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Thread: Would a forum help my site?

  1. #1
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    Would a forum help my site?

    My site is http://www.games2go.co.uk

    Would a forum help it improve traffic? I certainly would like to get to know my visitors, because I don't like to be blind to their views...

    But would it take up too much space or bandwidth? I want to use phpBB because I've set up a sample on it on a free host once when I was bored and know how to use it...

  2. #2
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    And if so what categories should I have?

    Which general chat categories and should I have a category for each game (I think alot won't have any posts) or a category for each category of games?

  3. #3
    Registered X Q mano's Avatar
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    It all depends how you manage your forum. An active and thriving community helps. A dead and silent one does not...

  4. #4
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
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    Forums usually don't bring in new people, they help keep the people you do get.

    As for categories -- keep it smaller at first less people get turned off by big empty spaces.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

  5. #5
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    I've only got 5 members.... And I know 3 of them already from emails/MSNs....

    BTW: My pageviews for October was 62,000.... (Please get to 100k soon...)

  6. #6
    Registered Mike's Avatar
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    How many pageviews did you have a month or two back?
    Don't you just love free internet games ?

  7. #7
    mastermind michael_gersitz's Avatar
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    Building a forum is an excellent way to build return visitors, and once you have those visitors, you can share quality links with them! (Your other sites)!

  8. #8
    Web Monkey MarkB's Avatar
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    How many unique users do you get per month?

    How long do they tend to stay?

    Those are important factors if you're planning on adding a forum to your site. Also, how you integrate it into the site is also important - don't just tack it on and expect people to jump in. Link your content to the forum (eg, if you launch a new game, have a link to a thread where the topic is 'What do you think of <new game name>?'). Prompt people to become involved, don't just have 'join our forums!'.

    And, most importantly, join in! And not just in an admin role. The best admins (IMO) are those seen as regular users that aren't 'above' the 'plebs'. Welcome new users, and enjoy yourself.

  9. #9
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    I've put on everypage get cheats and give cheats for this game in the forum...

  10. #10
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    I got about 3 new members yesterday

    And some members that hadn't posted before posted

  11. #11
    web designer Percept's Avatar
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    off topic:

    Wouldn't it be better for SEO if you added the word "games" to all the links in your menu ? Like this:

    Home
    Adventure games
    Arcade games
    Casino games
    Puzzles games
    Shows games
    Sports games
    Percept | Webdesign | Desk02 | 7962154zz8x

  12. #12
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    Forums are hard to start, but once you get critical mass its a nice source of traffic.

    You might want to post as different usernames to "jump start" the forum. I know that sounds pathetic, but I've heard that it works.

  13. #13
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Percept
    off topic:

    Wouldn't it be better for SEO if you added the word "games" to all the links in your menu ? Like this:

    Home
    Adventure games
    Arcade games
    Casino games
    Puzzles games
    Shows games
    Sports games

    There isn't enough space...

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