How can my XenForo website beat the vBulletin competition

chrisj

Active member
Please ignore the title, im not trying to say it has anything to do with the software.

I started a forum for the Sony NGP (PSP 2) here http://www.ngptalk.com/

It was going slow but well, then a newcomer came up and offered to give a free NGP to someone who has over 100 posts before the system releases. Since then, his activity has began to surpass mine.:(

Is there any advice or actions you can do for my website to help me win this battle? I thought I would win with superior software and putting a lot of effort to stay in touch with the news. I've been doing all that I can think of in terms of advertising. I'm just outside of the reach of page 1 for google search "ngp forum".
 
Keeping news and updates regular will definitely help in the long term, I imagine that the competitors prize offer will be a short term burst. Creating a friendly community where members feel involved should also help with loyalty. Im sure others will have better suggestions, but as I'm typing from my phone I've had to be brief.

Good luck, and I'll be sure to check out your site tomorrow :).
 
It looks like you started your forum around 10 days ago. Keep filling it with content, have friends help and make it look like it's an active thriving community.

Have you considered offering a similar promo?
 
It looks like you started your forum around 10 days ago. Keep filling it with content, have friends help and make it look like it's an active thriving community.

Have you considered offering a similar promo?
I've been thinking about maybe a free game of their choice. Since a lot of games can be downloaded, it should be easy, especially if Sony offers gifting of games like steam. Promising to spend $300 to $400 is just too much right now and I'm not willing to back down on a promise.

I'm afraid that this would allow him to get a dominate lead.
 
You worry way too much, forums are LONG TERM propositions and the market share is won with hard work and endurance and content quality, not short term spikes from spam my forum contests and you get a prize crap.
 
I shouldn't worry about the software the competition is using, but rather if their content is more interesting than yours :)

Give it time, devote yourself to adding quality content, offer incentives if you think you should, but don't give up after a short time, forums take ages to get popular, unless you happen to be a splinter group from a much larger forum.

Hang in there :)
 
You need content, and you need to advertise each big article.

Right now, NGP is a big niche. I'm not a fan of portables much, but when I do own a portable, it comes with a reason. For example, I wanted to buy NDS for the castlevania games, and Mega Man Zero collection.

As of right now, you have a really good domain name for the next 2 years, and you should make the most of the name.

I own a niche game website and its a niche that is heating up right now, because the game is just about to release. I've been working hard at the site not just posting videos/posts, but also marketing to the specific fans.

So, my suggestion is to market to your niche's fanbase. How? Twitter, and Facebook.

With Twitter, I suggest using the #NGP hashtag for each one of your favorite posts, and something that would grab the attention of others. On facebook, your profile has options to create a page attached to your account. Next month, Facebook Inc is rolling out a merge of the profile and pages (but not in the way you think - merging both walls and profile information into a single profile).

Finally, E3 is just around the corner; there will be a lot of "hot topic" posts to be made for your forum. Follow it during May and June. Its those two months that the news starts booming like a flame. If you want to go to the event and get crackin' with news, I can help you out.
 
I agree with the others. Content is how you will end up on top.

People suckered in by financial or other freebies are not loyal at all. They typically come in to get their free stuff, and then leave again. If you ensure you have more information available, your site will end up the winner. Perhaps consider adding a wiki to the site?
 
Thanks for all your comments. It seems as far as google ranking for the search term "ngp forum". I'm at a disadvantage because I don't have forum in my name. others that use the forum subdomain are ranked higher.

I've also been communicating with the person that owns ngpforum[dot]com. Its hard to want to spend too much money when the name is temporary (ngp is just the codename). What would you think that domain is worth?
 
I've also been communicating with the person that owns ngpforum[dot]com. Its hard to want to spend too much money when the name is temporary (ngp is just the codename). What would you think that domain is worth?
Let me stop you right there. DO NOT. I repeat, do NOT buy a website out like that - especially if the niche doesn't have a final name for the product.

