Online Communities | Articles

Should you interview potential moderators?

Back in March I wrote an article entitled ‘How to recruit forum moderators‘. Since writing the article, I have come across many forum posts from forum administrators asking whether they should interview potential new moderators and/or seek references.
In this article, I will share my opinions and thoughts concerning this area of moderator recruitment.
The benefits of [...]

Reduce your email spam

As with most things, prevention is better than cure. Minimising email spam is just the same - follow the advice in this article and you should prevent those spammers from grabbing hold of your email address and bombarding you with junk emails from the beginning.
Why you should reduce email spam
Email spam affects your productivity. If [...]

How to effectively moderate forums

As regular readers will be aware, I have often written about the importance of moderation. Articles I have already written on this subject include ‘The importance of speedy moderation‘, ‘Responding to a community revolt‘ and ‘Personal advice - abusive members‘.
In this article I want to be a little more specific and write about the [...]

Avoid standardised forum rank titles

Back in April, I wrote about how to use forum ranks to make members feel valued. In the article, I detailed how you can strengthen your community and give your site personal appeal through the use of custom forum title ranks.
In this article, I want to talk about the potential dangers of forum ranks and [...]

Mentions in the Blogosphere 25 June 2007

These articles detail mentions of my blog out in the blogosphere. Not only does this recognise those who write about my blog, it allows you to see what other people are saying about Community Spark.
Hopefully you will also find mentions of articles you have not yet come across which may be useful to you.
My article [...]

Online communities: What is content?

Regular readers of this blog will know how I often talk about the importance of creating content on your site if your online community is to succeed - this is particularly important during those early days when you are trying to get your community off the ground.
Build it and they will come
This is one saying [...]

Establish a personality for your community

Being unique is very important. Your website must be differentiated from others - what makes your site different (and therefore more attractive) to all the others out there?
Let’s say you want to establish a community about Sea Monkeys - there may already be a large, well established community on this subject. Does this mean there [...]

Using other forums as promotional tools

It is hard getting a new community established. You rely on your members to establish a community, but new members will not join a community unless you have members to start off with!
In this article I will write about how you can promote your new community and gain knowledge and learn new things at the [...]

Who are your Google AdSense advertisers?

Do you want to find out who is advertising on your site via Google AdSense? As you should already be aware, you are not permitted to click on your own ads, so how do you find out who those advertisers are?
This article will show you an easy way of identifying the URL behind each ad [...]

Why visitor retention is crucial to your success

It occurred to me that I have frequently spoken about visitor retention but have not gone into much detail about what the phrase actually means, or why it is so important.
This article will therefore address the question ‘What is visitor retention?’ and talk about why it is so important and how to achieve it.
What is [...]

Powerful posts 17 June 2007

There are some fantastic resources out there if you know where to look. Here I will share some great articles I have recently come across in my online travels.
Mitch from HarpzOn wrote an interesting article entitled ‘Why Coke pays billions just to show you their logo‘. In this article, Mitch talks about the importance of [...]

Beware of ad burnout

Many of us rely on advertising to pay the bills and financially reward ourselves for the hard work we invest in our sites.
I have written a few articles about advertising techniques in this blog, but today I want to write about a phenomenon known as ‘ad burnout’.
What is ad burnout?
Ad burnout happens when your visitors [...]

The importance of a good domain name

People are often very simple creatures - they struggle to remember things that may be a little confusing or contain ambiguity. This is why it is essential that before you even start your community site, you spend a good amount of time choosing a suitable domain name.
Keep it simple
Always keep your domain name as simple [...]

Your community must be your passion

I have spoken many times about the challenges and hard work involved in creating a successful online community. In the early days you will work to create content and attract traffic, and on many occasions you will probably think about giving up.
This is why it is so important that you only start a community based [...]

Never stop experimenting

You have your community - it may be brand new, it may be well established. Whatever stage your community is at in its development, you should always experiment and try new things.
The importance of experimenting
If you don’t experiment with new things, your site and community will suffer. By trying new things, you may improve your [...]

Current events can strengthen communities

As I have mentioned in previous articles, it is easy to forget that every visitor is a human being. It can be just as easy to forget that what appeals to people in the ‘real’ world can also appeal to them online.
Incorporate current events
Talk about current events on your website. Don’t limit such events solely [...]

Mentions in the Blogosphere 10 June 07

These articles detail mentions of my blog out in the blogosphere. Not only does this recognise those who write about my blog, it allows you to see what other people are saying about Community Spark.
Hopefully you will also find mentions of articles you have not yet come across which may be useful to you.
Brown Baron [...]

Advertising placements are exit points

I have talked about the pros and cons of advertising in many articles on this blog, but today I want to write briefly about an additional consequence of placing advertising on your site - encouraging visitors to leave!
Visitor retention is the key to a successful website
If your website is not attracting and retaining its visitors, [...]

What are your contingency plans?

A few months ago, I wrote about the importance of backing up your site so that should your hosting fail, you have a copy of your site to restore. This article will go through the additional contingency plans that we should all have in place.
The importance of contingency plans
If one component of your site fails, [...]

Uncertainty is OK

I recently received an email from Andras, who told me he was an educator at a dormitory in the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary.
In the email, he asked me what one thing I wish I had been told when I left school. I had to think about this for a while, but [...]

Ethical leadership strengthens communities

In previous articles I have written about the importance of trust in community building, and how you can encourage interaction through the use of suspense and controversy.
Behaving ethically can enhance the trust your community members place in you. When implementing promotional techniques such as the use of suspense and controversy, you must remain ethical.
In this [...]

Cut down on the forum categories

If your forum is new, it may look pretty bare. You will often have a membership count in the single or double figures, and you will have categories with a low number of posts and threads.
Don’t advertise emptiness
Which forum would you rather join?
Forum A

Forum B

Now, I am assuming that you would prefer to join Forum [...]

Powerful posts 3 June 2007

There are some fantastic resources out there if you know where to look. Here I will share some great articles I have recently come across in my online travels.
Shane from Zoomstart has written an article detailing ‘The art of balance‘ - in this post Shane writes about why there has to be balance if you [...]

Giving back to the online community

If you are making money online or otherwise benefiting from the opportunities the Internet offers, I feel it is only fair you contribute something in return.
This doesn’t have to be money; there are many ways you can contribute to the Internet’s future development.
I am a strong believer in the concept that if you receive, you [...]

An interview with Josh Buckley

Today I interview Josh Buckley, owner of the popular online community Menewsha.com and author of the blog JoshBuckley.net.

You have had great success with your online community Menewsha.com. What is Menewsha about, and where did you get the idea to start it?
Many people do not understand the concept Menewsha, I guess the name even confuses them! [...]