👉🏼 In this article, we will help you learn how to create a forum website and make money from it.
From buying a domain name and hosting service hosting to choosing the best forum software, we’ll guide you through all the steps. And in the end, you’ll be able to build a forum and earn multiple sources of income from it, even if you’re a beginner.
Sounds exciting? Awesome!
But before we go any further, let’s empower ourselves by understanding the main benefits of creating a forum.
Top 4 Reasons to Create a Forum Website 💁🏻♀️ How to Create a Forum Website forum in 2023 📝 7 practical ways to make money with forums 💲
Important disclosure: we are proud to be affiliates of some tools mentioned in this guide. If you click on an affiliate link and then make a purchase, we’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you (you pay nothing extra).
Top 4 Reasons to Build a Forum Website 💁🏻 ♀️
While it may seem like forum websites are an endangered breed, the opposite is true.
They are becoming more and more popular as people now have many different expectations.
Here are 4 of the main reasons why you should consider creating a forum website:
Benefit from loyal readers
Readers of forum websites are very like-minded people. .
👉🏼 They are on your website specifically because they want to be there.
This means they will follow you wherever you go, providing a constant audience.
Also, if you have a blog or other businesses, these readers can direct many people back to your content. The result is a steady flow of traffic and a loyal group of readers.
And you can earn money in many different ways.
Enjoy the power of UGC (User Generated Content)
A forum website offers a platform where people can share ideas and experiences. And that’s what search engines like Google want: User Generated Content (UGC).
Search engines will see it, and because of it, your forum will rank.
Get ideas for creating products and services to build an online business
With forums, you can get ideas for creating new products and services and improving existing ones.
👉🏼 Your community will tell you what they like and what they don’t like.
Referring to a product based on the response is sure to drive substantial sales.
So if you’re having trouble coming up with new ideas for your business (or if want to improve it), an active forum helps you change things.
They’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t, right from the start!
Offer customer support
If you already have a business, forums may be the best way to offer customer support on the go.
From Apple to Microsoft, all the big companies do that. Some even monitor forums where people share their views and problems.
You can also hire moderators who will make sure only the appropriate questions and answers are shared. It saves a lot of energy, time, and money.
Now that you’re overloaded with creating a forum website, let’s get straight to it.
How to create a forum website in 2023 📝
Creating a website for a forum is quite simple and you can create one in an hour.
If you want to start a forum, consider what kind of community it will be. Brainstorm on the topic or general topic.
👉🏼 After that, you need to buy a domain name and hosting for your forum.
Integrate software or hire a developer to create forum functionality. Do something to add security to the forum and start creating content.
Don’t worry. Let’s go into details below.
1. Buy the domain for your forum website
The first step is to buy a domain.
A domain is the main address of the website that you enter in the address bar of your browser. An example of a domain name is marketsplash.com.
Keep these tips in mind when buying a domain name for your forum:
- Think of an available name that is easy to say and remember
- Try choosing a .com domain name extension (but choose accordingly)
- Always choose a short address (The shorter the better)
- Consider displaying the niche with your domain name
- Avoid hyphens or numbers (until they make sense)</li
You can also use qualifying single-word domain names.
Make sure your forum domain name represents your niche. Do you have the domain name?
Let’s move on to the second step, the hosting.
2. Choose the best forum hosting services
Hosting services offer to host your forum content for a fee.
If you’re serious about your forum website, look for a reliable hosting company with the best uptime and security.
This is how you choose the best hosting services for your forum:
- Calculate the traffic you expect to get to your forum
- Decide on traffic handling management you need</li
- Choose services that offer secure servers
- Get the best uptime
Most hosting services offer shared, VPS, and managed hosting services. Start with shared because it is cheaper than any other type.
We recommend choosing Bluehost for shared hosting and Contabo for VPS. Both offer 99% uptime with reliable security and commendable load time.
3. Choose the software to create a forum website
Forum software helps you add forum functionality to your website. You need it even if you need a standalone forum.
The other option is to hire a developer which requires a lot of money, of course. Fortunately, there are many free forum software options available, especially if you use WordPress to manage your content.
How do you choose the best one? 🤔
Know what your needs are before opting for software. Here are some software and plugins to choose from:
- wpForo
- bbPress
- CodeCanyon Forum Script
- WordPress Themes Oriented to the forum
Such topics include BuddyBoss, ForumPress, Gwangi, Kleo, Socialize, Neve and more. All you need to do is install the plugin, script or theme to create a forum website.
And that’s it! Now you need to add security to your forum to prevent spam attacks.
4. Protect your forum from spam
No matter how much you create a friendly environment, spam is inevitable. Spammers create spam content on your forum website to do evil things.
👉🏼 Spam posts create havoc with the overall theme of the community.
Don’t panic! You can easily prevent this by adding security features to your forum. For that, here are the things you need to do:
- Keep the software or plugin and theme up-to-date
- Obtain the SSL certificate (which is usually free)
- Get the strongest password (but don’t forget it)
- Choose the secure hosting provider
- Monitor user access and administrator privileges
- Always come back improve your forum content (talk to your host)
- Make sure your hosting service is protected against XSS attacks
- Avoid uploading files (until it is necessary)
We hope these tips help you protect your forum so that you and your members continue to benefit from it. That brings us to the last step; creating content, of course!
5. Start creating content for your forum website
Now that the forum software is installed and you have added security, create content on your forum! “That because?” You may ask why it is a forum.
👉🏼 You may be right, but no one will create content or share ideas on an empty site.
