Forums: Jump Start Your Forum Website

1. Create Fake Users

This effective, yet unscrupulous, strategy has been used by many webmasters to get their forum off the ground. The idea is to create fake users and post for them everyday while you are actively promoting your forum. When other visitors see that there is an active conversation going on, then they will become interested and wish to take part in the activity.

2. Keep The Forum Current

Nothing turns off visitors more than an empty forum. The first thing they will check is to see how many posts are on in the forum. Then they will check to see when the last post is. If you want to encourage new members to sign up and participate, then try your best to keep the forum updated by posting at least one new message everyday. Even if the post is by the Forum owner, it is encouraging to new visitors to know that someone is living there and the place hasn't been abandoned.

3. Call Upon Your Friends

Let all of your friends know that you just started the forum. Most of the time, this is a short-lived solution, as your friends will quickly sign up, then eventually their enthusiasm over your forum will dwindle. Depending on the excitement of your friends over the forum and how much time they have on their hands, they can help to add hundreds of new posts.

4. Start A Scandalous Debate

The idea behind this technique is that if you create a post that is very biased, it is begging the visitor to register an account to express their opposition and get into a heated debate. The post should be one that is very opinionated and slightly annoying to those who would have a different viewpoint on the topic.

Example:

"If President Bush really cared about the economy, then why would he do (enter something annoying here)".

People who support Bush will register in a heartbeat to post their opposition to the statement, while people who do not support Bush will register to support the statement. One annoying post can spawn a 10-page thread of people debating. This will increase your members and post count in a matter of days.