Using RSS Auto-Posting to Increase Traffic and Activity

I discussed the use of friends to boost your board in my last article, now let me give you what could be a forum gold mine. Now, I'm not familiar with Invision or phpBB, but vBulletin has the ability to set up a limitless amount of RSS bots that post news from all across the web. If you don't have friends online or are just looking for that extra something for your forum, this is the route for you. These posts can get you tons of pages on search engines, and if you're using the vBulletin SEO software, you can get not only lots of traffic, but a reputation of having the best source for news people want to see. There's a wealth of information out there and with this amazing feature, you can take advantage of that.

Use Friends to Help Your Infant Forum

One way to cope with the "new member blues" is to have supportive friends. If you have friends who share common interests, they'll be more than willing to help you. Offer them a job to do on your board, like moderating and maybe even share ad space with them. Having those first few members who want habitually discuss your board's niche will draw in new members for sure. Don't resort to paid posters or even making accounts and talking to yourself, build a board that can start and end with a great reputation. You'll thank me in the future.

Tips for New Forum Owners

The key to success with forums is not just about marketing, seo, backlinks, it's about your niche. You can be the best online marketer and an SEO expert, but if no one wants to discuss your topic, you're out of luck. Don't simply choose a popular forum topic or the one that is proven to get the most traffic and makes the most money. Choose a niche YOU like, find a subject you know a lot about and can discuss endlessly with like-minded others.

Unfortunately for me, my niches are technology, gaming, and webmaster discussions. These are the topics that forums today are massively overly populated with. They are also the hardest subjects to drive traffic to, and especially monetize. However, if you utilize the knowledge you've learned about internet marketing, seo and combine them with your skills you know about your niche, you may well build a successful community.

Check back tomorrow for more helpful tips!