Member Avatar for wwezone

Hi, i've just made a new forum but am stuck for ways to advertise it! I'm not prepared to spend money to advertise it as it may not be succesful and it would be a waste of money. Does anyone know any good, FREE, tips on advertising a forum?
If you want to look at the forum (it's about wwe) heres the URL:
<< url snipped to comply with forum policy >>
(as you can see I only have 3 members including myself!)
I've tried advertising on numerous forums I already use but no luck!

NOTE: I'm not trying to secretly advertise my site, i just want tips on how to advertise.

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Dani AI

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Building on ’s point about the personal touch and ’s concern that an empty board looks lifeless, here’s a compact, no-cost plan that avoids spammy shortcuts and focuses on real retention.

Seed the board with a handful of high-signal threads that invite responses rather than just information dumps. Examples for a WWE forum: a short, dated PPV recap with 2–3 specific questions; a “prediction poll” for upcoming shows; a wrestler career timeline that asks for fan memories; a “best match under 10 minutes” list that asks members to rank top five. For each thread, write a 200–400 word opener, add one clear call-to-action and a single poll or voting mechanism so visitors know how to reply.

Turn every new registrant into a returning member. Pin a one-click “Introduce yourself” thread and a brief “how to start a great match thread” template. Use your forum software to send an automated welcome message that asks a simple question (e.g., “Which show did you watch last?”) and set a moderator goal: respond to every first post within 24–48 hours. Create a small “Founders” recognition (title, badge or sticky), give them simple duties (seed replies, welcome new users) and rotate the role to keep momentum.

Drive traffic without paying for meaningless signups. Share value-first content: short highlight clips or a 60–90 second recap video with “Discuss on the forum” in the description; start a lightweight Discord for real-time chat and link back to longer forum debates; cross-post a single high-value thread to relevant fan communities but respect their rules. Measure what matters: new-member retention after 7 days, replies-per-thread, and pages-per-visit. If retention is low, check mobile usability and signup friction first.

A practical 30-day rhythm: Week 1 seed 8–12 starter threads + enable analytics; Week 2 invite a few engaged fans and set reply goals; Week 3 run two timed discussion threads (live-show or PPV); Week 4 review metrics, spotlight contributors and iterate. Avoid buying bulk signups—real discussion grows from repeat engagement, not numbers on a scoreboard.

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Member Avatar for cdwhalley.com

Uh, if you weren't trying to secretly advertise your site, you wouldn't post the URL.

Member Avatar for alpha2006

The problem is that your forum is empty. So when most people visit your forum and don't find many members there, they simply need.
You need to get a few people to start posting threads and giving some life to the forum. You can hire forum posters and pay them for each post.

Once you get a wide range of topics in your forum, the search engines will eventually pick up certain keywords and your forum will start appearing in search results.

Good luck.

Member Avatar for SEOiscool

The problem is that your forum is empty. So when most people visit your forum and don't find many members there, they simply need.
You need to get a few people to start posting threads and giving some life to the forum. You can hire forum posters and pay them for each post.

Once you get a wide range of topics in your forum, the search engines will eventually pick up certain keywords and your forum will start appearing in search results.

Good luck.

I agree: users pull users. I understand you do not want to waste any money so, why not trying to put some quality articles in your forum, work on your meta-taggs, do some link exchange with similiar sites , submit your forum to directories and, in the meanwhile, gather your freinds to help you by registering and posting. Also do not forget to post something new everday- and do not post only garbage just to fill in spaces; build good content to your forum.

Member Avatar for 010081

put some contents register 10-15 member yourself and start chatting like crazy with each other this is the best way other guest finds forum is active and join it ,register to other forums and post your link to signature and start posting on forum ,i bets it will grow your forum freely

Member Avatar for goodboy18

There are free ways and cheap ways you can get major traffic on your website. for the free means:
1. u can submit ur site for free to yahoo, msn, google, and aol.
2. Submit your site to major web site directories, especially DMOZ
3. join forums that are related to ur site, and Strategically mention your web site in message boards and newsgroups with a similar topic. search engines love to visit forums and message boards a lot.
4. consider writing free articles and mentioning ur site in the articles.
5. Exchange links with other webmasters, but only with sites that are related to yours (reciprocal linking)

Ok, those are the free means. the other alternative you have is to pay a company to do all the work for you. But you know there're lots of liers out there so be careful which company you choose.

Member Avatar for Dani

I'll tell you what I tell all new forum owners. Forum visitors are selfish. They only care when what THEY have to say is replied to, and they will come back if it is. So don't focus on how empty your forum is. Instead focus on one member at a time. Make sure everyone who DOES register or post - no matter how few and far between - receives the welcome they deserve. Now that's the way to build founding members!!

Member Avatar for 010081

I'll tell you what I tell all new forum owners. Forum visitors are selfish. They only care when what THEY have to say is replied to, and they will come back if it is. So don't focus on how empty your forum is. Instead focus on one member at a time. Make sure everyone who DOES register or post - no matter how few and far between - receives the welcome they deserve. Now that's the way to build founding members!!

yea thats the point
and if you would like to spend some just $5-10 you'll get members from getpaidforum or other forum just give them $0.2 or sth and tell them to sign up your forum this way you have 40-50 members from these members atleast 10 members will be interested to come to your forum may br for advertisement or sth as its empty who'll get first they will get chances to show off themselves so this works i did the same

Member Avatar for newonlineinfo

Hi, Try to get some good related links with high PR. You can also post articles and submit it in many websites, where they accept article for free :)

Let me know if you need one-way links :) with good PR related to your forum and website ;)

Member Avatar for weblaunch

It helps to have a website associated with the forum. It's always hard to build forum membership from scratch. You can run contests and offer prizes to top posters. You can also write an article related to your forum and submit them to various article directories. Often you have to choose between spending a lot of time and spending a lot of money to get traffic.

Good luck!

Member Avatar for Dani

I don't think it's a choice. I think even if you DO spend a lot of money, you still have to spend a lot of time :-P

Member Avatar for paulmarc

That's right Dani. People often think they can succeed simply by putting out a little more money and a little less time. If is was that easy, then we'd likely all be rich! You have to work for something if you really want it/want to be good at it!

Paul-Marc

Member Avatar for Dani

Absolutely. I mean, I spend a LOT of money per month on DaniWeb, and I still work 9 to 9 on it daily. :)

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