Online Community Building Blog

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Keep your moderators personal but identifiable
2007-09-14 13:58:00
Back in May, I wrote about how to give your site personal appeal and why it is important for you to do so. One of the methods I endorsed is doing away with names for your moderators such as ‘admin’ or ’staff’, and giving them regular user names. A small move like this can immediately ...
More About: Personal , Sona

Attract forum traffic through article writing
2007-09-12 17:07:00
You run a forum site, your site has a forum - but does it have anything else? Bulking up your website by adding new sections and publishing articles can create a more engaging user experience, help you attract new traffic and ultimately help your forum become successful. The more you add, the more you attract One of the biggest challenges you face when starting a new online community is attracting traffic. There are many basic steps you can take to make your site more attractive to the search engines but nothing will ever beat having high quality, unique content. You should use every way possible of attracting traffic - one way of doing this is to add quality articles to your site, outside of your forum structure. The benefits of adding more to your forum Having an articles section on your website can add significant value to your community. If the articles are unique and of high quality, they will not only pick up search engine traffic but they are also likely to be linked to. How...
More About: Writing , Traffic , Article , Forum , Artic

Irritating members are not always a bad thing
2007-09-10 18:38:00
I have written before about how to deal with abusive users. Before you do that though, you should always consider whether those irritating members who frequent your community are all that bad. At times, irritating members can inject some humour into your site. At other times, they can create controversy and encourage discussion. Either way, you should always consider whether taking action against an abusive or irritating member is in your best interest. Not all abusive members are the same You should never tar every abusive member with the same brush. A sexual predator is not the same as someone who gets a kick out of winding other members up. A sexual pervert is not the same as someone who loves to always write in caps lock. There are some members that need to have action taken against them. Anyone that risks your site’s reputation or the safety of your members needs to be dealt with swiftly, firmly and decisively. Those that pose no risk though, may be beneficial to your com...
More About: Thing , Always , Members , Irritating

Powerful posts 9 September 2007
2007-09-09 13:00:00
There are some fantastic resources out there if you know where to look. Here I will share some great articles I have recently come across in my online travels. Maki from Dosh Dosh wrote an article that will be of interest to most readers of this blog, entitled ‘How to easily get more members for your niche community‘. Maki raises some interesting points - if they get you thinking, then the article has succeeded. Shane from Zoomstart wrote a cracking article entitled ‘Customer loyalty is all about making unconditional connections‘ - you should see every visitor to your website as a customer. It is up to you to create loyalty; you can do this by having a connection with your users. If you are having trouble creating content, I recommend you check out Jon’s article over at Smart Wealthy Rich entitled ‘Writing kick-ass posts when you’re in a rush‘ - just because you are pressed for time, it doesn’t mean quality has to suffer. You need to...
More About: Posts , September , September 2007

New members feel special when welcomed
2007-09-07 17:33:00
When a new member joins your community you are at a critical point - will they stay and get involved or will they leave, never to return? Ignore them, and they will soon leave and forget all about your community. Make them welcome, and they will feel valued and more likely to stick around. It always ...
More About: Special , Feel , Members

Who are your most valuable members?
2007-09-05 16:00:00
As your community develops, you will really get to know many of the individuals that make up your site. You may even start to consider some as more valuable than others - but what makes one member more valuable than another? Who is the most valuable member of your community? Many people would say the most valuable ...
More About: Community Development , Members

Always under-promise and over-achieve
2007-09-03 16:00:00
Your number one priority is to keep your members happy. Members are happy if they feel valued, respected and listened to. They also need to trust you so make sure you never give reason for your members to doubt your integrity. One way you can delight your members is to adopt the mantra, ‘under-promise and over-achieve’. The ...
More About: Community Development , Promise , Always

What is the biggest challenge you face?
2007-09-01 16:00:00
I know from my own experience that very often the biggest challenge faced by those developing online communities is attracting and retaining members. Particularly in the early days, this can be really tough as nobody wants to register to join a community that only has a few members. Members are not the only challenge This is only one ...
More About: Face , Challenge , Community Development , Halle

Don?t give up on your online community
2007-08-31 16:00:00
Developing a successful online community is a huge challenge. It can be disheartening to spend a huge amount of time and effort on your community only to see minimal growth and development. You may have thought that after six months you would have over 500 members when in fact you only have 50. This is ...
More About: Community , Online , Give , Community Development , Give up

The importance of repeat visitors
2007-08-29 16:00:00
As I have said before, the biggest challenge for any online community is in attracting and retaining new members. Without members, you have no community. You need to work exceptionally hard to convince each and every visitor that your community is right for them. You need to convince them to register, you need to convince ...
More About: Community Development , Visitors , Import

Will a community add value to your website?
2007-08-27 16:00:00
Believe it or not, not every website is an online community! There are millions, if not billions of sites out there that have absolutely no community aspect to them whatsoever. Many of these will be successful, many will not. If you have a website and are toying with the idea of incorporating some community features, you ...
More About: Website , Community , Community Development , Unit

Never be ashamed of luck - find it and embrace it
2007-08-25 20:01:00
During your ride as a site developer, you are likely to be met with a few instances of luck. These instances will boost your traffic, increase your exposure, offer you encouragement and make you feel good. For some reason, many people feel embarrassed or are even too arrogant to admit the benefits of a little luck ...
More About: Find , Embrace , Community Development , Luck , Sham

Have you noticed all of your members?
2007-08-24 16:53:00
I have written in the past about how to effectively moderate forums. In that article though, I did not make any mention of the areas of a forum that the vast majority of forum developers fail to pay any attention to - namely the member list and the member profiles. Why the member list and member ...
More About: Members

