I have found a niche that has alot of potential advertisers, and I think I have a unique way to obtain their business. I also have some connections to the industry through my day job that will help greatly. A message board/forum website like bhw would be perfect for the site I have in mind, but I have no idea how to get started. I understand the basics of site design, seo etc from reading bhw, but would need to have somebody design and update the site/forums. Plus, I would need to have the forums somewhat active before I started marketing to the potential advertisers.
There is a non-forums site that is similar to my idea, but the whole purpose of this other site is to look good for the advertisers, and is not focused on the visitors. The site has a lot of videos, great looking design (all meant to wow the potential advertisers), but I feel like it is confusing for the visitor and does not easily provide what they are looking for (information). I don't think people want to watch several videos just to figure out what the site is about, then continue to search for what they are looking for, never find it, and have to contact one of the advertisers. A forums set-up would more accurately provide what the users want and a better experience. If I can build an active community, the advertisers will come regardless of a slick presentation.
Has anybody ever created a forums site before? How did you go about setting the site up, and what did it take to initially get a somewhat active forum? Kw's that I might target appear to be pretty competitive, so attempting to rank the site might be difficult.
There is a non-forums site that is similar to my idea, but the whole purpose of this other site is to look good for the advertisers, and is not focused on the visitors. The site has a lot of videos, great looking design (all meant to wow the potential advertisers), but I feel like it is confusing for the visitor and does not easily provide what they are looking for (information). I don't think people want to watch several videos just to figure out what the site is about, then continue to search for what they are looking for, never find it, and have to contact one of the advertisers. A forums set-up would more accurately provide what the users want and a better experience. If I can build an active community, the advertisers will come regardless of a slick presentation.
Has anybody ever created a forums site before? How did you go about setting the site up, and what did it take to initially get a somewhat active forum? Kw's that I might target appear to be pretty competitive, so attempting to rank the site might be difficult.
