Member Avatar for Rakka

I am starting to run out of ideas and was hoping i might be able to get some advice on marketing my site/forum but i will give you a quick run-down on what i have done to promote and a little background of the site..

AYW was started 2 years ago just as a forum. The forum has over 250 members and more than doubled in the past year. The forum had a server change a yr ago so there should be over 70,000 threads but information was lost in the transition but it is a very busy little forum.

The only page of the site was the forum but in the past month the site has been redesigned as well as the forum hence the lack of information links on the pages, but i am starting to gather text links to add which i am happy to have for free.. I will be starting an online giftstore in the next few months so i really need to promote the site.

I have advertised in the following;

* australian business directories
* pay per month for search engine submissions
* google ad words are already on site
* classified ads (free & paid)
* tee'd up AYW as a main link on 2 large australian websites
* added the banner to topsites exchanges for women community/forums
* submitted the site to a few magazines (which haven't been published sadly)
* about to try google ad words

There are a few more places i have added the site, just can't remember them all right now, so where can i go next? Any advice would be appreciated and i am ALL for constructive critisim.. :cheesy:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by intpartners

Dani AI

Generated

Good progress so far, — steady membership growth is the hardest part. Two practical ways to turn that active base into more traffic and (soon) meaningful revenue: make your best forum content discoverable, and keep members coming back.

Convert high-value threads into evergreen, SEO-friendly pages. Pick top threads by views or search referrals, rewrite them into clear Q&A or how-to pages, add an H1 and short intro, then link those pages back to the original threads so Google and visitors land in the forum context. For basic SEO steps and on-page guidance see Moz Beginner's Guide to SEO.

Use visual social channels that match a giftshop audience. Pinterest and Instagram are great for gift ideas and product discovery; create themed boards (occasion, age, price), pin lifestyle shots that link to a relevant thread or product page, and test small paid pins to find what resonates. See Pinterest Business for formats and best practices.

Build simple email onboarding and retention flows: a welcome message, a weekly digest of hot threads, and targeted notes to top contributors. This turns occasional visitors into repeat participants and buyers. Mailchimp has straightforward guides for setting up that kind of funnel: Mailchimp Resources.

Also follow and advice selectively: pursue editorial features or blogger partnerships for credibility, and scale article-writing by repurposing forum threads. Measure what works (repeat visit rate, thread conversions, signups) and double down. Keep community safety and a welcoming tone front and center; retention beats one-off traffic.

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Member Avatar for roryt

If the site is an actual business venture then you should try advertising in some womens magazines and possibly newspapers. You should also make some posts in other people forums (that are on your topic) with your domain in your signature.

You should keep up google adwords and try other advertising campaigns. I received an information pack from microsoft the other day about Microsoft Adcenter. You may like to research that.

Good luck

Member Avatar for intpartners

Seems as though it could be quite the task to get your website noticed especially with so many out there. And, the site does have to have something different then the others, talk about having to be creative.

I have been writing articles for several years online and have found that it helps with getting my sites linked.

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