I suck at promoting!

[Zantor]

It's true!

I have had three sites in my online career. All of them have been based on a solid idea (or so I thought), but I have not been able to get them off the ground.

I have been reading through webmaster guides and articles for months but nothing seems to work. All the same ideas are put forward - write articles, exchange links, advertise....

It is not that simple.

I think there must be a huge amount of luck involved... or I just plain suck at promoting. I don't suppose anyone has any unique ideas into promoting a site that will actual work for a change.

(And by suck I mean that I would be happy with 100 unique visitors a day. I have a forum that has an average post per day rate of 1!!! Just me)

[Shyflower]

To start, you should submit your site to the major SEs (Google, Yahoo & MSN). So far, it isn't even showing up on Google when you query "site:www.studenthelpforum.com"

You have the right idea by putting a link in your signature here, but hopefully you have also joined groups and forums that students are more apt to frequent.

Your forum homepage could use a little introductory content. On the Internet it's not enough to just show what you have, you need to tell your potential visitors why it's important to them.

I noticed that your "About Page" uses the "?page_id=3" . This is not a SE friendly URL. You should read the SEO faqs here in the SEO forum and do the things that will help the SEs find your forum. Remember that SE friendly usually means user-friendly as well. The present end-tag only shows that you are using a CMS to generate your pages, but nothing to a searcher about the page content.

I also noticed that a lot of your "About Content" isn't really about your site, but is content that would be better off on your home page. Although your home page is a blog, you can put some information in the header that tells your visitor why it's beneficial to them to read it.

Why do you have the Meta Category in your Side Navigation? Do you really think a new visitor will take the time to see if your site is valid html?

It isn't enough just to know that you should write articles. You need to write articles that will interest your target audience.

Forget all the "webmaster" stuff for now. Instead, read up on how to target an audience and design your site from your visitors' viewpoints. Start by reading the stickies at the top of this forum.

[DCrux]

It is not that simple.

A key realization. People do not study their market (they have fantasies unbacked by research or testing). They don't research and they don't test.

All they do is slap something up and promote it. And usually, because they never developed the habit of looking outside themselves, their promotions are about "My forum" and not about "this great benefit." Since the benefit never went into the product, promotion never mentioned it.

An adage in promotion: The Fastest Way To Go Out Of Business Is To Do Great Promotion for a Poor Product/Service

Read The Top Ten Geek Business Myths. Forum people most often buy into Myth #2: If you build it they will come.

Let me restate this: What you are "promoting" is a big, empty container. It has zero value. People will not come and post until you -- yourself -- create value. If that means you have to hire a content producer and pay moderators -- that's what you do.

Here's what you're saying to moderators and contributors. "Hey, don't get paid to tutor people on campus, post the stuff you used to get paid for on my site for free."

Here's what you're saying to visitors: "I have no visible experts in the topics. But post your study problem and have someone whose expertise is absolutely unknown give you an answer you are staking your future academic career on."

Here's what you're saying to bloggers: "I got nothin'. Please find a reason to write about me and give me free advertising."

Now who couldn't love that? People expect promoting to magically make up for the work that they didn't do thinking through their site planning. Doesn't work that way. People don't fail in picking between the vanilla or strawberry flavors of phpBB and typing in some labels. People don't fail promoting their site. They fail at having sites worth promoting.

Stop thinking this is the mid 90s. People aren't fascinated you have one of those new-fangled "sites" up on them thar "interwebs." There are twenty thousand things people could do that are more interesting than visiting an empty forum and building it from the ground up. Even "ghost towns" have character.

"What's this?" You say. This is contrary to the laws of the universe. Well, no, it's not. It's part of what every other tightly focussed niche publication does -- just not the web. You can repost this same message in two years or you can change what you're doing. Your choice.

[Shyflower]

From what I understand, the most difficult type of web site to launch successfully is a community (forum) site.

I didn't get the same impression that DCrux got from your site.

It doesn't appear you are asking for free tutors. It looks to me like you are hoping that people will come together to help their peers. I don't think you "slapped it up", but I do think you need some help in learning to develop a successful community.

You might be better off if this thread was moved to the community forum since that forum is more relevant to your question.

