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First half of September of this year I launched a community site related to a hobby I've participated in for years. I submitted the site a week or two prior to the launching. I wasn't exactly sure why the site did not get listed. But, I didn't figure it would matter a whole lot as my promotional strategy for the site included mostly word of mouth advertising.
At the beginning of October, I learned something about the DMOZ that was apparantly secret information. Editors will not list community sites unless there is an indication of activity on it. My site is primarily made up of the forums, so prior to launch it really appeared as if the site was dead. I also found out that an editor had bookmarked the site for future review.
I waited until the end of November to contact the editor. My community site by then had over a hundred members and over a thousand posts. I sent him a polite note asking if he would re-review the site. No personal response, but a few days later I noticed the site was live in the directory.
Of course, how you get activity without a listing is a tricky one, and indeed its the main problem with setting up any kind of forum - people are attracted to busy places (like here), but nobody wants to be this first.
Which really raises a question - how *did* you get your forum kickstarted? Are there any tips you'd like to share? :)
I would be interested in any hints and tips people have for getting forum traffic up.
A few of my own (only just starting out though):
>Ads for your forum within in your site (assuming the forum only forms part of the site). Carefully placed and worded ads can help drive people to your forum. Should stand out, offer further information from the topic of the page and "click here" text.
>Keep the forum well maintained. People wil arrive, leave and not come back if your forum is just a lot of 1 post threads with links to spam sites. Also make an effort to answer all posts within a certain time.
>Use the forum for feedback and research. A great marketing move is to interact with your users (this is been discussed in many threads over the past few months). If your users see that by posting on the forum, changes are taken on board, then they are more likely to come back.
>Get some mates to kick things off, ie, start new topics - so the forum isnt empty when new users arrive.
Anything else?
JOAT
Kidding aside, I have written extensively about how I built this specific forum. Out of respect for the forum rules here, I can't really post the details. If anyone wants to see what I have written about this, please contact me off board and I'd be happy to share the info with you.
That made me spray coffee this morning, reads just like a tabloid headline ;)
Naughty Norman in Rumpus Shocker!
hehe, good luck with your site!
Nick
Yes, that's a better way to state it. I think that in practice it is a rule though, if not stated clearly. The standard way to start a forum is to add a forum to an already existing site, thus sidesteping this catch 22.
Not really a secret is correct, just because nobody realizes it. During September and October of this year I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the inner workings of the ODP. Prior to that, I never imagined that a site would not be listed because it's a new forum, or because of a number of other things that most people don't realize. My point here being that once you get a true understanding of how DMOZ works, you can understand what it takes to get your site listed, and if you find an editor that is performing in the true spirit of the ODP then things go as well as they should.
A few points to take from this thread.
-There are DMOZ editors that are working in good faith to make the ODP a great directory.
-Don't submit your community website until you get some activity in the forums.
-Try to find out why your site wasn't listed and address the problems then contact the editor for a re-review.
-Contacting an editor when it is appropriate can gain you positive results.
-Even though you might not get a personal response, the editor maybe is still doing a good job.
-Not everything you read about the DMOZ here is accurate (good and bad).
Glad you liked it, exactly the effect I was hoping for. ;)