But if you have money like, right now, and willing to spend and invest in a domain name, HAVE it with you before the negotiation is going on. Because if you wait, the person with the domain name is more likely to turn around and inflate the price tag. I've been negotiating with a lot of owners recently, and one of them was stupid enough to change the asking price of the site from 3k to 10k in one month, yes a single month. This kind of unpredictability makes me cautious with negotiations now-a-days.

So, I suggest keeping at what you have right now. In fact, if I were you, I would use wordpress or similar blog platform as a frontpage of ngptalk - especially if it is hard as it is. And put the xenforo instance on a sub-domain. That's just me, my suggestion, it may, or may not work, so don't do it unless you're committed to making it successful. Don't do it unless you're willing to work at it.

"Talk" domains usually has more members, and more registrations provided that the owner puts the time, the effort, and the diligence towards the domain. A few console sites that have the talk ending in the domain have been very popular.

XboxTalk was one of them. I'm saying was, because the site is offline right now, but if you searched the site last year, you would know that the site was a big vbulletin xbox site. So big, that it even became a network of its own.
 
Your title seems to emphasize on the software. This is however not the most important part. Here's my list from important to least important: 1) Content 2) Making that content easy to find (marketing/SEO) 3) Easy & fast navigation 4) Good UI (software) 5) recognizable layout & logo.

That's what visitors need. What you as an administrator/webmaster need is a lot of dedication, time and patience ;)
 
Content is king, not what software you use. Most people couldn't care less if a board is running phpBB, vBulletin, XenForo or a custom solution. They will flock to the board with the most interesting content.
 
The title was a mistake, i was just trying to think of something catchy rather than, another site is paying people to join. I guess ill update my first post with a note.

How would i redirect links if i move it to a subdomain and get a front page blog?
 
Have you signed up for Google Webmaster Tools? You can find what search results are bringing traffic to your site and focus on them. If you want to rank high in Google, your content needs to contain the keywords that you want to bring users to your site.

Choose your thread/article titles wisely, try to fit your keywords into your title and content. While XenForo is full of SEO, its how you choose to use the SEO that will determine your ranking.
 
I've been doing all that I can think of in terms of advertising. I'm just outside of the reach of page 1 for google search "ngp forum".

what methods of advertising have you used?

Have you direct mailed your target audience?
have you advertised offline in magazines your target audience reads?
have you joint ventured with other related forums and websites?
Have you run your own contests?
Have you gotten exclusive information?
Have you hit the social market?
Did you make a promo video and viralize it?
Have you dominated your local market with business cards and flyers?
Have you gotten press and publicity?
Have you interviewed anyone from Sony?
etc
etc
etc

over 200 weapons a Guerrilla Marketer can use...I am positive you have a long way before exhausting your advertising vehicles.
 
what methods of advertising have you used?

Have you direct mailed your target audience?
have you advertised offline in magazines your target audience reads?
have you joint ventured with other related forums and websites?
Have you run your own contests?
Have you gotten exclusive information?
Have you hit the social market?
Did you make a promo video and viralize it?
Have you dominated your local market with business cards and flyers?
Have you gotten press and publicity?
Have you interviewed anyone from Sony?
etc
etc
etc

over 200 weapons a Guerrilla Marketer can use...I am positive you have a long way before exhausting your advertising vehicles.
Yeah I agree theres always something more I can do. I'd love to get my own news story. I think I'd have a lot more leverage if I my forum was already popular.

I've been going to general gaming forums, ive done videos on youtube. I have a Facebook page setup that I'll try to work on. I guess I can try local marketing.

Do you think a contest is a good idea? Or,

You worry way too much, forums are LONG TERM propositions and the market share is won with hard work and endurance and content quality, not short term spikes from spam my forum contests and you get a prize crap.

I don't want any spam and I've visited the other website and it seems he has had to delete at least a hundred posts.

Currently I'm focusing on other gaming forums, twitter, reddit, and yahoo answers. I also was using my free $100 adwords credit.
 
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