Converting traffic to new members

Hi guys, what techniques have you found most effective for converting traffic to new registrations? I've found a 'guest message' has a little effect but not much as most people seem to just skip over it to reach the content they want.

Does restricting some forums to members only increase the number of new registrations?

 

Restricting certain forums to members will force people to signup, but it wont force them to post. Even if you limited some sections to require a certain post count, you're just going to get members posting anything to increase their count.

Personally, I think it all comes down to content. Engaging content is going to make people want to signup and give their input. They're the kind of members I want.

 

Interesting topic! How do you decide what is engaging? Is it something that you enjoy talking about that makes a topic engaging or could it be current events?

 

Restricting access will annoy most of them. I don't join a forum that doesn't allow me to see its content prior to making an account. I always join forums that are OK content wise, so, not knowing what I am getting myself into will surely not make me join.

You need a good nice design, since it's the first thing that people see. An ugly forum will attract fewer people than a nicely designed one. You should have a nice 'welcome' message presenting your board in 2-3 sentences, to make the visitor consider joining. You need GOOD CONTENT and a nice community feeling. People usually lurk for a while and, if the content is bad or the community is not nice, they will not join. You need content and new topics. No one likes starting topics for you, so an empty forum won't attract too much attention.

 

Thanks @dojo, you have given some very helpful advice!

 

Offer incentives for users to join, you can run a contest for a new forum to attract members, do post exchanges, and create topics that will interest others, and encourage them to comment in your posts.

 

Cheers for the advice guys, definitely some things to think about. I agree about creating engaging content. I've never tried running a competition though so I'll have to think that one through and maybe give it a go

 

It's something I'm looking in to at the moment. I'm still in two minds whether to offer game related prizes (gaming forum) or cash related to hopefully get more people interested.

I'll probably settle with game prizes or people can take cash equivalents.

 

I always aim high and go with the $100 cash prize on my contests, or giveaway art to the top posters. Offering money usually gets the forums really going.

 

$100 might get more people interested, but I wanted to keep the competition on topic to some extent at least.

We were actually thinking about coinciding the competitions with new game releases for instance. So the first prize might be a copy of the game, second a previous version of the game (if it's a series) and then 3rd we're still unsure about. It's all something I still have to iron out with the other admin, but that's what we've discussed previously.

 

I'd have to agree with you there Ben. It all comes down to what type of content you offer your users. If people see content that interests them and they want to register, they will. Restricting too many areas to "members only" will only harm the community in the long run I believe.

 

Hey everyone, I'm new to running my own communtiy. really appreciate everyone's input here, going to try running a contest and see how it goes.

 

Give the user a reason to join your forum, why would they want to join your forum over another forum in your niche? Offer them incentives to join.