So, create unique content related to your topic or forum niche. Start yourself and others will join!
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Cover some of the top topics in your niche
- Answer the most frequently asked questions in your industry
- Use the “Auto-Suggest” and “People Also Ask” sections on Google</li
- Join relevant forums and fill in content gaps
- Ask your members for ideas
- Optimize each piece of content based on SEO
And don’t forget to check out these content creation tools to help you go with the flow. For example, Canva can help you design attractive images for your forum, even if you’re not a designer.
You can now create content based on the community theme:
- Blog Posts
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Q&A Posts
- Infographics
- White Papers
After you’ve started creating content, team members forum will start doing the same. Encourage them to share what they think.
👉🏼 Start engaging with your community.
Respond to inquiries and respond as soon as possible. It will create the feeling of a responsive administrator who cares about forum members. It will also generate more traffic.
Just keep one thing in mind; help community members learn and do something worthwhile in their lives. That’s the law here!
6. Share content on social media and email
Get the word out about your forum with social media marketing.And share all the engaging pieces of content on social media platforms and emails.
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Creating trending posts on social media will build local backlinks that are important for SEO. Email industry leaders and talk about the things that need to be said on your forum website. Ask for retweets, shares and more. Get Involved 👏🏽.
7 Practical Ways To Make Money With Forums 💲
Now that you’ve learned how to create a forum website, let’s make money with it. As long as there is a way to get people to do something, you can turn it into a business.
There are many ways to build an online business with forums. Let’s meet the top 7 right now.
1. Create a Paid Membership Forum Website
👉🏼 Offering paid memberships is the best way to make money from forum websites.
For For example, AffLift offers membership for $20 a month. You will earn $10,000 per month if you only have 1,000 members.
👉🏼Think of the potential.
Forums with paid memberships are gold. But they are more challenging than the free ones. You need a loyal fan base and a solid marketing plan. However, you will eventually make it if you work smart enough.
2. Start Adding Affiliate Content to Your Site
If you’re like me and don’t like offering paid memberships, go to a free forum. Anyone can join for free.
👉🏼 But that doesn’t mean you can’t monetize it.
You can start adding affiliate content to your forum. It is the easiest way to make money from forum websites, hands down.
You can add offers from Amazon, ClickBank, Commission Junction and more. Your best bet will be adding affiliate banners from major eCommerce companies.
Here’s how you do it:
- Choose the best affiliate network for your niche
- Sign up as an affiliate or associate
- Comply with the rules of the relevant network
- Go to the banner section (if available)
- Copy the code and paste it into your forum
And use all the necessary affiliate marketing tools to increase your income. Start adding contextual affiliate links to a product or service. And earn an affiliate commission in return.
3. Provide Customer Support on Your Company’s Website Forum
From Microsoft to Apple, every major company provides customer support on a forum.
Why? Because they know people want help in a user-friendly way.
Customer support won’t cost much if you hire a forum moderator your forum. Forums are much more practical for offering support than anything else. Your business will grow faster than ever, no doubt.
4. Using ad networks
Google Adsense, for example, is a good way to make money from any web property, including forums.
👉🏼 It is an ad network that helps publishers and advertisers benefit each other with ads.
All you need to do is apply for the program and add a code for your forum.
And that’s it. Google will start showing ads on your forum posts and you will get paid easily. It’s a perfect monetization strategy if you have considerable traffic.
Alternatively, you can try other ad networks like Ezoic, Mediavine, and more. But they may have minimum traffic requirements. So check it out first.
5. Sell ad space on your forum
While publishers bid on an ad network like Google AdSense, you can talk directly to a strong advertiser as well. With this method of monetization, you have two main advantages:
- Avoid paying fees to an ad network (like Google AdSense)
- You make more money than you would with an ad network
But it would help if you focused on relevant advertisers willing to pay a substantial amount of money.
Select advertising spaces and start advertising them yourself.For example, a movie forum would be a perfect fit for an advertiser like Netflix.
6. Promote your business on forum websites
It must be the underused method of making money from forums.
Some use automatic link plugins in WordPress like Prettylinks which scan keywords and link to my other services and websites.
So, for example, if someone was talking about blogging, the plugin will automatically link the blogs keyword to a blogging guide.
7. Establish a business relationship with your customers
This is for those who already have a business and want to build relationships with their customers.
It goes without saying that you will also be there to help them solve a problem about your product or service. Your visitors will start building long-term business relationships with you.
And that will increase your income and the possibility of making money in the future too.
How to drive traffic to the site website of your forum 🧲
You have done three things so far:
- Propose the idea (or theme) of the forum
- Create a website for the forum
- Devised the monetization strategies
Now is the time to drive traffic to your forum. Your content will never get noticed if it doesn’t get traffic. Here are some ways to drive traffic to a forum website:
- Create an account on all search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo are a must)
- Become a Become a member on all relevant forums and spread the word
- Join relevant Facebook groups and invite them to your forum
- Use the power of Pinterest (and create relevant pins and boards)
- Answer relevant questions on Quora with a link to your forum website
- Load the forum website free all over the web directory site hosting
- Create an email list and inform your users of any updates
- Create social media pages and start sharing posts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and more)
Post paid ads on social media and also on Google search. Remarket campaigns for even better results.
Drive traffic to your website only if you have content worth reading. Don’t spam people with links to your forum; It all starts with powerful content.
This article was written by Hasan Aboul Hasan. Hasan is an online instructor, developer, YouTuber, and founder of H-educate.
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