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Blog Details for "Online Community Building Blog"
Online Community Building BlogOnline Community Building BlogCommunity Spark is a regularly updated blog offering advice and tips on how to build successful online communities. 
Articles
Writing safety advice for your community site
2007-05-16 16:00:00 If you run an online community it is important that your site contains prominent safety advice. I strongly believe that online communities and online chat forums are not dangerous - as long as users are reasonably educated that the same potential dangers that can occur in real life can also happen online. Educate your users You cannot ... More About: Safety , Advice , Writing , Community , Site
Be careful who you take advice from
2007-05-15 15:40:00 I am amazed by the number of blogs I come across that promise to impart tips and advice on how to make money online. I am even more amazed when I do some digging around and find some of these money making ‘gurus’ are pulling in little more than $50 a month! Research and ensure credibility Let’s ... More About: Advice , Careful , Vice
The importance of being personal
2007-05-14 17:39:00 Have you noticed that when you call up your bank, they address you by your name? Have you noticed that when you phone for an insurance quote, the operator will often address you by your name? The reason they do this is because it adds a personal touch and makes you feel more valued. The same applies with ... More About: Personal , Person , Bein , Persona , Being
Mentions in the Blogosphere 13 May 07
2007-05-13 15:29:00 I have decided to write an article detailing mentions of my blog out in the blogosphere. Not only does this recognise those who write about my blog, it allows you to see what other people are saying about Community Spark. Hopefully you will also find mentions of articles you have not yet come across which may ... More About: Blogosphere , Here , Logo , Logos
Writing content for your community
2007-05-12 16:36:00 As regular readers of this blog will now know, I constantly harp on about the importance of creating content. Without content, you have nothing. With a community site, your members will hopefully be creating most of your content for you. If not, you need to step to the plate and get the job done yourself. Always ... More About: Writing , Community , Content , Unity , Comm
Why I avoid blog link exchanges
2007-05-11 13:45:00 In the time that I have been running this blog, I have been approached by a few bloggers requesting link exchanges. I turned them down for the reasons I will outline in this article. My blog’s design This blog was specifically designed to be minimalist. I am a great fan of minimalism on the web, and feel ... More About: Blog , Link , Changes , Avoid , Chang
Top 5 Newsletter Design Tips
2007-05-10 18:47:00 Further to my articles on the value of email newsletters and common email newsletter mistakes, Javier Marti from Trendirama.com wrote a comment requesting an example of an effective newsletter design. Whilst I cannot preach the gospel when it comes to good newsletter design, I can use examples of the newsletters I send to newsletter subscribers at ... More About: Design , Tips , Newsletter , Sign
Keep that community feeling
2007-05-09 16:09:00 Some argue that the larger a community becomes, the less it actually feels like a community. To some extent I would agree with this - in many cases a community starts off with a relatively close-knit group of individuals, but as the site gains popularity more and more new members join resulting in the community ... More About: Community , Keep , That , Unity , Comm
Using heatmaps to build communities
2007-05-07 16:00:00 Knowledge is power - the more knowledge you have, the more powerful you can be. This is also true when it comes to your website. The more you know about your visitors and how they interact with your site, the more successful your site can become as you tweak and improve your site based on ... More About: Maps , Sing , Build , Comm , Communities
Use advertising as a motivator
2007-05-06 16:00:00 If you are like me, you tend to procrastinate instead of working through that ‘to-do list’. Motiva tion can be a problem that affects us all from time to time - it often takes me a good few hours each day before I get started on anything productive. Repetition is something that drives me crazy; if something ... More About: Advertising , Finances , Sing , Advert
Listening and responding to feedback
2007-05-05 16:00:00 Last week I wrote about the importance of making your site feedback friendly. By making it easy for your members to offer feedback and criticism, you can improve your website by taking on board their comments. After all, your members are your site’s most valuable asset. Putting your money where your mouth is Some readers may think ... More About: Feedback , Pond , Feed , Listening
An interview with Ratko Vidakovic
2007-05-04 16:00:00 Today I interview Ratko Vidakovic, owner of CeliSpeed.com and co-founder of ToyotaNation.com - both thriving online communities. When did you create your first website and what was it? My first website was one of those free Angelfire sites back around 1997. It was just a personal site with a quick list of my interests and avorite links. ... More About: Interviews , Interview , View
Getting more from your moderators
2007-05-03 16:41:00 A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how to recruit forum moderators. In this article I want to talk about how you can use moderators to add maximum benefit from your site. When it comes to forum moderators, I am a great believer in inviting users to become moderators rather than encouraging applications. If ... More About: More
Avoid unnecessary barriers
2007-05-02 18:13:00 If you are responsible for a community website, it is essential that you do not setup unnecessary barriers to user participation. A community website will only be successful if people can easily contribute - if you raise barriers and make this difficult, your community will suffer. I will illustrate my point with an example - when ... More About: Barr , Arri , Avoid , Barrier
Web users are lazy
2007-05-01 16:00:00 When developing your site, you should never lose sight of the fact that Internet users are lazy. Just as Web surfers decide whether they like your site in under a second, if they cannot figure out its purpose, cannot figure out their way around, or have to register to view your content, the chances are ... More About: Users , Lazy
Online chat is not dangerous
2007-04-30 16:00:00 I was going through some of my old files the other day and came across an old article I had written for Just Chat in response to MSN’s decision to close its chat rooms back in 2003. MSN claimed this move was in response to concerns about child safety in online chat, although many suspected ... More About: Online , Anger , Danger , Line
Use forum ranks to make members feel valued
2007-04-29 16:00:00 Your members are the most valuable asset your site has - if you do not make them feel welcome and valued, they will soon go elsewhere. There are many ways of preventing this, and all of them come down to making your members feel valued. In this article I want to talk about an easy way ... More About: Forum , Make , Ranks , Value , Feel
Google?s PageRank updates
2007-04-28 15:02:00 As you may be aware, Googl e is currently updating the PageRank it awards to websites it includes in its search database. Google uses PageRank to determine your site’s popularity and credibility. The higher your PageRank, the more authoritative Google considers your site to be. I use the PageRank checker over at PRchecker to keep an eye ... More About: Pagerank , Updates , Ager
Whose blog should I Live Bookmark?
