Forum Software

[kingcobra]

Well this is sort of an SEO related question given how much better looking this one is then the crappy ones I`ve had over the years. In particular when folks were talking about VB SEO or something I started thinking about the free crap that comes with hosting being not so SEO friendly and according to popular opinion this one being pretty good.

So for starters I can lease a license for a single site for $100 and then it says they will charge you $150 to install it on your server, plus whatever other costs. I know very little about sql and enough to know I really don`t have a clue and in other attempts to install stuff the instructions completely blow and presuppose way more knowledge than I have and if they are charging that much for an installation that scares me even more.

So we`re probably talking $250 here per site and to be honest I`ve never had any luck promoting forums and never get beyond more than a few peeps active. So the question is, what do I get for my money here? Is the cool header and other similar stuff part of the license or is that add on software for more money? What else do I have to buy? How much better is the SEO side of the thing vs. say phpBB?

[TexasHoldEmHank]

VBulletin has more flexibility for configuring options than just about any other board. It also has a ton of additional modules that you can use with it. Dealer Dan over at PokerAffiliateBible has a good article about VB up right now.

However it's also interesting that he recommends that you just don't run a forum at all, since it's an energy/time waster and won't prove profitable for a good long while.

[DealerDan]

However it's also interesting that he recommends that you just don't run a forum at all, since it's an energy/time waster and won't prove profitable for a good long while.

Yeah I've written a lot about that before - mostly over at PAP I think so search over there for forum related discussion and I think I've went into more detail. Long story short people think it is "cool" to run a forum - and it really is - but they don't understand the work that goes into maintaining it, administrating/moderating it OR how to actually profit from it, and the result at the end of the day is most people spend countless hours working on their forum which brings in no revenue.

Ken - you've got a forum just now I see, but look at the lack of traffic on it. Changing software won't help that. Now a lot of things depend on your site, the visitors etc, but one thing you could do - you focus on strategy, so get a mailing/discussion list going, where people can post and discuss strategy and so on. Be very active in it, mail tips out via it, make it important that people sign up. Offer exclusive stuff on there. Get people talking, build a community there, then you can take it to a forum. You're best to build a small community first then go from there. That's just one option. Comments on your articles, shoutbox etc are other methods - but mailing/discussion lists are underutilized these days - I can't remember the last time I saw one mentioned on a site, and I think it could do very well.

[DealerDan]

BTW if you do end up buying vbulletin anyway, do yourself a favour and figure it all out yourself. There are many mods to make the forums better, and you don't want to be running to a coder every time you need it done. Plus the software gets updated regularly. If you're having to go to a coder every time you need a change, it would be quite costly. Once you get the hang of it, it is super easy.

[Mr-AJ]

I fully recommend Vbulletin even for forum noobs. I'm not a tech guy at all so I hired a student to set it up and make some adjustments. He put a nice template on it and made a few specific changes. The rest however could be easily done in the VB backend and I was pretty surprised that I could have made most of the changes he already did.

[Ridge]

The thruth is that you need traffic first and then you can consider a forum. I don't know your situation, but if you have the traffic, then maybe you are ready for a community. It is such hard work but forums are a gold mine for sure.

Just like any place, there is work, DRAMA, MORE DRAMA, and a shit ton of DRAMA, mixed in with free content, good friends, and good money.. It can be worth it.

I wrote about this over at PAP - So many people expect to throw up a forum and people flock to it. That is obv. unrealistic. We have to be able to offer something that 2+2, Cardchats, or every other forum doesn't offer.

Like Jeremy does here, you have to give your members a sense of ownership to the forum, and then you will have loyal members that come to YOU when they need something (New Rooom, Rakeback Deal, etc). That is both good and bad.

If you want a community, be ready to be totally focused on it for the next 6 months.

[MPC]

I always liked simple machines forum (SMF) which is free. Lot's of plugins and add-ons already available. Highly customizable. I can't recommenede specific add-ons for SEO purpose because I've never used them personally, but there's options.