What's the best way to advertise....

[Goldenboko]

Whats the best way to get people to go to a forum? For example I made a forum *snip* oh no you don't! And almost noones signed up. I put it in my sig for a while. Then I just attached it to my image because noone was coming. So what do you think is the best way to advertise a forum?

[rubah]

Usually forums get started because there's a group of friends that radiates out, or there's one person and they have a large fanbase because people enjoy going to their site. That or they're the first forum in a topic area so they've got a temporary monopoly.

[Martyr]

What you're doing now works alright, but the best way is SPAM!

Spam is always exciting, and people will check you out just for the primal thrill of seeing you beaten, raped, and banned.

But rubah's answer best covers you for a forum that wants members and longevity instead of spontaneous hits.

[Tavrobel]

Make a deal with the devil for your soul Microsoft or Google.

I guess it's not that different, I suppose.

[black orb]

Whats the best way to get people to go to a forum?

>>> Put a big semi-naked anime chick banner on the main page..

[DarkLadyNyara]

Get a bunch of friends to join and have them invite more people.

[Jojee]

Don't do the PM advertisements, those are rather annoying .-.

Have friends and tell your friends ^^ Fastest way. Better if you have a lot of friends ^_^

[DarkLadyNyara]

Don't do the PM advertisements, those are rather annoying

Thank you. Yes, they are annoying.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Don't do the PM advertisements, those are rather annoying

Thank you. Yes, they are annoying.

And we ban for continued offenses, as well as people who join only to do that.

Anyway, I'd say if you're serious about getting a forum, you should do the following things:

1. DON'T USE A FREE BOARD. I cannot stress this enough. If I see invisionfree or proboards or whatever in the URL, I immediately exit out as it's already proven it's not worth it. If you want a serious forum, you gotta pay for it.

2. Have other content besides just the forum. Look at this site, it has a frontsite that draws attention.

3. Have a specific enough niche-topic. People go to forums to discuss something. A hugely generalist forum will not work. Have some specific focus that unites all of the people who might be posting there.

4. Advertise the hell out of it. PM spamvertising is pretty tacky, but if you have other content you can usually find ways to advertise it. Note that this may cost money.

5. Get lucky. Duplicating the success of another board is nigh impossible. Some boards sink, others swim. In the end, most of it is up to your luck.

[o_O]

Rent a large billboard in a busy urban centre, and on this billboard, place the URL of your forum and a picture of something that everyone likes, like a time machine.

[Elite Lord Sigma]

Make sig add-ons, and dish them out to everybody who's a member of your forums.

[Avarice-ness]

I'm currently advertising giving Proto usernotes.

[Venom]

I'd start praying if I were you.

[XxSephirothxX]

Unless it's unique, it'll probably die. But strictly for advertising advice: invite people you know. IM your friends, get them to IM their friends, and so on. You're not going to get much traffic simply by having a link that says "Please join my forum!" because everybody does that. Unless you get lucky and can get a bunch of people you know to join up, and your forum is just a "hang out" board, you'll probably need an actual website to draw attention--and that's a whole 'nother issue.

[blackmage_nuke]

Reverse pshycology and subliminal messaging

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