Online Communities | Articles

Your online community should be a drug

Starting a new online community is a huge challenge. Not only do you need to attract visitors and convert them into members, you also need to ensure they return to your website frequently and get involved.
Never think that once a visitor has become a member of your site, your work is done. You need to [...]

Use controversy with caution

Back in April, I wrote about how you can use suspense to promote interaction within your community. Another technique that I am seeing more often is the use of deliberate controversy.
Controversy can be a great way of encouraging interaction amongst your community members, however it can be a dangerous method to employ.
Why controversy can encourage [...]

Powerful posts 29 July 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 Navratil from Zoomstart wrote an interesting article entitled ‘What Mentors Can’t Teach You, Anti-Mentors Can‘ - remember you can learn from everyone, not just the experts!
Mani [...]

Choosing a name for your forum categories

As I have said before, you should only ensure you have a large number of categories if your community can support them; there is nothing worse than visiting a forum for the first time to see empty categories.
That being said, if you are confident that new categories will be used, you should go ahead and [...]

Using RSS feeds to generate content

Recently, Melissa from GLBTConnect emailed me asking about the value of using third party RSS feeds as content for a website.
I always harp on about the importance of creating content if your online community is to succeed, and Melissa was interested to know my thoughts on incorporating RSS feeds into a website to add value [...]

Using polls to understand your members

One way of understanding your members, particularly if you run a forum, is through the use of polls. This article will discuss the pros and cons of forum polls, and determine whether they are a good way of obtaining the opinions and thoughts of your members.
What are forum polls?
All the popular pieces of forum software [...]

Always cater to the tastes of your community

A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of getting to know and understand your members. Only by understanding your community will you cater to the needs and wants of your members.
Different people look for, and expect, different things. It is essential that you always cater to the tastes and personality of your community.
Why [...]

When to stay quiet and when to get personal

I have previously written about the importance of being personal and why you should ensure your site has personal appeal. Some may question just how far they should share their opinions with their community - particularly when it comes to areas that traditionally raise emotions.
Should you share your political opinions with your community members, for [...]

Get to know and understand your members

You put all the hard work in to developing your community; you would be forgiven for thinking that it’s your own. It isn’t though - your community belongs to its members. They are the people you need to keep happy. They are the lifeblood of your community.
Always keep your members happy
Keeping your members happy is [...]

The importance of testing

Back in June, I wrote an article entitled ‘Never stop experimenting’. In that post, I wrote about how important it is to always experiment with your website; you should be constantly tweaking and improving your site and part of this process includes experimentation.
When you experiment and try out new things on your website, it is [...]

Exploit what you already know

Building a successful online community is hard work. I have mentioned before that I feel it is essential that your community is based on a subject you are passionate about. I also feel that you immediately have a huge advantage over your competitors if your community is based on a subject you have a large [...]

Will your users be happy tomorrow?

You are working hard at developing your online community and thanks to your fantastic content you are now converting visitors into loyal members. Everything is going great – your task is complete. Or is it?
Just because your members are happy today it does not mean they will remain happy in the future. You must ensure [...]

Always keep advertising relevant!

One of the reasons for the success of Google AdSense is its relative effectiveness at understanding the content of your site and showing ads relevant to your site’s theme.
If you want to make money from your website it is essential that you ensure your advertising is always relevant and appropriate for your audience.
Why advertising should [...]

When members request new forum categories

At the beginning of June, I wrote an article entitled ‘Cut down on the forum categories‘. In the article, I wrote about why there is nothing worse than having too many forum categories if they are not going to be used.
I argued that you should keep forum categories to a minimum and only add more [...]

Always customise your forum design

So you have finally chosen what forum software best suits your needs, chosen a great domain name, found a reliable web host and gone ahead and installed your forum. What do you do next? I would always suggest your very next step should be customisation.
Why customisation is important
Your forum needs to stand out from the [...]

Posting low quality blog articles on weekends

There are a huge number of blogs dedicated to the subject of blogging. Many of these bloggers argue that posting high quality blog articles on a weekend is a waste of time as their audience will often be reduced and therefore their articles will receive less exposure and attention compared to those posted during the [...]

Think before soliciting a link exchange

If you are link building, you need to set yourself apart from all the other link exchange requests that popular sites receive. It is also extremely important that you undertake some basic research on every potential link exchange partner.
What you need to research
It is essential that you take the time to understand the site you [...]

Never forget text link advertising

In this day and age of graphical sumptuousness and ‘Web 2.0‘ it is easy to forget about the humble text link advert as a revenue stream. I find text link adverts are my most profitable revenue stream - never disregard them!
Why text link adverts?
Visitors come to your site for content. Most of your content will [...]

Can general interest forums succeed?

Everyone and their dog (including myself) harps on about how important it is to differentiate your community from others. Some feel that because of this, if they have a ‘general’ forum without a specific focus or niche they cannot succeed.
General forums can succeed - you are catering to a huge audience by not restricting your [...]

Are forum post exchanges beneficial?

I have seen many administrators talk about forum post exchanges, so thought I would write an article discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using this approach to generate activity and content for your community.
What are forum post exchanges?
The basic premise of a forum post exchange is as follows: you post on someone’s forum and in [...]

The importance of well defined goals

In this article I will tell you why it is important to have set goals and why they should be properly defined.
The importance of goals
You should set yourself goals in order stay motivated. Having specific targets which are challenging, yet achievable, will give you something to work toward. Developing websites can sometimes be a lonely [...]

The basics of web usability

For your website to be successful, it is important that is stays true to the principles of web usability. These principles include:

Simple navigation
Optimised graphics
Non-linear presentation
Ease of use

Simple navigation
Simple navigation is important as it allows the visitor to successfully identify their way around your website. Simple, easily recognisable navigation that follows current conventions and standards will [...]

Ensure your community has a brand

Brands are important - they are what separates one service or product from another. Your website should be no different; it should have a brand and a positive brand association to go with it.
The importance of branding
There are billions of websites online and this number is constantly growing. I have already written about the importance [...]

Community Spark blog redesign

On many occasions I have written about the importance of listening and responding to feedback. Since launching this blog back in March, I have been lucky enough to receive a lot of feedback on the blog’s design and structure.
Feedback from visitors is extraordinarily valuable - if you are not pleasing your visitors, they will go [...]

Powerful posts 1 July 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.
In May I wrote an article entitled ‘Writing content for your community‘. Alex Yang really goes one better over at Michael Kwan’s blog, Beyond the Rhetoric, in [...]