning . Good purchase choice, xenForo is what most forum products should be, but since they are still adhereing to outmoded ideas wont be.
 
I am in the same boat - I was going for vBulletin then I decided "WTF!" And also bought xenforo.

I like xenforo, but it IS very hard to launch a new site with xenforo.
 
I like xenforo, but it IS very hard to launch a new site with xenforo.
That's a very interesting statement. I would ask you to expand on that and explain why. I would imagine that launching a new site is based upon some steady marketing and promotion plus excellent content for readers. I'm unsure why the type of software would impact the launch of a site. Can you expand on your point, please?
 
That's a very interesting statement. I would ask you to expand on that and explain why. I would imagine that launching a new site is based upon some steady marketing and promotion plus excellent content for readers. I'm unsure why the type of software would impact the launch of a site. Can you expand on your point, please?
When I launched www.mw2boards.com - it was easy to just let it "sit there" and the visitors will come via SEO. A month later, I tested the waters by putting an ad on a very popular Call of Duty Black Ops forum. It was hard even with the ad to bring members. But the hits and visits are showing really strong numbers even after the owner removed my ad. Its like the site is held up by its own two feet. This is a vB4 site. I would like to also mention that this is also a vBSEO-powered forum.

I recently purchased www.codforums.com - and I have been a part of the community from the beginning of its growth. Its a vB3 site that I saw growing. If I put my mind to it, I could quadruple that hits and visits level to a new level that the site isn't used to. vBSEO is installed on this one, too.

Now, on the flipside - www.mw2forums.com is usually a strong keyword website. So strong, that my hits and visits maintained some strong numbers, even when the site was a splash page a year ago. But it does not do enough to bring members. I didn't even need ads to keep this site running... but its not registering members. I am, however, seeing a lot of keywords relating to MVC3forum in my server's cpanel. So, I'm thinking once Marvel Vs Capcom 3 hits retail, the site will grow.

I ran yet another test. www.mvc3forum.com is increasing in both hits and visits - it was working for quite some time until some admin stole a member from our site and kept him as mod on his site.

I've been using facebook and twitter on these sites - MW2Forums and MVC3Forum are both successful in social media.

MVC3Forum is getting 21 fans.
And MW2Forums got 134 followers.

My blog (www.carlos360.com) is getting HUNDREDS of visits per month with the wordpress SEO - that includes the high use of tags/meta tags. I didn't even need to add more content - its been sitting there for 4 months, because I've been working on acquisitions and negotiations. In december I worked on MVC3Forum.

My point is, SEO works for a lot of reasons; xenForo isn't best for launching a website unless it has a lot of SEO schematics in place. There are some subtle SEO, but other than that, you don't really have much to go on.
 
Not discourage. But not enticing enough.....

In fact, I had a comment from someone this afternoon, and they said that xenForo is ugly - and said I should've left MVC3Forum on vB3.
 
Would that not be something that could be rectified through an improved skin choice? I've seen dog-ugly VB3 forums, and great looking ones. I've seen awful fora of all different types, and even free forums dressed up to look outstanding. Man, I'm starting to sound fanboyish, but I've only scratched the surface of Xen so far and still have to look at styles and add-ons. I just think that saying Xenforo is ugly is a little short-sighted, when a change of style can un-uglify it.
 
Hey, don't look at me. I didn't say it was ugly, in fact, I like the fast, smooth feel about xenforo.

And, GOD. I love that ACP freakin' login screen - once you log in the ACP.... *zoom* As if I was on a PlayStation 3 console or something.

The thing is, I do not know what theme is best for MVC3Forum - it used to be a dark gaming site. And then some people say that MW2Forum is a little rough. :-/

I had a vision for mw2boards only to be told by vBSEO that its color-blinding. At the time, I was lost, and I am back in square one. Rah.
 
Carlos, in your long post (yes, I read it all ;)) you mention you let the vB4 site simply sit there. This is unusual, and will very rarely work on the merit of the domain alone. I notice that you like to purchase domains with keywords in them, good idea on the surface, and sure, you'll get traffic due to the keywords, but a user hits your site which you've simply "left there" on it's own "two feet" (your own words) they'll simply leave. I bet your bounce rate was terribly high.

