Choosing a niche for your forum
Before you can start a forum, you have to come up with a niche.
This is the main topic your forum will be about.
I'm a member of various webmaster or forum related forums. And I often see posts there from people that want ideas to create a forum about.
Of course it's a good idea to get some ideas.
But you have to keep in mind that those people probably know nothing about you...
They don't know what you like, what you dislike, your interests, ...
Maybe they can give you some ideas, but probably not something you can create a forum about
So here are a few tips that could help you to find your "niche"!
Write at least 5 things down that interest you
Just write some things down that you like...
Can be anything, and don't worry if it's something "weird"!
Computers, gold fishes, creative things to do with old computers, rubber ducks, light bulbs,...
Write it all down!
Now you have a small list of possible topics for your forum.
But probably you still don't what to create a forum about.
Find the topic for which you have the most interest
It's important that you choose something that interests you, something that you can talk alot about.
Some people say that you have to choose the thing you know the most about. But I don't agree with it.
If you choose something you're passionate about, it'll be very easy to learn more about it!
And you'll probably want to learn more about it, so starting a forum about it can be a great motivation for it.
But... There are other things to think about as well.
- How many forums/website are there about the same subject?
If there are already thousands of forums about the same thing, then you've got some serious competition!
If you decide to continue with that subject, try to think of something unique or different.
Create something that people won't find on those other websites.
- How long will it exist?
You probably want to have a forum that exists for some time.
So don't focus on something temporarily. It can become a great success, but try to combine it with something else!
If you create a forum about floppy disks, it won't exists for a long time. Combine it with something else like USB sticks, external hard drives,...
Or make your subject a bith broader, like "Storage media".
- Don't make your niche to narrow
Keep in mind that you must be able to fill a forum about your niche!
So don't keep it too narrow. Find something that you could create enough topics about!
But don't make it to broad either!
As long as you can create enough discussions about it you must keep your niche as small as possible.
It'll be a lot easier to advertise it then, and to get activity
I hope this article helped you to think of the subject of your forum.
If you can't find a specific topic for your forum then you can always start a general forum.
But keep in mind that there are thousands of general forum (or even more), so you'll get some serious competition.
Can take months or even years to create an active and successful forum then!
Feel free to give comments on this article
here.
Always interested in some feedback!
Article written by Harro for
Forum Affiliates Network
This article may not be redistributed without the permission of the author.
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