Promote your forum and help your SEO

Thanks for the tip.  I added my forum.  It's a great place to find forums that are similar in topic to my own forum.  Great for SEO as I can post to other (similar) forums and add my signature to each post.

Thanks.

Thanks so much for the tip! I listed my forum on there.What a great website!

Keep up the great work chief! xx

Help! What do I put for Reciprocal URL?

Cheers, Kate

You have to tell us WHY we should visit your forum.

Thanks I checked it out looks like another very nice tip from you.
It asks me for my listing URL and my reciprocal URL are these the same www.fantasysportstalk.lefora.com thanks for the help and the great tips.

luv-2-jump, Reciprocal URL means that if I put your link on my website, Then you need to put my link on your website. So the url they are asking for is the page you are putting their link onto.If you are putting it on your forum page then it is the same as your url.

Does that help?

stefanie
http://mimmnow.lefora.com

Yes it does Thank You!! So I can use my Forum for both the URL and the Reciprocal URL if I dont find anyone else to swap with? and would I be right in saying whoever I swap a URL and Reciprocol URL with their Forum should be similar topics as mine to benefit me the most?

Sadly enough, it's not helping my forum/room draw in new members.
The forum is doing very well with over 21,000 messages in a little more then 5 months but it would be lovely to have new members drop by and mingle with the rest of us.
Oh well...

Thank you for the link anyhow.

Hi maidenheart, i just checked out your forum.

The theme looks great.  I see from your stats that you're the 57th most popular forum based on the number of visits to your site, that's pretty impressive, so you are doing very well.  

If you do want to get new members to your forum, you may want to try inviting your friends through the new 'send invites' feature at the top left of your forum.  On top of that, you could ask current members of your forums to invite their friends as well.  If you or your members use Facebook, in your 'Edit Profile' screen, you can link your account to facebook and check off a box to have it automatically post new threads you start to your facebook wall.

Also, it might help for attract potential new members to add more detail to your forum's description at the top.  Maybe describe the demographic, or what is typically discussed.  Also, I noticed you had a lot of subcategories with just 1 topic, this can be overwhelming to potential new members to see so many categories listed, then jump in, and only see one topic.  We recommend having at least 10 topics per category before splitting them out into separate categories, so you may want to merge a number of categories together for the time being.

You have to tell us WHY we should visit your forum.

-coloneljack

 
 
Could the opposite work, but still in a positive way?
 
The Automotive Glaziers' Guild ( "TAGG" ) is an online community created for all those involved in the automotive glazing industry.
 
Unlike windscreen (or windshield) networks which have been setup for different reasons, TAGG is built on the principles and values of network-ing. Everybody adds value and we all benefit. Give and gain.
 
Members, or 'Taggers' have beein 'tagging' for four weeks and collectively, have surpassed 1200 posts, which, for a 'tag' team of 27 is quite an achievement. Subjects under discussion range from:
 
Technical Data and Support;
 
Insurance Issues;
 
Business and Personal Development;
 
Tips and Tricks... to name just a few. There's even an online Bar ( The Glass and Glazier) for a bit of banter and relaxation.
 
 
 
Entry is restricted to only those who are in the trade and we at TAGG invite any budding Taggers to submit an application to the TAGG Team indicating how they feel they alrady add value to the industry and could to the TAGG Forum.
 
Simples.
 
How to get to TAGG: www.tagg.lefora.com
 
We look forward tp seeing you there.
 
TAGG - pass it on!
 
 
 
Paul aka Tag1 aka Glassman

Hi,
As mentioned Lefora does a great job for our forums.  Most of my traffic comes from Google and facebook with some traffic coming from aol search, ant.com, boardreader.com and Google board search.
 
I don't get any traffic from Bing or yahoo and I'm curious if any other forum admins get traffic from Bing and Yahoo.
If you do, do you care to share any secrets?

Yahoo is my 3rd most active referrer and was 2nd before Facebook amazingly went past it in just a short amount of time w/c I attribute to lefora's decision to offer Facebook Connect integration.

I sometimes get some traffic from Bing and other lesser known search engines and domains and even sites I never heard of. 

Can't pinpoint for sure but maybe the variety of topics that is posted in our forum is helping.

We have an 'off-topic' category where we allow any topic under the sun to be posted.

Recent referring domains

Thanks t-cell and coloneljack for sharing your information.

I don't think we are getting any traffic at all. It's a dead end.
In the nearly 7 months our forum has been up, we've put up 23,820 messages/posts and that is with 56 members, of which most don't even bother to post.  I don't know what else to do and or say so basically, I'm slowly shying away from forums, period.

I certainly understand the thought and feelings, maidenheart. I just recently asked on my Forum if we should pack it in. Most responses were that the members did not want that to happen (some asked if I would pass the Forum to someone else which of course I would if it was found that someone had the energy to provide more spark). But like your experience, most members do not post and after the few posted to the Abandon Forum Topic they have not gone on to post more. I notice when I stop providing input my Forum virtually slows to a crawl, (The Staff at my Forum have put out quite a bit of effort as well with mostly no response as reward).

I expect that Forums, like Blogs, have been severely impacted by the fact of the sheer numbers of competing ones. I give credit that Lefora makes a great effort to provide advice and also work to get the Forums noticed by Search sites. However in a world of noise it is hard to hear the single cricket chirping.

As for shying away from Forums, I think that would be a mistake if you get enjoyment from the interaction. Find ones that suit your tastes and participate. After your experience you will have a better appreciation of those that work hard behind the scenes to make it successful. And you can be glad that you need not do all the work anymore.