A static website can be left with no attention for months at a time until something breaks. A community (which is what XenForo offers, a community solution) needs nurturing, you can't simply install a forum software, install a skin, maybe make some posts (you didnt even admit to going this far) and leave it. It needs consistent and constant promotion, attention and care (the definition of nurture).

The fact that your sites are "sitting there" and not "standing on its own two feet" is because, as I read and understand it, you expect them to take off on the merit of their keyword rich domain alone. In a perfect world it would, but this world isn't perfect, and that isn't how the world works.

I know how you like to take things personal, so let me just say that this post isn't anything personal against you, I figured I'd type out a reply to you. Again, this is all as I understand it from your post, I didn't visit any of the sites in question.
 
Carlos, in your long post (yes, I read it all ;)) you mention you let the vB4 site simply sit there. This is unusual, and will very rarely work on the merit of the domain alone. I notice that you like to purchase domains with keywords in them, good idea on the surface, and sure, you'll get traffic due to the keywords, but a user hits your site which you've simply "left there" on it's own "two feet" (your own words) they'll simply leave. I bet your bounce rate was terribly high.
I let it "sit there" because I have been listening to feedback about vB4 - saying its ugly and whatnot - I used that site as a testing ground - I even made a lot of adjustments to get the colors right. Like I said before; I had a vision for a vB4 Modern Warfare 2 website. It was like staring at me for a year. I was ANXIOUS to get that started.

Once I tested the colors, the content was next: I brought out some high quality posts - and left some "space" between articles to bring enough traffic between them. Now I am trying to decide to kill the project or continue to find content suitable to the site.
A static website can be left with no attention for months at a time until something breaks. A community (which is what XenForo offers, a community solution) needs nurturing, you can't simply install a forum software, install a skin, maybe make some posts (you didnt even admit to going this far) and leave it. It needs consistent and constant promotion, attention and care (the definition of nurture).
I didn't admit going that far, but I have. Just not a lot. Y'know? And I have been persistent on marketing and promotion. Not a single feedback until I got to vBSEO.
The fact that your sites are "sitting there" and not "standing on its own two feet" is because, as I read and understand it, you expect them to take off on the merit of their keyword rich domain alone. In a perfect world it would, but this world isn't perfect, and that isn't how the world works.
I didn't expect. I thought the niche was hot, problem is, the niche is now on the verge of transition to Modern Warfare 3.

Let me put it to you in another way; Last year, Black Ops Forum launched in april. The website was rising in popularity no matter what the guy did. He let it "sit there" (and understandably so, as well) for a little bit and then purchased another black ops site to merge with the site. Before long, the site started poppin'. I don't know what other marketing tactics the guy used, but I'd like to know. I would love to know. And then, in October, the guy had to get a new server just because the site was rising in popularity faster than the speed of light. In November, that traffic had spiked to a crescendo.

Let it be known, the guy literally did NO twitter/facebook marketing. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zit. All the members did the talking for him. The guy didn't even use on-page SEO, or vBSEO. The guy eventually sold the site the next month for 14 grand.

You want more? I'll go further right now: I was playing COD4 as if it was a religion, and I was on a general gaming site and I saw COD4Boards and decided to make a fresh start. I posted from time to time. At that time, I started doing research. I watched the site grow from a 2,000 members website to a 14k members website, this was when the site was a vB3 site with vBSEO. I said to myself "Wow. The niche is powerful. I want a site this influential." Now, its a website with 103,462 members. Count that; 100k members.

The site has 800k posts, pretty damn close to a million posts. And I've been a member of a million posts website before. The site is now owned by a corporation. The original owner sold it to them for 10k.
I know how you like to take things personal, so let me just say that this post isn't anything personal against you, I figured I'd type out a reply to you. Again, this is all as I understand it from your post, I didn't visit any of the sites in question.
I DON'T like taking things personal. People talk to me in a way that is condescending, the way you did it was more calming than 'attitude.'
 
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