No.Paid ads? Campaigns on social media?
That's where I would spend money. On articles. But they need to be QUALITY and USEFUL. Not AI garbelitygook.Buy content for threads and articles?
This is the best way IMO.get a bunch of friends to have a convo about whatever your niche is one the site.
Create your own content. Encourage discussion with good content. Grow the forum organically. Make it interesting.How.
I've seen xenforo forums with posts published every 10 seconds.
Where am i best to invest that money? Seo? Paid ads? Campaigns on social media? Buy content for threads and articles?
Then what, the Xenforo fairy showed up and enchanted the place so all the laptop wielding dwarves just rushed to post threads?Create your own content. Encourage discussion with good content. Grow the forum organically. Make it interesting.
Store-bought content will likely be crap and its effects (if any) temporary at best, IMO.
To be fair.... my forum doesn't have "posts published every 10 seconds." My forum is small potatoes in the spectrum of forums. Daily posts are currently averaging 60 - 100. But I started with zero almost 3 years ago (February 2022). I've spent $0 on promotion. I wouldn't dare even consider paying for content.
Current stats:
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OK... About three years ago, there was another popular forum that covered this particular niche subject. It shut down unexpectedly for unknown reasons. Just shut down. At that time I was a fairly new member. A few other long-established members tried to start some spin-off forums. They used free forum platforms, which were cumbersome and clunky. So I decided to give it a go myself with a first-class platform (Xenforo and private hosting), paying for it all myself.Then what, the Xenforo fairy showed up and enchanted the place so all the laptop wielding dwarves just rushed to post threads?
I'm not being mean, but I've been dying to see a real world example of a normal person starting up a forum and to understand how it unfolds.
In your case, if you started almost 3 years ago, how did happen. How did users find your site, why and how would they write there?
There's a site called incels.is. Their story is about the same as yours. Their circle got banned into oblivion from Reddit, and someone decided to draw the stick and made a forum. All the refugees populated his newly set up site, and without much marketing beyond the users himself this niche turned into a machine.OK... About three years ago, there was another popular forum that covered this particular niche subject. It shut down unexpectedly for unknown reasons. Just shut down. At that time I was a fairly new member. A few other long-established members tried to start some spin-off forums. They used free forum platforms, which were cumbersome and clunky. So I decided to give it a go myself with a first-class platform (Xenforo and private hosting), paying for it all myself.
Word spread and now mine is the "last forum standing." The other spin-offs are now gone. Growth is slow but steady. It's a niche topic, so it's not likely to grow to a BIG forum. But who knows? Maybe it will! But I'm keeping my "day job."
Like most endeavors in life, I think you get out of it what you put into it. Success in any pursuit is made of effort and persistence.
Depending on your forum topic, there can be a LOT of competition. And even if there isn't, you're competing with social media like Facebook, Reddit, etc. So, depending on your goals, it's going to take a TON of energy to create a community that people want to COME BACK to. That's the REAL trick.... getting people to RETURN to your forum and participate. That's where the "community" factors in big time.
The community "vibe" will first reflect the owner / founder and then the members he or she attracts.... and then who the active members attract. The "Law of Attraction".... "birds of a feather"..... or "like attracts like." Whichever aphorism you prefer.
I'm a big believer in minimal moderation / censorship. I'm a strict advocate of Free Speech. I believe that members are adults that should be treated like adults.
There's a site called incels.is. Their story is about the same as yours. Their circle got banned into oblivion from Reddit, and someone decided to draw the stick and made a forum. All the refugees populated his newly set up site, and without much marketing beyond the users himself this niche turned into a machine.
So you just jumped onto a wave, you lucked out.
For the rest of us, things are less certain. I don't have a niche that stands atop a snowball rolling down the hill.
LOL! Brilliant!Ask questions about things.
Answer it inorrectly.
Let other people flood your site with corrections.
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