Any opinion on Google v Facebook advertising for forum growth?

ArtG

ArtG

Active member
I have a new forum so will need to rely on some paid advertising to get in front of potential members. Any thoughts on which would be better for forum growth in 2022?

Thanks,


Art
 
Thanks! What I want to confirm with other forum owners what I'm seeing.

People on Facebook are used to scrolling and having a very little attention span for each post they are reading. This is not the type of person I want in my forum.

I'm looking for people that want to hang out and have more in-depth conversations rather than scrolling looking at pictures.

I suspect that someone searching on Google would be more apt to like a forum over Facebook.
 
Both not worth it, as @jeb35 already said. If you still want to do it, choose Google AdWords.

imho much more important: constantly produce good content with good SEO, provide AMP, improve your google ranking, offer a good service to the already existing users to keep them active and produce traffic, let them spread the word. Write an article about your new forum and what it offers, like a little press release. Send it to everybody who would possibly support you and let them publish it.
 
Instead of wasting money on a shotgun blast.. if site deals with a topic that there are "regional/local" groups.. get your ass out of the chair and get to those groups and spread the word... even if it's done by something as simple as wearing a t-shirt/sweater advertising it. That's my game plan with my site... visit some local (within 150 miles) astronomy clubs, wearing some branded clothing and participate in the meeting and meet new people and invite them to the site.
It's a simple matter of gathering traction. The more people you can get to participate and asking and talking about interesting (and topical) subjects, the better the search engines will like you. The better the search engines like you, the better you rank. The better you rank, the easier (and quicker) more people find your site and start utilizing it.

I personally would MUCH rather spend monies on "bling" that advertises the site that I can give away, brochures and/or cards that can be passed out at gatherings, and interacting with folks in a similar "topical" area, even if it means taking a 2 day trip and staying in a hotel.
Currently one of the things I am looking at is a red LED flashlight that is emblazoned with my site info to give out. It's something that is eminently handy for astrophotographers, and if used in a group others pick up on the branding.

One of the things I'm "slobbering" over is a trip out to the Davis Mountains when there is one of the big star parties going on. It's a REAL draw for folks, and they go back home and talk to others. Overall we are all set for a trip, having a nice RV equipped for the necessary boon-docking involved, nice equipment for me to use to capture the beauty of the night sky and some lower end equipment that I can set up for others to simply use to view to see the night sky.
 
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Tracy Perry said:
Instead of wasting money on a shotgun blast.. if site deals with a topic that there are "regional/local" groups.. get your ass out of the chair and get to those groups and spread the word... even if it's done by something as simple as wearing a t-shirt/sweater advertising it. That's my game plan with my site... visit some local (within 150 miles) astronomy clubs, wearing some branded clothing and participate in the meeting and meet new people and invite them to the site.
It's a simple matter of gathering traction. The more people you can get to participate and asking and talking about interesting (and topical) subjects, the better the search engines will like you. The better the search engines like you, the better you rank. The better you rank, the easier (and quicker) more people find your site and start utilizing it.

I personally would MUCH rather spend monies on "bling" that advertises the site that I can give away, brochures and/or cards that can be passed out at gatherings, and interacting with folks in a similar "topical" area, even if it means taking a 2 day trip and staying in a hotel.
Currently one of the things I am looking at is a red LED flashlight that is emblazoned with my site info to give out. It's something that is eminently handy for astrophotographers, and if used in a group others pick up on the branding.

One of the things I'm "slobbering" over is a trip out to the Davis Mountains when there is one of the big star parties going on. It's a REAL draw for folks, and they go back home and talk to others. Overall we are all set for a trip, having a nice RV equipped for the necessary boon-docking involved, nice equipment for me to use to capture the beauty of the night sky and some lower end equipment that I can set up for others to simply use to view to see the night sky.
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Thanks. My subject is freshwater planted aquariums/aquascaping. The site is https://scapecrunch.com.

While I do think local or regional presence is important for some topics, like yours, mine is much more general in nature. There aren't many local clubs to visit that would have any material impact on memberships.

I, of course, agree that ranking well through SEO best practices is always the best/cheapest way to go, it does take time. You need that traction, or initial momentum, that gets the ball starting to roll with membership and engagement. Paid advertising is one quick way to get that flow of new members coming in.

Provided the advertising is targeted and reaching the right audience, it is a viable way to start. Not the only way, but certainly a good one.
 
ArtG said:
Provided the advertising is targeted and reaching the right audience, it is a viable way to start. Not the only way, but certainly a good one.
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Generally now.. Facebook and even Google ads are useless as teats on a boar hog. The people that will actually click those links are FEW and far in between. I know that when presented with "opportunities" from both FB and Google for sites that may interest me I simply ignore them as I realize that the are more about "making the money" than giving me good content.
 
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Some quick thoughts.... will come back for more....

First, how old is your forum?

I ran a google search for "aquarium plant forum" and did not see your site listed. Though, there were 2 pages of other sites listed (it's a fairly small niche topic). You have competition... and you're not even listed, yet.

I agree with previous comments that good content, which leads to good SEO, is a big factor in driving traffic to your site.

My personal experience advertising on Facebook (for my local business) was an expensive bust.

I have not spent a dime advertising my forum (also a niche). But it ranks highly in Google searches. My forum is 9 months old:
1669811891076.webp

I have poured energy into it, creating content and what I call "priming the pump" (with threads designed to generate participation).

Gotta run off to work. Back later. :)
 
It's better to invest in advertisements on websites/forums with the same niche of content you offer. Visit forums that allow you to advertise your forum for free. (example: Admin Junkies, Forum Promotion, etc.)
 
Tracy Perry said:
Facebook and even Google ads are useless as teats on a boar hog.
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PatriotGB said:
My personal experience advertising on Facebook (for my local business) was an expensive bust.
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Yes I've experimented with ads over the years on both. While they produced some expensive traffic I got maybe 1 registration for the $$$ spent.

I've found that a MUCH better use of that money has been to hire writers to write good articles for my site as organic traffic is the best best way.
 
PatriotGB said:
I have poured energy into it, creating content and what I call "priming the pump" (with threads designed to generate participation).
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This is the way. Creating good content is key.

I've done the participation posts before. Maybe I'll do some more for fun.

What are your favorite types of participation threads?
 
Aerodynamic said:
Visit forums that allow you to advertise your forum for free. (example: Admin Junkies, Forum Promotion, etc.)
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Or if you are a member of other broadly related forums, post about your forum (if it doesn't compete directly). Many forums allow links in your signature, too.

So, let's say you're a member of an aquarium forum. Or a botany forum. The OP's forum is really a subset of that and not competing directly. Post about your forum in places like that. Same goes with groups on social media platforms like Facebook.
 
cdub said:
I've found that a MUCH better use of that money has been to hire writers to write good articles for my site as organic traffic is the best best way.
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Or write them yourself. Put them in a blog connected to the forum. Invite members to submit articles, too (for free).
 
I think forums are subject to the Laws of Thermodynamics in a way... Conservation of energy. You can only get out of it what you put into it.

Or maybe it's more like nuclear physics... you have to achieve "critical mass" before it becomes a self-perpetuating chain reaction.

You have to pour energy into it. A TON of it... before you'll see it pick up steam on its own (with member participation).
 
My site is a couple of months old and competes with forums that are 10+ years of age. The difference is that those forums are stale and less frequented today but you can't change the fact that they have 10+ years of posts.

I agree with you and will focus on developing good content and let the slow, organic process work.

Thanks!
 
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