I’ll show you how to build a discussion forum in this comprehensive guide. We’ll start with the attitude you need to be a successful forum owner, how to choose a profitable niche, how to set up the forum technically (domain, hosting, forum software, required pages), how to promote it to gain members, and how to effectively monetise your forum.

I hope the tremendous growth of social network discussion groups like Facebook Groups and LinkedIn does not intimidate you. Even while social media has taken some of the energy away from forums, there are still many popular and profitable groups out there. And I’m excited to assist you in getting one started.

Online communities and discussion forums have existed for a very long time. There are various reasons why forums have remained popular and active over the years. However, there are certain challenges to beginning a forum, but if done correctly, you can overcome them and reap the benefits of having a thriving community.

PROS OF DISCUSSION FORUMS:

• In any niche, you can start a forum.
• The amount of data available has the potential to grow exponentially.
• Subjects are archived so that future generations might learn about them.
• Active users are extremely devoted, at least for a period of time.
• You can build an active member base and correctly monetize it.
• Provide a quick and easy manner to respond to reader questions.
• You make it possible for your members to communicate with one another.
• Your members generate new material for you.
• People frequently leave social media sites concerned about their privacy and security.

CONS OF DISCUSSION FORUMS:

• You must have a significant amount of traffic, or your forum will remain silent and eventually perish.
• It takes a lot of effort to moderate messages and keep the forum alive and well.
• To keep the forum clean, you’ll need strong anti spam software.
• If your forum gets famous, traffic may surge during hot topic debates, consuming a significant amount of bandwidth.

Before you create a forum, think about what you want to achieve.

Before you establish a forum, there are a few things you should know. Please read the following section carefully because it could mean the difference between a successful, growing community and another failure for your project.

• Passion, not money, should motivate you.

It’s critical to have a financial strategy in place, but it shouldn’t be the driving force behind your project. Because of their profound, respectable love for the community’s subject matter, 

many forum owners are now making money. That leads me to the second point I’d want to make

• Recognize How Communities Work

Let me ask you a question: Do you still go to every website where you were once a devoted follower? Even if the websites are always wonderful, chances are you’ve moved on by now.

It’s human nature to utilise things in cycles, going away for a while and then (maybe) returning. This means that accumulating a small number of forum subscribers will never be sufficient. Many former users will have relocated to other locations by the time you double (or even quadruple) that quantity.

• Prepare to put in a lot of effort.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: running a forum is difficult. People who join a forum that is nearly empty are unlikely to initiate a discussion. But, if you require people to interact, how do you get things started?