Website - some members = no posts

Also I was just wondering is it worth spending money on Google Ads to get some initial people using the forum?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post203231-9.html

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post232134-7.html

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post96150-3.html

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post203231-9.html

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post232134-7.html

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/post96150-3.html

Hello thanks for the advice.

I was just wondering you say I must keep postings myself.

But posting aload of topics with no replies in them surely is not going to look very good?

How did you get members to join daniweb? Did you have to pay for advertising? Did you write articles and post them on other sites etc? I just cannot believe that the only thing you did was to continue posting in the forum.

Because if I saw a forum with aload of topics in it but with no posts I would not think much of it.

I am in a situation where I have not really got any loyal members, I could post say 10 topics up about something, but the chances are only one of them would get a single reply if that.

Well that is the trick. ONE member replies. Instantly jump on that one reply, and comment about it, encourage more discussion about it, etc. Eventually you will get into a conversation with that one member who did reply. Eventually a second member will jump in, etc. And so on and so forth.

Advertising in the early stages does no good because once they arrive at your site, then what? It's empty.

Well that is the trick. ONE member replies. Instantly jump on that one reply, and comment about it, encourage more discussion about it, etc. Eventually you will get into a conversation with that one member who did reply. Eventually a second member will jump in, etc. And so on and so forth.

Advertising in the early stages does no good because once they arrive at your site, then what? It's empty.

Hello,

I have tried that before and managed to get a conversation going with the first member, but after that the first member never comes back to create more conversations. By the time the second member gets there, the first member has left lol.

I will keep at it and try and get some members to stick around.

Well, a community is made by more people, not just you. It's true that you NEED to post new threads on a daily basis. Even if no one replies at first THEY WILL eventually. Start some post exchanges. In many webmaster forums you'll see threds like "10:10 post exchange and so on". Make 2-3 daily. That would mean 60-90 new members in a month and few hundred posts. not a lot, but something moving.

Don't give up and don't despair ;)

Well, a community is made by more people, not just you. It's true that you NEED to post new threads on a daily basis. Even if no one replies at first THEY WILL eventually. Start some post exchanges. In many webmaster forums you'll see threds like "10:10 post exchange and so on". Make 2-3 daily. That would mean 60-90 new members in a month and few hundred posts. not a lot, but something moving.

Don't give up and don't despair ;)

Alright, but what are post exchanges?

Post exchanges are when you do a trade with another forum owner where you will post X times on his site and he will post X times on yours.

Post exchanges are when you do a trade with another forum owner where you will post X times on his site and he will post X times on yours.

Ahh i see.

How long as DaniWeb been around?

Roughly 3 years.

you need alot more than 255 members, u need to have lots

Even one member is important if they are hardworking, dedicated to your site, and can contribute a lot every day. Never underestimate the value of a good moderator. It only takes one person to set the tone of the site. A loud person can speak over a crowd of thousands in the Internet world.

Even one member is important if they are hardworking, dedicated to your site, and can contribute a lot every day. Never underestimate the value of a good moderator. It only takes one person to set the tone of the site. A loud person can speak over a crowd of thousands in the Internet world.

this is true :cool:

It's important not to get overwhelmed by the numbers and focus on each individual of a community as potentially infinitely valuable.

Their are many different ways in which you can get more people interested in your community, the first and most important thing to do is to gather a group of dedicated people who can help you to promote your site their are such things as link exchanges which allow you to swap links with other forums, get people to write reviews of your community on other 'community talk' forums like this one, the most important thing is to never give up! I found it hard at first to get members to join but eventually they will post of their own accord, trust me! Why not send out a newsletter every month which can inform users of 'hot topics' on the forum this really encourages users to come back to the site to look around. Also try and come up with your own immaginative way of getting around this 'problem' try and think 'outside the box' great idea's don't need lots of money and a big staff team. Remeber one key thing: When you join up to any forum/website always place your url in your signature and profile not only does this help to get your website out their by people clicking on the link in your signature but it can also help to boost your search engine ranking.

Thanks,

William