Comments on: Should You Add a Forum to Your Site?

By: Bruce Mackay

Bruce Mackay — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:46:40 +0000

Your Message Hi again I have been reading through your comments and I have been thinking of starting a forum for a sales site on reloading products I have two websites on this and over twenty static pages like squids. to drive traffic but a forum could be awesome the reloading site is reloadingbench.ca I could not use that site to forum but I have an hostgator hosting with lots of room left I would have to learn how much I may need I will get into it if I have time I am in the middle of doing a couple sales campaigns right now. I do want to come back and make better contact soon. :Bruce

By: Gil Cintron

Gil Cintron — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:13:03 +0000

Hi wonderful article, I’m glad I found it even though your posted it way back in 2005. I am about to launch a free service for people wanting to start a forum. In doing my research via google came across your article. Good information which is still applicable today. So Mr. Yaro Starak do you mind if I use this article on my new site? Of course I would keep all your links and give you all the due credits.

Maybe in a few days when I “open” the doors you’ll stop by and add a word or two on the forum.

Thanks a bunch,

Gil

By: Yaro

Yaro — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 11:52:23 +0000

Hi Massimo…I’m not sure what you mean? You don’t like the term sticky?

By: Massimo Moruzzi

Massimo Moruzzi — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:09:01 +0000

sticky?
what is this, back to 1999 ?

By: Yaro

Yaro — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 04:36:49 +0000

Hmm, I don’t think blogs are replacing forums, but they certainly have similar barriers to success. A blog can continue quite nicely as long as the owner continues to post. If the owner stops the blog will die. With a successful forum if the owner stops contributing it can have next to no impact at all, the forum will continue to prosper.

I stopped posting heavily in my forum probably after the first year. I still visited regularly to play the father figure but besides that the regulars kept the place going.

I think if I stopped posting to this blog it would die a quick death.

By: Plusone Marketing

Plusone Marketing — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 04:23:56 +0000

A well balanced view Yaro. Forums are notoriously hard to get going and keep going. I participate in one that has promotion every week to 150,000 newsletter subscribers, but other than 5-6 of us who post on a regular basis, the forum would have died.

Interestingly, I never visit the main site, just the forum.

I agree 100% with your observation that you must put in lots of effort to post, support and nurture in the early months/years. If people think that finding new information for a website is hard (and a blog is next most difficult) then finding the material to feed a forum, (while not sounding like a self promoter or just a repository of articles), is very difficult.

But maybe blogs are taking over in a way? Thoughts?