How to KILL a forum

[blackbeans]

I started this thread because I recently visited former TOP AFFILIATE MARKETING FORUM on the Internet

To say it has fallen on hard times would be an understatement:

- less than 3 newly replied threads in the MAIN FORUM
- most threads started by users with 1 post to their name
- most threads LOCKED after inactivity of MONTHS

This is MINDBLOWING because many affiliate marketers I know used to make TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars PER MONTH in the marketplace of the forum I described

How did the forum die and how can other forums AVOID their fate?

Here are the answers that come to mind - based on that forum and a COUPLE OF OTHER PREVIOUSLY LARGE forums

- Create too many subforums
- Be too aggressive in locking threads instead of just letting them die due to inactivity
- Focus on "make money" scammy "quick solutions" instead of actual solutions
- Allow accounts to post a link even though they are brand new


What other reasons / practices can you think off that would KILL even the most successful forum?

I am assuming a lot of these would also apply to forums that are in OTHER NICHES

 

[blackbeans]

I am assuming that changes in how Google ranks forum content played a role in the demise of many of the big forums I was referring to above....

Here's one example

 

[lucky.sparks]

They joined here.

 

[TechnoTycoon]

- Allow accounts to post a link even though they are brand new

This is one of the main reason i suppose.

 

[Peter Ngo]

sound like you just described a forum that starts with a "W".

 

[TechnoTycoon]

They joined here.

But they will not get the chance to spam. We have good mods out there. That's why this forum is still one of the best.

 

[blackbeans]

But they will not get the chance to spam. We have good mods out there. That's why this forum is still one of the best.

THIS. Moderation quality counts for a lot.

One of the "dead" forums I was referring to basically outsourced their moderation. I'm not sure whether that move sped up or simply slowed down the death of the forum

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

@Diamond Damien spends a ton of time and a fair amount of money to make sure that BHW does not go down that path.

He holds meetings often with staff, and I mean often, has an open line of communication with all of us via a variety of processes and is 100% committed to making sure that we remain, and grow yet more into, the forum that offers as much as possible fr the community in terms of quality of content but also in making sure that the forum is managed properly.

And all most see is the10% he does to make this place a haven for quality SEO content as there is a ton of behind the scenes stuff going on that requires a gold medalist juggler to handle that he, and his Admin staff, do that with bells on.

 

[TechnoTycoon]

How to kill a forum

Step 1: put @BassTrackerBoats as mod
Step 2: the forum is dead

I doubt about the forums death but you are dead now my friend.

 

[hackgrowth]

I think the quality of people in the forum matters. Like socmed, if they pump up the launch or put in too many uninterested parties (i.e. bring in close friends or just randomly promote to get members up, it will sorta eventually die off.

New content, fair mods and evergreen information helps I guess. I come back to this forum every once in a while and @Diamond Damien's newsletter keeps me in the loop with fresh news, and I appreciate that.

 

[Msuin]

How to kill a forum

Step 1: put @BassTrackerBoats as mod
Step 2: the forum is dead

Haha bro, idk if the mod is dead , what I know you are really dead hahaha you have a very high chance to get banned

 

[hackgrowth]

Haha bro, idk if the mod is dead , what I know you are really dead hahaha you have a very high chance to get banned

Hahah.. The guy posting it probably got banned previously.

I think the mods are doing a great job but they're humans too.

If there are issues I'm pretty sure they're open to constructive feedback.

 

[RoboTech]

Most forums are like relationships; they come slowly and go quickly.

I used to have a well-known forum in another language back in 2007.

Once we surpassed our competitor, who was #1 in the field, he closed his forum.

He came and posted in our introductions subforum, clearly stating that he didn't have the right staff to survive.

He also mentioned that he could clearly see why we were #1.

Unfortunately, I decided to abandon the forum in 2018 due to incompetent staff, ironically.

 

[Mr Positive]

After joining BHW I rarely visit other forum because here people actually provided solutions that work and services which are moderated so yea not surprised to see it’s result

 

[IM Dude]

AFFILIATE MARKETING FORUM

^This is the reason right here^
Google is going after affiliate blog posts. It's hammering them. So obviously the forum build for those blogs gonna go down.

 

[1SEOWarrior]

Until now I have gone through a lot of forums, which were very much renowned once. but they seem performing very poorly nowadays. Whenever I got to know about bhw, I rarely spent time on other forums at all. Thanks all for making this happen.

 

[pocketttt]

I've been accessing the internet since 1998 and this type of "forum" site is quite old and I've seen many close down after a while, even some quite large ones.
Nowadays, no matter the niche, it's difficult to see a forum grow and stay strong, I think people today enjoy social networks more to communicate.

I myself am only very active in just 2 forums: "bhw" and another about games in my country
These 2 I still see that there are a lot of people posting and being active so I don't think they will end anytime soon (I hope)

 

[pocketttt]

sound like you just described a forum that starts with a "W".

This forum has always been a mess

 

[blackbeans]

Most forums are like relationships; they come slowly and go quickly.

I used to have a well-known forum in another language back in 2007.

Once we surpassed our competitor, who was #1 in the field, he closed his forum.

He came and posted in our introductions subforum, clearly stating that he didn't have the right staff to survive.

He also mentioned that he could clearly see why we were #1.

Unfortunately, I decided to abandon the forum in 2018 due to incompetent staff, ironically.

Great point.
Moderator/Operator personnel quality MATTERS a lot.

When the other forum outsourced their moderation, most of the outsourced folk didn't really know what made that forum popular in the first place.

When the admin decided to 'deputize' active members to moderate (up to a certain degree), it was too little too late. And this model has serious issues as well.

The bottom line: Forums are COMMUNITY-driven. BHW is successful because the mods are members of the community. This ORGANIC element counts for a lot.

Which brings up a key challenge for those looking to put up niche forums (not online marketing related), you have to either soak up a lot of info about your niche so you're an organic and credible community 'expert' or you need to attract existing community experts from other sources: subreddits / forum groups, etc

 

[RoboTech]

Great point.
Moderator/Operator personnel quality MATTERS a lot.

When the other forum outsourced their moderation, most of the outsourced folk didn't really know what made that forum popular in the first place.

When the admin decided to 'deputize' active members to moderate (up to a certain degree), it was too little too late. And this model has serious issues as well.

The bottom line: Forums are COMMUNITY-driven. BHW is successful because the mods are members of the community. This ORGANIC element counts for a lot.

Which brings up a key challenge for those looking to put up niche forums (not online marketing related), you have to either soak up a lot of info about your niche so you're an organic and credible community 'expert' or you need to attract existing community experts from other sources: subreddits / forum groups, etc

You just described why my old forum was leading the niche. I myself was the MVP of the field in my country and also chose the right staff who were experts, good writers, and very active.

However, as the staff aged and there wasn't enough financial motivation to continue contributing to the forum, they became less effective day by day. I chose to shut it down rather than see it in its worst state.

Returning to the topic, the other AM forum shot itself in the foot by outsourcing the most important core of forums. Even if there is no content creation involved, mods that are not familiar with the essence of the forum will kill it sooner or later.

I am not blaming them for this action, though. I am sure they ran out of solutions and couldn't manage to keep the forum alive, so it was their last attempt.

Keeping a forum alive for more than a decade is not easy at all! So hats off to our lovely Blackhatworld forums.