When should one start a forum after a popular blog?

[Bisturi]

Fellas,

I wasn't sure where to post it so I'll post it here.

I am considering starting a forum. I am on an untapped niche that is slowly taking off. I am currently getting 600 to 900 unique visitors to my blog per day although about half of that is from Google Images which bounces off. Overall, I'd say I have about 400 unique visitors per day interested in reading my content.

My blog is slowly getting popular but it is resistant to increases. This is because of the nature of my niche. I hardly get comments and my subscribers are slowly increasing too. Having said that, I know my competitors are eyeing my site and they have started to move their pieces trying to enter my niche (fuckers started targeting my keywords and have more Google power). I am still standing proud and have a loyal following though because my writing style and way to approach the niche is different and cool.

Having a forum would give me total control of the niche. However, I am afraid that it would be extremely slow and not very popular. Last thing I need is revealing how popular or unpopular the niche may be (forum figures are an easy gauge).

I currently have enough time to dedicate it to developing the forum and putting on my coding hat (I am a newbie FTR). I have enough articles written for the blog to last me 2 months without writing. Personally, I really want a forum because I feel this is what the niche needs and would allow me to own the market, whereas, on the other hand, I am not sure it'd be popular, at least in the short-term. It'd be like those forums where 4 guys hang out and there are like 20 thread in a 6 months period.

What do you guys think I should do?

Look forward to your replies.

 

[OldSalt]

You could spend a few bucks here and there and buy a fiverr gig to have someone post a bunch of posts on your forum... even doing that once a week will give it some regular activity (and make others more likely to join in).

 

[Bisturi]

You don't need to be able to code to start a forum. Simply install phpBB.

Now you may PayPal me $10 for saving you weeks of time. Hehe Seriously though, you've got nothing to lose by starting one. Can you give us a very unspecific-general idea of what field your niche is in?

If you want to make it look great and get people to sign up, you could spend weeks creating fake threads and replies, and so on....

Yeah, I am aware of the several options for forums. I have read that phpBB while free, needs some coding to get it to be customized, whereas VBulletin while expensive is easier to customize.

I was thinking of the fake IDs etc. I have never started a forum so I am not sure of how feasible it is to spend days creating fake IDs etc. My niche is in lifestyle and looking good. My approach is different to what there is out there, that's for sure, and my readers are recognizing my merits. Having said that, I find it extremely difficult for them to interact hence my worries of the forum not taking off.

 

[Bisturi]

You could spend a few bucks here and there and buy a fiverr gig to have someone post a bunch of posts on your forum... even doing that once a week will give it some regular activity (and make others more likely to join in).

I was thinking of this but I am not convinced of Fiverr, too many scammers. All the blackhat stuff I have done so far (comments, likes etc) is just me working on it.

 

[Bisturi]

Anyone else have suggestions for when to start a forum?

I am really considering going ahead despite my potential competitors are keeping an eye on me.

I am on a shared hosting account with Hostgator, almost receive 1000 uv/day, am I best getting another sharing hosting account or shall I put the forum on the same server of my current site?