Are forums dead?

[fused6216]

I have a website I am working on, very close to the first page for a huge keyword in the gaming niche. Right now, I just have about 5-6 pages of generic content about the game. It's been a while since I've been in the "game" of being a full time webmaster, but are forums dead?

I am looking for a way to engage the audience, but I don't want to put a forum up just to have no posts. What is the "new way" of engaging the audience, or is a forum still a possibility? Should I just post more articles and open up the comments? I have an opportunity to make this site somewhat evergreen and just not sure if a forum is viable. I intend on making this site profitable through affiliate marketing on related products/services.

Look forward to seeing your feedback.

 

[xRex]

blog posts & blog comments & youtube comments I made with 13 (2013) and push a VPS hoster, now my idea would be so ^ ^

 

[techsavvy]

Forums ain't dead OP! look at blackhatworld, everyone here is active!

 

[DTjai]

Forums are not dead. Just gotta have value on them for people to engage.

 

[jefis]

Forums are a great way to engage the audience. But you need to get first ~50 active members fast. If you have no ideas where to get them, then I wouldn't suggest starting a forum.
If they're from an online game you're playing, maybe you have a lot of friends there and you can ask them to join and form a community.

 

[Gogol]

Funny thing is that you are asking this in a forum...

Forums are far from being dead.

 

[fused6216]

Funny thing is that you are asking this in a forum...

Forums are far from being dead.

I thought the same thing after I posted it, fair point. My line of thinking is with the growth of Reddit, social media, etc. is if forums are still as relevant. Of course, I cannot expect the same type of results as pre-reddit but still worth a shot. Good suggestion on getting some members before hand though. If people go to the forum and see it is totally dead what incentive would they have in posting?

 

[BuildMoreLinks]

I agree FB has taken over a lot of forum audience with Groups, but most of the active forums are not going anywhere.

 

[CoolAdvisor]

Add a few html5 games to your site. Games are very engaging.

 

[jefis]

I thought the same thing after I posted it, fair point. My line of thinking is with the growth of Reddit, social media, etc. is if forums are still as relevant. Of course, I cannot expect the same type of results as pre-reddit but still worth a shot. Good suggestion on getting some members before hand though. If people go to the forum and see it is totally dead what incentive would they have in posting?

Make your own Subreddit. Build a small community. Post your links in subreddit description.

 

[fizakhan1]

Choose the niche well, forums are alive till date.

 

[Gogol]

I thought the same thing after I posted it, fair point. My line of thinking is with the growth of Reddit, social media, etc. is if forums are still as relevant. Of course, I cannot expect the same type of results as pre-reddit but still worth a shot. Good suggestion on getting some members before hand though. If people go to the forum and see it is totally dead what incentive would they have in posting?

Yeah I do agree that social sites are blooming these days. If you think about it, they are much more general in nature, except for reddit may be (still, reddit has every topic imaginable). Forums on the other hand are much more niche oriented.

Also, sites like reddit, stack exchange etc are really a reincarnation of forums IMHO.

If a forum is already dead it means that the admins did not care about adding compelling content to attract members. I am member of a few great forums including bhw and let me say again, forums are far from being dead. Just the fact that some forums did not click..

Edit: you could try hiring some people for the initial content. Like $1 per post if the content is good. That's a good way of attracting new members. When the forum expands, make these people moderators depending on their performance.

 

[baddie]

Discords generally tend to the way to go for gaming these days.

 

[klique]

I have a website I am working on, very close to the first page for a huge keyword in the gaming niche. Right now, I just have about 5-6 pages of generic content about the game. It's been a while since I've been in the "game" of being a full time webmaster, but are forums dead?

I am looking for a way to engage the audience, but I don't want to put a forum up just to have no posts. What is the "new way" of engaging the audience, or is a forum still a possibility? Should I just post more articles and open up the comments? I have an opportunity to make this site somewhat evergreen and just not sure if a forum is viable. I intend on making this site profitable through affiliate marketing on related products/services.

Look forward to seeing your feedback.

Forums aren't dead, they're just hard to kick start. Alot of times they start off well, but engagement dies after a couple months. You gotta provideo exceptive for those new members to want to keep coming back and posting. Alot of the forums that are doing extremely well are old school forums such as bhw.. but you do get new forums that beat the odds and ends up making it.

 

[CoolAdvisor]