DavidBee Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hey, We started a forum for our company nearly a year ago but have saw little takeup and use. Does anyone think forums are slowly dying out? Traffic stats for a few large forums I use have been steadily declining. Whats your views on forums? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsa Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 I see alot forums die out maybe because wht is soon big 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBee Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 Here is the WHT graphic from alexa for traffic rank. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHMCS Chris Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 HostGator has a forum that's relatively active, however a really good blog seems to be more influential in my opinion. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex - Arvixe Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 For a hosting company I think it would be best to first have a relativity large client base before looking into implementing a forum. It is good for your customers to be able to engage with others though with a small client base and limited activity it could have an opposite effect. Our forums are fairly active, HostGators, HostDimes are fairly active also. It works nicely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBee Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Our forums are fairly active, HostGators, HostDimes are fairly active also. It works nicely. HostDime have shut the doors on their forum. http://www.hostdime.com/blog/2013/04/its-closing-time-for-hostdime-forums/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex - Arvixe Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 HostDime have shut the doors on their forum. http://www.hostdime.com/blog/2013/04/its-closing-time-for-hostdime-forums/ Ah thats a shame, I always assumed they had a worthy forum (then again I only briefly looked at it once or twice though did see some nice content). As mentioned before a blog of a great thing to have as there is so many things you can do with it, we have a very active blog in terms of new content. Our forums work for us though so we'll be keeping ours . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBee Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 I personally think some forums are slowly dying out and this is due to the new generation all social media driven internet users. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHMCS Chris Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Forums are definitely difficult to start. You need a larger user base that's active on it to gain new members as the ultimately function is to share information/discuss. If there's no one to discuss, well, no sense in using a forum. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex - Arvixe Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Forums are definitely difficult to start. You need a larger user base that's active on it to gain new members as the ultimately function is to share information/discuss. If there's no one to discuss, well, no sense in using a forum. I agree the start is the most difficult, to get an active forum you really need to be pushing new content in giving people a reason to come back. Eventually after a lot of hard work the forum should hopefully be able to survive by itself with the community though you should always keep on pushing in new content. I don't think forums will die for a very very long time though who knows what the next thing will be. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infopro Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Here is the WHT graphic from alexa for traffic rank. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4582[/ATTACH] It's not all doom and gloom there though: /http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/webhostingtalk.com Webhostingtalk.com has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 1,227. Visitors to the site view 3.6 unique pages each day on average. 1,227 is nothing to sneeze at. I agree with at least one of the Reviews posted there on Alexa where someone states: Hard to navigate Lots and lots, and lots.. of forum areas over there at WHT. Still, its a great resource to have access to no doubt. HostDime have shut the doors on their forum. http://www.hostdime.com/blog/2013/04/its-closing-time-for-hostdime-forums/ Spam is a really bad, and an ongoing problem for forums. I have no clue if that was a factor in the choice to kill that forum, but it could have played a part I'm sure of it. Bad press too, can hurt forums I think. Forums can take a wrong turn if not managed properly. That and the future of vBulletin software and all the drama over there these days, are all factors to consider. I agree with Alex, it takes constant fresh content to keep a forum, or even your Mom's wordpress blog about making cookies, going. But that's really not what a Hosting Providers forum is for, adding new content to keep users coming back often, I mean. As an end user if my website is working perfectly, I'm probably on my own forum, posting new content of my own. Dropping by my Hosting Providers forum is the last thing I'd be interested in doing. All the same, I think having a forum is a very good thing. Community User to User support is a very valuable asset. The problem I've seen over and over thru the years with new forums is, everyone wants to be big, like WebHostingTalk.com for example, and you know what they do? make lots and lots, and lots... of forums. And you end up with the same sort of comments: Hard to navigate, no new content, etc Keep it simple, start small, wait till you've got a couple thousand posts and a few hundred users before worrying about adding those 79 other ideas for new separate forums you have in mind. Best advice anyone could ever give you I think. In my professional opinion, forums are not dieing, but they are getting kicked around a bit these days due to all the evolving Social Media ideas to be sure. That and by spammers. My 2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyhosting Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 you also need to keep an eye on your forum so it does not get spammed by spambots as this can also have a negative effect on your forum 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incitonetworks Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Google Plus communities are a good alternative to forums have a look. Yes forums difficult to get going but if you can add one to your site at a low cost in my opinion there is nothing wrong with adding anyway. You have nothing to loose and it shows your customers they have multiple options available to them to get support from you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex - Arvixe Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Google Plus communities are a good alternative to forums have a look. Yes forums difficult to get going but if you can add one to your site at a low cost in my opinion there is nothing wrong with adding anyway. You have nothing to loose and it shows your customers they have multiple options available to them to get support from you. You have customers to lose when they see an inactive forum which turns certain people away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And then there was one les Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 (edited) I have been considering this very same question for a few months now, I have run forums in the past for hobbies and to be honest i have to concur with the general jist, A forum can be beneficial to your hosting business but it can just as easily harm it. If you are going to have a forum you will need to specify a minimum amount of time each staff member must spend there during their working day. You would also need the large userbase, you dont want to have a forum thats just staff members so you will definitely need to promote it very well to your clients. I would suggest a 3 month plan, while your building your forum content away from the public view you would drop some articles about it to your clients in their emails let them know its coming and really hype it up. Another solution, im actually considering this route myself now over a forum would be to have a wiki, your staff start the ball rolling and keep it in check and your clients can update where they see fit or think of a better way. We can't be right all of the time. Again with this you need to manage spam, unless you only allow active clients/staff to edit which could be a way to go and you would still be vigilant on the spam checking. You could also display the clients link by their edits, Allowing them to link to their hosted website when they contribute. it would certainly be an incentive for them to engage with your wiki. Edited May 3, 2013 by CDJ Hosting spell check 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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