Don?t follow your competition too closely
2007-08-22 14:37:00
Way back at the beginning of March, I wrote about the importance of keeping an eye on the competition. By doing this, you will be able to learn from the mistakes of your competitors. You will be able to learn what your competition does better than you, and you will be able to predict what ...
More About: Competition , Community Development , Petit

Your obligation is to keep your members safe
2007-08-20 22:51:00
In any environment where people meet and mix, you will encounter a few individuals you would not normally wish to meet. As an online community developer, you are obliged to keep every one of your members as safe as possible. Ensure you educate your members We have all read the scare stories published in the media about ...
More About: Community Development , Safe , Members

Establish a routine and boost productivity
2007-08-18 17:14:00
Do you have a routine? If not, you may be struggling to remain motivated and productive. If used properly, a routine can ensure you remain productive every day and clear that dreaded ‘to-do’ list. Drawing up a routine No doubt you have a list of tasks that you tend to get through every day - you check ...
More About: Productivity , Community Development , Boost , Prod

Always avoid repressing your members
2007-08-17 13:45:00
It can be all too easy to come down hard on a member who happens to share opinions you disagree with; similarly it can be easy to take action against users who appear to stir up controversy. You should never forget that your members are your community - if you repress them, you repress your whole ...
More About: Community Development , Avoid , Always , Members

Birthday cheers and feedback
2007-08-15 16:00:00
Well today is my birthday so I decided to treat myself with a day off from blogging! I don’t want you readers to do any slacking, though! Do you run an online community? Do you feel it is stuck in a rut? Is it growing out of control? Do you want any specific advice about your ...
More About: Birthday , Feedback

How to kick life into a stale forum
2007-08-14 16:38:00
Maybe when you first started your online community you weren’t able to dedicate the time needed to get it off the ground. Perhaps you didn’t realise just how much work it takes to create content and attract and retain members. Whatever the reason, your online community is now a little stale. Don’t despair though, as it’s ...
More About: Life , Forum , Stale , Tale , Kick

Keep your phpBB member count accurate
2007-08-13 16:00:00
How many members does your forum have? 50? 100? 1,000? 10,000? Are you sure this figure is accurate, though? Forget about your ego - ensure your member count is accurate and use it as a motivator to encourage you to continue working hard at attracting genuine members. Why your member count may be inaccurate Thanks to spammers ...
More About: Count , Rate , Accu

Powerful posts 12 August 2007
2007-08-12 20:25:00
There are some fantastic resources out there if you know where to look. Here I will share some great articles I have recently come across in my online travels. Maki from Dosh Dosh wrote an article entitled ‘How to advertise your website or business: 8 paid advertising models‘. If you are interested in understanding the options ...
More About: Posts , August , August 2007

Always keep track of your advertisers
2007-08-10 16:00:00
Back in June, I wrote about the importance of contingency plans. The same month, I wrote about how you can determine who your Google AdSense advertisers are. Both articles are important - imagine if you are banned from AdSense or any other ad network you use. How would you recover the lost revenue? Always keep a ...
More About: Advertisers , Track , Trac , Advertise

Ensure your moderators work as a team
2007-08-09 14:34:00
For your online community to be successful, it will require moderation as it grows. As it continues to develop, you are likely to require more than one moderator. It is essential that your moderators work well within a team and that team harmony thrives. Anything less will damage the effectiveness of your moderators as well as ...
More About: Work , Team , Community Development

Top 5 blog usability tips
2007-08-07 17:00:00
I have only been running this blog for a short time - I made my first ever post on 3rd March 2007. During this time however, I have learnt a lot - both as a writer and as a blog reader. I have found myself becoming increasingly frustrated of late with usability issues on some blogs ...
More About: Tips , Blog , Usability , Sabi

Understand your site?s bounce rate
2007-08-06 17:00:00
The ever increasing use of Google Analytics is resulting in a new obsession amongst website developers: that of the bounce rate. In this article I will explain what is meant by the term ‘bounce rate’ and why it is important to understand. What is meant by bounce rate? Put simply, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors ...
More About: Website Traffic , Site , Bounce , Community Development , Understand

Sending welcome messages to new members
2007-08-04 17:00:00
The personal touch can make a new member of your community feel truly valued. If they feel valued, they are more likely to be a regular contributor and add value to your site. One way of making a member feel valued as an individual is through the use of welcome messages. Using welcome messages on a forum If ...
More About: Messages , Sending , Members , Mess , Ages

Should you pay your forum moderators?
2007-08-03 17:00:00
Many forum owners feel they can only attract the best moderators if they can afford to pay them. I disagree with this notion; I feel that if you have passionate members you can attract the best moderators absolutely free of charge. The benefits of paying moderators I can understand the argument for paying forum moderators - if ...
More About: Forum

Involve your members in decision making
2007-08-01 17:00:00
An online community is a living, breathing entity. It is made up of human members who each have their own opinions and tastes. If you make the decision to change something about your community that your members do not like, it could spell disaster. There is a way of preventing this - ensure you involve your ...
More About: Decision , Community Development , Maki , Decision-Making , Makin

Your online community should be a drug
2007-07-31 17:00:00
Starting a new online community is a huge challenge. Not only do you need to attract visitors and convert them into members, you also need to ensure they return to your website frequently and get involved. Never think that once a visitor has become a member of your site, your work is done. You need to ...
More About: Community , Online , Community Development , Drug , Unit

Use controversy with caution
2007-07-30 18:48:00
Back in April, I wrote about how you can use suspense to promote interaction within your community. Another technique that I am seeing more often is the use of deliberate controversy. Controversy can be a great way of encouraging interaction amongst your community members, however it can be a dangerous method to employ. Why controversy can encourage ...
More About: Community Development , Rove , Rover