2007-04-27 16:02:00 I am a great fan of Firefox’s Live Bookmark s - I add all the blogs I read daily to the Live Bookmarks panel. This allows me to keep an eye on when the blogs are updated with new articles. When I see they are, I click the article name and surf over to read the ... More About: Blog , Should , Hose
Don?t obsess about search engines
2007-04-26 16:11:00 I see many webmasters fretting about how their site will be viewed by search engines. Indeed, I think that many site owners spend more time worrying about the opinions that search engines hold about their site over what real visitors will think! I believe that if you focus on creating original and exceptional content, search engine ... More About: Search Engines , Search , Engine , Engines
Make your site feedback friendly
2007-04-25 18:19:00 In many of my previous articles I have stressed the importance of asking your members what they want. From redesigning your website to engaging with your members, it is important that you make it easy for your site’s users to provide you with their opinions and feedback. If your site members think it is too difficult ... More About: Site , Back , Feedback , Feed , Make
Forum competitions are a bad idea
2007-04-24 16:00:00 Many people think that running forum competitions are a good way of building an online community. I disagree. I have seen many competitions that offer prizes to the member that makes the most posts each month - the forum is then deluged with useless posts such as ‘I agree’ or a couple of smilies, and ... More About: Forum , Competitions , Idea , Petitions , Petition
No posts today
2007-04-23 16:40:00 There will be no new article posted today - yesterday I ran the Flora London Marathon for charity, and needless to say that today I am extremely tired and a little stiff! Normal service will resume tomorrow; thanks for your understanding! More About: Today , Posts
Linking etiquette
2007-04-22 16:00:00 When creating a link, there are two ways of doing it - via a link that opens in the same window, or one that opens in a new window. Deciding which to use can be a little tricky - here are my preferences. Links opening in the same window All internal site links in my opinion, should ... More About: Etiquette , Linking , King , Ique , Linkin
Dealing with abusive members
2007-04-21 16:00:00 As mentioned in a previous article on the importance of rules, they are vital to have in order to help you deal with any abusive members on your community website. By having site rules, you are able to refer members to them if they are creating tension and problems within your community. How to deal with ... More About: Deal , Ealing , Abusive , Members
The importance of speedy moderation
2007-04-20 17:56:00 For a whole variety of reasons, you may decide to moderate all user contributions to you community website before they are published. Perhaps you are having trouble with abusive members or spammers. Either way if you decide to moderate contributions before they appear on your site, you must ensure that you moderate as frequently and ... More About: Speed , Import , Speedy
My top five usability requirements
2007-04-19 16:00:00 It is important that you place a strong consideration on your site?s usability. You should be permanently tweaking and adjusting your website to improve its usability. Here are what I consider to be the top five usability requirements for a website: The logo should always link to the homepage ? how many times have you clicked ... More About: Usability , Bili , Five , Sabi
Don?t always believe your membership count
2007-04-18 16:00:00 As your forum grows it is only natural that you become proud of those ever increasing membership figures. When you started off you were getting maybe five new members in a week, whereas now you are seeing fifty new members each day. Look a little closer though, and you may find these figures to be ... More About: Your , Believe , Count , Ship , Membership
Is Google becoming too dominant?
2007-04-17 18:22:00 Google recently announced its acquisition of DoubleClick in a $3 billion deal. Whilst this may open new opportunities for both publishers and advertisers, it has me a little worried. Google established itself with the mantra ?Do no evil? ? it is becoming increasingly important that Google stays true to this as it becomes ever more dominant ... More About: Google , Domina , Ming , Googl , Mina
The importance of first impressions
More articles from this author:2007-04-16 16:00:00 Just as in real life, first impressions online are hugely important. A study has shown that web users decide whether they are interested in a website within just a 20th of a second. This means your site must be focussed and clear enough so that the surfer who spends that 20th of a second on ... More About: First Impressions , Press , Port , First , Sion 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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