Running a forum... takes work!

[wehost4u]

Running on online community, I believe, takes ALOT of work. Just to get one started, to get topics and postings. It's almost as much work as advertising your new website. Well, it IS advertising your new website.

Having found the exchangerforums has brought a few posters to our new http://wehost4u.net/forums [nofollow]. But I can see it will take alot of work to get the word out that the forums are there!

[docquesting]

I doubt he wants self promotion so I wont post my url. I concur that it is a lot of hard work but rewarding once you start seeing results. I look forward to the time mine can be self independant.

[mutex]

Actually, I don't have a problem with people posting links to their own sites.  I know a lot of people are very touchy about that, but I'm pretty flexible.

[Caitlyn]

mutex, it pays off to be flexible in all aspects of life.

anyway, on topic, it does take a lot of work to run a forum. with a strong team, determination, and advertising you'll do great and it will pay off. you do have to work though. it doesn't happen by itself.

[jenn-x]

Running forums looks like a lot of work.  What makes you do it?

[ohcnetwork]

Running forums looks like a lot of work.  What makes you do it?

It takes a lot of effort, but there aren't many other ways to create content collaboratively.  It does take a lot of effort and time, but you can really create a lot of content if you manage right.

[Scolls]

I'm also flexible at http://www.massdebation.com. In fact, there's an area for just that!

I personally think it's better for SE's to encounter sites that feed them more (working) links than "dead-end" sites that have no outbound links at all.

But that's just my personal opinion... 

[mutex]

I think you're right that search engines do factor in the quality of a site's outbound links as well as their inbound ones.  Can't prove it, though.  A lot of forums out there are very very against posting links to home pages or other sites in sigs, etc.  Part of the reason people hit forums is to advertise their own site, so it seems like a win all the way around.

[ohcnetwork]

I think you're right that search engines do factor in the quality of a site's outbound links as well as their inbound ones.  Can't prove it, though.  A lot of forums out there are very very against posting links to home pages or other sites in sigs, etc.  Part of the reason people hit forums is to advertise their own site, so it seems like a win all the way around.

Two of my forums make sig links visible to SE and the other two make sig links invisible to SE.  I'm kind of experimenting.

[Scolls]

Yeah, I'm thinking of actually doing the same. Too many irrelevant links can make you look like a link-farm! And google doesn't appreciate link farms much!

Probably better to rather have say 2 good outbound links per page to relevant sites. 

[Danecookie]

that hell ov a work!!
remember, forums automatically get to life when they are populated with different topics

[mutex]

Yeah, but you still have to find people who want to read those threads... 

[spudevo]

i agree that  fourms take time to grow and the more u can offer the better i think it will grow

[cricket]

True, it takes a lot to make forums running. However if you have got nearly 5 moderators who post and 2 or 3 users posting regularly then every newbie seems to jump in and it all goes well.

[mutex]

I don't have that luxury yet   Still pretty small here.