[stymiee]

I've got a question for you: how long to you wait before you consider your site a failure? A month? Two months? A year? Sites don't take off overnight. Usually there is a slow start and it slowly builds as its exposure increases over time. Eventually it gets to a critical mass where it sustains itself.

[icesar]

One of the most fascinating accounts I've recently read of promoting a site (virally) was the http://15kchallenge.com/ Now, I know that the challenge was of an "Internet Marketing" nature and that the purpose was not to build community but rather to build a mailing list, but if you look past the shameless marketing and some of the questionable practices, I really found some nuggets (or boulders?) of wisdom by reading through the whole thing.

For one thing, attracting traffic and users takes A LOT more work than people realize. You should dedicate a number of hours daily to just marketing, in all it's many forms. And then, give it time.

[Zantor]

Ok.
So, the key thing I have realized so far, is that my site sucks. Before I should start to try promoting it in the usual methods I should dedicate huge amounts of time in developing content. Fair enough.

I'll see what I can do in the SEO aspect.

Yes, the aim of the site is to get students to help their peers. Not proffesional tutors, because sometimes peers can put complex theorys into simple terms.

I'll continue what I have been doing, and see if anything changes. Thanks for your help.

[Shyflower]

Zantor -

Your site doesn't suck. I like the concept. Your pages just need a bit of reorientation.

For instance, your home page should disclose what is important and unique about your site. It should tell your visitors why it is to their advantage to move further into your site (out of the foyer and into your virtual "house").

Right now, your site has two important sections - your blog and your forum. From your signature, I see that the forum seems to be the most important aspect to you.
Let your visitors know why the forum is important to them as well. Tell them what benefit they get from using your site. For instance:

1. They can get study help from peers all over the country... in fact, the world.
2. They can grab a latte, a glass of pale oil , a soda... and take a few moments to relax as they read your blog and forum posts from others.
3. It's a place where everyone's opinion matters. They can comment on your blog or go to your forum and discuss blog topics, subject and course matter, etc...

All you need do is help your visitors understand the focus of your site. Then do the webmaster stuff - the SEO, the viral marketing... and soon they will find you and tell their friends where you are as well.

[Zantor]

Would it be beneficial to try and tell people what the site is about to keep one post always first on the home page, so that all new visitors get a glimpse of what the site is really about?
Yes, I prefer the forum, because that is where all the actual discussion is going to take place. I'm going to use the blog simply to attract people in, and to prove that I know my stuff.

[Shyflower]

Some forums do that -- like here on the home page they have featured topics. So if you wanted to, you could give it a try.

Most important is that your home page tells visitors what they can do at your site and makes them feel welcome.

[Zantor]

Is there a mod which allows you to have featured topics on phpbb, so that the index page of the forum is not just a list of categories? (similar to sitepoints forum index)

[english-test.net]

I agree with a lot of what DCrux has said although I might not have phrased in the nicest way. Shyflower has a much softer approach and believes in your forum's potential. So do I. There is always room for new ideas as long as you have a clear understanding of how your user can benefit from your project.
As Shyflower said, your main concept is very good. Now, what you can do is this:
Create a list of people you know personally. Who of them might have helped a peer student solve a task, do an exercise, answer a question etc.? Ask them whether they have done so before or if they could imagine doing so in the future. Of course they will want to know what you are talking about. Explain to them that you are launching a community of students helping students. While you speak to your friends, take notes. You will get a lot of information about their needs, ideas and goals. Find out the most resourceful people and ask them if you can hold an interview with them. Then publish those on your website. Of course they will want to know where exactly their answers are published and they might even start promoting your site. People always want to have a feeling of importance and they also want to help others. And they want to support people who help others. If you can't attract forum users through the Internet at this point, find people "offline" who want to work with you. Tell them about your project and they will then go to your site and start promoting it...

[Zantor]

Thats a great idea!!!

If I can interview students offline, then they will be so shocked that their interview is actually on the internet, that they will actively promote my site by showing their interview to their own friends. I'm going to give that a go and see what happens.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[gladding]

community sites are definitely difficult to get off the ground. If you have competition, what do you offer that they don't have?

Don't give up, the first stages are the hardest.