Have too many admin forums killed the niche?

And by killed the niche, I mean caused a massive slow down in the amount of activity admin forums have been getting recently?

Yes, I know this probably sounds a bit insane, but look at it this way. How many admin forums are we all active on?

Maybe ten? Twenty? Thirty? Even more than that?

Problem is... is the admin forum market big enough to sustain all these forums and sites? I'm not sure it is, and as a result I think the activity and content is basically being spread thin. Look at them, most of them are pretty much dead. Even the active admin forums are having less than 30 or so posts a day and a certain unnamed competitor seems less active than they have been in years.

Is this because content is being spread out over so many different sites no one site gets to be really active nowadays? Sites in the topic less active because us same users post content across various different forums rather than one or two? Is it possible we've run up against the limits of what the subject can support forum/community wise? That the amount of admins interested in admin forums is growing at a slower rate than the amount of new sites popping up?

What do you think?

 

I think the internet is a pretty huge place, and even if there was a million admin forums, almost nobody would notice.

Most people -- if they haven't learnt about a forum by any other means -- just enter a couple of search terms in a search engine, and grab whatever pops up. Some people guess addresses in the browser's address bar. So, if you have a catchy name for a forum, the likelihood is much higher that people will find it.

 

I know people can find it... but what about active people? Because let's face it, for all the new members these admin forums get, 99% of their activity seems to come from the same fifty or so people. It's one reason I never set up an admin forum, because I just know off the bat that 90% of my active userbase would be the exact same people I already talk to on about ten other forums.

 

I think I've registered every admin forum on the front page of google. Every one of them, but 3 have XenForo. 2 have IPB and 1 is on vBulletin.

 

That's because they're mainly using Post Loop and/or other post exchange services to get their members. You might even see some of them run contests - to get more exposure to their community, and a lot of them are "free for all" forums - which means anything goes. Like, one can allow a lot of forum owners to promote their site there, and that's it. They do it because they want more content on the forums. Do I agree with it? Nope., I'm a fan of new articles that help members out even more than anything.

I wrote an article about this a few months ago, why most admin forums fail, I also wrote the following in the article:

Now, I don't think I was too harsh when I wrote that because some admin forums create multiple topics on the same subject. Like "What host do you use?" "What host do you have?" "What's your favorite host?" "How long have you been with that host?", simple topics - on the same thing, what's the point? They all can be merged into one forum topic as is. I believe a lot of the newer admin forums have no clear direction where they want to go - do they want to be a free for all, while focusing on general areas and not so much the admin areas? The fact is, these owners decide to make their own community because they didn't like what other owners were doing, so they think its a competition game. When, really having is fighting for the same members and audience.

Which is why, a lot of admin forums tend to run out of gas in the long run, and only the strong survive. Just like any other industry.

I join them as well, and some I post on, but not at all. Don't get me wrong, some admin forums are ran by good people. Like @dojo @Shawn Gossman and @digitalpoint and @Brandon

But, I agree, I think the wide-spread amount of admin forums are because of how many successful admin forums are out there. People get inspired to create one and think its easy to run one - when really it isn't. It all comes down to your community management, and your members.

 

That's a good point, although on another admin site I'm a member of, people were actually discussing how many admin forums they were members of. Someone even said over THIRTY of them.

While some may be post exchanges, I do find it seems there's a really strange overlap between people on one admin site and every other admin site. Like the same group seems to spend more time talking about admin stuff than actually managing a forum.

It seems a bit much to say it's purely postloop and exchanges, I don't see this amount of overlap in say, gaming forums about a single subject. Whenever I visit say some Nintendo forums, most of the userbase is entirely different on each one. Why not the same type of thing with admin forums?

It seems strange. Reminds me of Super Mario Fusion and how the same few enemies show up in 90% of levels.

I agree, and to be honest, the problem might be in the bolded line,

None seem to drawing in new people. This is usually pretty bad for an 'industry'. I almost foresee a crash of some kind.

I know, I'm a membr of most of those forums[/quote]

 

@CM30

If everyone's discussing the same issue, then who do you think is at fault? Those who have the ideas to create new admin forums without having much of a substance to the site? Sure, you can talk about the various topics about running an admin community, but if your content isn't good nor helpful, that forum will not last.

You can tell where the people are coming from by their usernames and what they say in the introductions topic. Usually users move on to another admin forum if one's rules are too strict or the content is lacking.

At least, some gaming forums have different content - covering with reviews, guides, and maybe interviews. Not a whole lot of admin communities strive to do that.

It's because people aren't advertising through other networks. Have you seen an Admin forum tumblr? What about on Facebook? How about one running Google adwords adS? or facebook ads? That drives in new people - which would help in the long run, but instead a lot are sitting around - on forum promotion or other promotion forums, building their fans that way.

Its really about what you're offering if users come to join you, instead of the other ones. It's about being better and having the better user-base.

The crash should have happened a lot time ago. You'll notice that some of these admin forums aren't really growing as much as they claim. 20-50 posts are okay if you want a small community, but if you're trying to build a big one, the stats need to go up. Contests sometimes drive in new members - especially if you're promoting it.

I remember when Rob ran Talkfreelance.com, he had that place hyped up - he was promoting via his signature on multiple forums, and his friends helped him grow it. Later on, he sold the place. It never was the same after that. Because Rob had the place flowing with new content. The community is still alive and running, but the activity isn't there at all.

And of course, I have an account on most admin forums as well. At least, some allow the discussion of competitors. Because you never know what new thread they may have, that another one may not have. So, thus, you link to them and discuss the topic as well.

Admin forums will always be around - some will survive, some won't. Thats apart of the internet.

