FreeForums.org Knowledge Base

Once your forum is setup for success, it's time for the most important part of running a forum: attracting members. This can be the most time consuming part, but with hard work and dedication you can get an active forum in no time! Below are a few ideas for bringing in free members:

 Activity creates activity
Before you go to advertise your forum you need to have a base of active members. Activity creates activity so without existing content and members, no one is going to join.

Post Exchanges
There are thousands of other forum admins trying to get members. One way to gain members is to participate in "post exchanges" with other forum admins. As the name suggests, your post in their forum and they post in yours. This is a great way to network with other forum admins, share tips, and overall make your forum more active. You can find other admins in our Forum Promotion board, and send them a PM.

Search Engines
Search engines rank websites based on a complex algorithm. The two biggest contributors to a high ranking are: quality content and relevant links. Write as much content as possible focusing on the keywords of your forum (ie. if your forum is a baseball forum use the keyword baseball in your content a lot). Also make sure your forum title, description, and keywords reflect the keywords you're after. Links are also a key part about ranking high which takes us to the next tip:

Link Exchanges
Search Google and the FreeForums.org promotion board for forums to exchange links with you. Try and find forums related to yours, and ask them to place a link to your forum off theirs, in exchange for the same. Other forums want links as well so you shouldn't have a problem finding links. Link exchanges not only help your forum rank higher in search engines, but they also help bring members to your forum.

Signature ads
A great way to advertise your forum is from your signature on other forums. Join forums related to yours, put your site in your signature, and become an active and well respected member. The higher quality your posts, the more users will respect you and checkout your fourm. Just remember never to spam.

Buy a domain
Buying a second level domain (ie. yourforum.com) to replace a subdomain will help a lot when advertising your forum. Not only will users think it's more professional, but a second level domain can help improve your search engine ranking.

As you can see there are plenty of free ways to build traffic on your forum. They make take time, but following these will guarantee your forum is successful and active.