How to get more forum members

[msaqib]

my website is about C/C++

<< url snipped to comply with forum policy >>

how can i get more forums members...
i joined some programming groups but could not get much forum members.

Any one advise me

Saqib

[mikeandike22]

get a group of people to join (or just join yourself with more than one account) then just have ppl or yourself ask questions that you can answer. You just need to draw hype to your site also you should add yourself to yahoo and google.

[msaqib]

hmm thats right...
I am already doing these stuff but i have only 3-4 ppl doing these stuff....

lol

[mikeandike22]

these stuff

that is not gramatically correct

and like i said make people that you know have several different accounts and make each person post in each account at least once.

[Mighty_Squid]

If you feel like paying you can use Google AdWords. It's not that expensive.

It's $5 to set up and you can limit it to only costing you $1 a day. I have had success on clicks but not on getting new members. However I just think my site sucks. ;)

[Scribbller]

Best method is to get fellow programmers whom you work with to join up, get a couple of good moderators. Provide good exclusive content give people a reason as to why they should join your forum rather than say daniweb or any other programming forums.

[php4ever]

msaqib;
Heres a little fact;

I have a forum that is currently by invitation only and I started by offering tutorials. I build tutorials in flash to teach about Photoshop, Dreamweaver, FLASH, PHP/MySQL, VB, VBA. All these tutorials are of course free and people are hitting my site hourly because of google search results. I have a blue page with nothing on it except a statistic scripts running in the background tracking all the referring links. I have had 3100 visits in the last 4 weeks. I haven't even posted the site with a front door yet. Google, MSN, & Yahoo bots have been cruising my site. Can you see what’s happening here?

1) Offer something;
2) Find your unique selling proposition statement and make it central to your entire forum.
3) Give incentive! Why would I, a programmer, with a background in psychology and marketing, want to register to your site?
4) Publish News. Publish everything you possibly can with the broadest appeal you can think of.
5) People are silently begging to be lead. People have the power to choose their beliefs (which is a weakness of the species) but you have the power to direct them. Most if not all people don’t even take conscious responsibility for the things they believe in. That can be exploited.

Good Luck.

Jared.

P.S. The above suggestions are my own and are not likely typical of most forum owners.
I operate from this belief and philosophy, that ALL people are my personal property, I own all of them. God created, Jesus died for, and I own. That’s my belief. If 99% of the world’s people don't take responsibility for their beliefs, then I see it as 99% of the world’s people as mine. I'll direct their beliefs and lead them as I choose.

[MYonit]

hi i have created a community based website, a bit like myspace or bebo, but i am having tropuvble getting members, not because site is no good but i do not know where to get members or how and where to advertise free??

please help me

[ahnonamis]

One nice trick is to post at other forums, but include your forum link in your signature or profile. NEVER directly advertise it or tell people to go there, but if you make quality posts or help people out, they'll likely check out what it is.

[guinanie]

You need to look for a webmaster forums with a lot of members.

[Juiced]

Good advice, Jared. Thanks.

[XHIBIT]

I have read each reply to the initial question and disagree strongly.
I own an online movie site thats not even 3 weeks old and have recieved 11,000 hits from 42 countries.
Im no stranger when it comes to gathering groups of people to a site.
My formulas are simple and time proven.

1) KEEP IT SIMPLE: People dont like eyesore sites, that are cluttered and user unfriendly.
2) CONSIDER YOUR FORUM MARKET: If its computer related, then target your crowd by posting in various forums in the same field. Though this is extremely competitive and there are no gurantees anyone will join, you have to make them want to feel as though they have something to gain by becoming a member. As one of the earlier posts suggests, offer them something.
3) ASSEMBLE A MODERATOR STAFF: Have them help promote your site as well. One man cannot move an entire mountain. And the best advertisement is word of mouth.
4) PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE: Enter you site in search engines, exchange link banners, build a network with other forums owners and create a web wing or alliance. Invite everyone you know from your instant messengers.

These are just a few time proven guidelines I've applied to the many sites Ive started for people.
But the most important of all is 2 things.

1) Deny access to all forums unless they are members and registered.
2) Your homepage must be something different from all the other 235,128,892,363,486,012,351,234,045 forums online.

[franco7]

Hello! I recently opened a Multi-Topic forum and I'm having a little difficulty getting people to join. I just wanted to say that this forum has many great ideas and tips on how to get people to join. As a matter of fact I think that this is one of the most helpful forums around. If there is anyone who has the same problem as me, contact me and maybe we can join each others forums and help each other out. Let's build a multi-community which will benefit us all.

[Livingstrong]

Hello! I recently opened a Multi-Topic forum and I'm having a little difficulty getting people to join. I just wanted to say that this forum has many great ideas and tips on how to get people to join. As a matter of fact I think that this is one of the most helpful forums around. If there is anyone who has the same problem as me, contact me and maybe we can join each others forums and help each other out. Let's build a multi-community which will benefit us all.

Hi, I like to get in touch with you but I just couldn't find a "Contact Me" button on your forum site. You are welcome to visit my site and get in touch with me and we can discuss something.

[Dani]

XHIBIT, I agree with most of what you've said except for denying access to non-registered members. What incentive is there to sign up if you don't know what types of discussions there are? The curiosity factor might get you more members registering than otherwise would, but I don't think you'll end up getting more posts by forcing registrations.

[beamup]

Hi

I agree with cscgal girl too. Because most of the time when if any forums ask to register, I disappear because I dont know whether there is quality conversation inside or not and I don' want to waste my time..UNLESS the forum has good PR and has been recommended..

Steve

[XHIBIT]

My point exactly...I forgot to mention however, I will allow sneak peeks maybe once or twice a month (usually for a weekend). I concur that in most cases restricting guests into the forums may not apply to all groups due to the content they have posted. But with me providing embedded movie releases, surely you can see why I choose otherwise.
In my community a guest will quite often hotlink to a competitor site what he sees posted in my movie forums and I have no way of preventing it from happening,
But for the most part I'm pretty liberal about guests. After all ...we all were a guest somewhere or another at one point.
LOL

[Dani]

XHibit, do you mean that you have movies on your site and other people are hotlinking to them from other sites? You can prevent that from happening by setting up an .htaccess file where your files can only be accessed from domains of your choosing.

[XHIBIT]

Well Ive discussed that with a few people, and the threat of INTELLECUTUAL PROPERTY issues always seem to hover about.
In this arena most online movies you see are actually all from the same source.
I'm just tryin to cut chances down a bit of a guest doing it. My philosophy is if he wants to see it then join.
In fact I often go to my competitor sites to see what they have brewing and hotlink to them while not logged in. Even though I have an account. But what seperates my site is that I embed my movies so my members never leave the site.
In my experience most forum members are pretty loyal to their favorite forums. So its just part of the game we're forced to play.