"Only the strongest survive", and with Google's recent search updates - those with low-grade content will get hit hard, so the quality content sites will do a lot better than those who don't strive to have quality content. It's called Google Panda updates.

 

What separates these sites is simple: Content and Staff. The members are usually the same. That's not the issue.
Let me explain.
TheAdminZone - Amazing content. They have great tutorials and such. Unfortunately, the policing state (they say they are improving) ruined the place. Their tutorials and interviews are old.
vBulletinSetup - It is a shame @Brandon got rid of it. It had great interviews and tutorials, but once sold, the staff sucked.
This place - The interviews are great. Good discussion. More general talk between administrators.
Other places - some resources, some content, but nothing that separates them.

Then there are places like DigitalPoint which provides services and hidden gems. Others are just separated because they think they can do it better. Unfortunately, that makes them generic.

 

Great topic here @CM30 and thanks for your recent threads, spot on and great questions!

I’ll see if I can summarize my input on this if I don’t get to distracted at work..lol

I know there are a ton of forum/website owner support forums, which is really what we’re talking about. Forums that support anyone that wants to make money online via a website, forum, affiliate work etc..

I would say the numbers are well over 100 to be honest, don’t forget the specialty forums that support frameworks like vb.org, mybb.com, wordpress.com and the vast number of sites like this. I’d say I’m a member of at least 30 if not 50 of these websites, am I active on any of them, not really now. These sites come and go and depending on who is running them is what will make me come back to them. It’s also more of a time issue for me anymore, but I’ve certainly been active on a number of sites in the past with post count over 2k on several. You use the forums to better your own, you generally stop by to ask questions, try and help or offer services. At least that has been my experience in the web world on webmaster or admin type sites.

We can list off all day what users want out of one of these forums and I really think it comes down to the staff and the core group of members that stop by the forums every day, they are what really make a forum for me. I like a clean design, a site that loads fast and a site that gets decent traffic. ( I know, a catch 22) I’ve tried from day one of this forum and my previous two to award in a way those members that I see continuing to come back to the forums. I setup a private group, aka contributors, and I’ll grant these users a hidden forum where that can talk or ask questions they may not want in public, and I offer them more room to advertise their sites via sig links. I’ve also offered free links to these users via that applications I’ve been able to run in the past.. RSS feeds, SM links, blog comments etc.. This group is also setup as a paid group, so in a way those users are “getting in” for free.

I’m not saying this is what makes my forum the best by any means, but it’s what I can do and offer and I truly believe it’s helped. I’ve done in on 3 forums now since 2007 and I’ve gotten comments over the years of how everyone has appreciated it. Another thing I’ve done successfully in the past is a newsletter. Keeping the members up to date on the latest news in your field is an important way to build conversation, but you have that fine line or spamming/annoying and education as well as entertaining.

So I don’t know if that’s helped the conversation or not but I have to get back to work.
I will disclose that we do use postloops from time to time, I saw it mentioned a few times above. I have a few credits in there generally at all times and will sometimes toss 40 points in on a Friday night. I know I’m not really able to post online much on the weekends so it’s a nice way to keep the chatter going while we are away. I’d say on average we run it on weekend a month. I’ve personally talked to just about every member we have through postloop. I don’t see it as a bad thing but I would certainly rather not pay for post because of the stereotype that comes with that. I currently don’t have any ads on the site, I don’t really care to run ads on the site, I have them on my blogs and those clicks pay for my server. I look at this forum or any forum as contently under development. I enjoy the added content and if you look at all the actual post by the postloop people, you’ll see they are quality posts that add to the discussion.

 

It's not the number, it's the quality or lack of it. MOST admin forums are badly run, inactive or both. I can name few out of my head that are worth joining (where I'm actually active myself). There's a lot of new forums open by people who have absolutely no clue about the level of work and investment needed to get something like this off ground. This has screwed most of us, since people are not trusting new admin forums, so you need to work extra hard to get a community active. By the time I opened my site there were at least 10 more forums like mine. NONE of them are running now, if I remember it well.

 

I see you put the extra work, but it doesn't quite look like it pays off (activity wise unfortunately.)

 

To be fair, it seems almost all admin forums are going through the same activity slump because of this, TAZ and Admin Talk unfortunately included. When I can go back from an hour long break from the PC and find maybe 1 new post per admin forum I'm a member of, I cynically wonder whether any of them are really paying off.

Then again, are forums in general being hit hard? Probably, seems to be a lack of activity on most forums I visit currently.

 

Not really, I don't think admin forums follow the same trend as other communities. People join them to seek help, spread knowledge, and just have a good time. Most people who are users of admin forums usually deal with their own communities - some may even have real jobs, thus, their time is limited on how much time they can spend online. So, I don't think its the same between us and TAZ.

TAZ should be rolling with activity seeing how old it is. Forum Promotion usually doesn't see a whole lot of activity either unless users are promoting their forums, doing exchanges, and things like that. All webmaster/admin forums are different. Especially in the terms of their staff and users. You never know what day may be filled with activity and what days might be slow.

It's really hard to track that type of data,

 

Awww, thanks for the kind words about me

As for the topic at hand. I don't feel all the admin forums are ruining the niche. I feel that the internet is huge and there is enough room for everyone AND I say the more forums for a niche the better. I mean I have found useful stuff on one forum and then went to their rival and found more useful stuff. Its about pleasing members not being the best and if you don't see it that way, well good luck to you :p

I do find it sad when admin forums get big and then sell out only to be merged into a forum that have became big by buying forums and merging them rather than actually building the forum up themselves. No offense to those who do that but it just seems a bit fake to me... I feel really good about watching AAF grow as big as it is and that was without merging any posts anywhere