Forums are an often overlooked strategy for getting more traffic to your blog and increasing your page rank. Forums can help you to build community around your website, engage readers, and encourage visitors to return to your site again and again. Forums can also help you raise your page rank by supplying your site with plenty of fresh, unique content that ranks high for long-tail keywords.
You may think that it is very complicated or expensive to add a forum to your website, but neither of these things is true. You can add a forum to your website with a simple program or script, most of which are either free or very low cost. Here are some of the most popular solutions for adding a forum to your website:
bbPress – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bbpress/
bbPress is forum software that uses your existing WordPress core. Once it’s installed, you can use it just like you would a plugin, selecting your options for adding a forum and its functionality. This basic software is very simple to boost performance, but you can add other plug-ins that enhance the functionality of bbPress so you can customize it to your preferences.
PhpBB – https://www.phpbb.com/
This free, open-source software can help you to add a forum to any website. You simply download the full code and then upload it to your site. You can get support for customization in the styles database on the website. There is also a community forum where users can help you to make the modifications you need.
MiniBB – http://www.minibb.com/
Here’s another free, open-source program that you can download to build your own forum for your website. You can customize it to match the look of your site using either the auto-compiling tool or extensions. It also has full http secure compatibility to give your users confidence in the system.
Simple: Press – http://simple-press.com/
Simple: Press is a forum plugin for WordPress. The full featured plugin has an extensive system for user permissions, spam prevention tools, and options to create public or private forums, including subscription-based forums. It also supports avatars, user signatures and other customizations.
Forum Press – http://forumpress.org/
Here’s another easy plugin for your WordPress site. You can easily create a new forum and select your preferences for it right from your dashboard. The plugin supports a variety of topic statuses, guest posts, e-mail notifications and more. You can customize the look of the forum through different skins, and you can help your forum posts rank for SEO with simple URL structures.
There are many other solutions for adding a forum to your website, but these are some of the most popular. Consider using one to add a forum to your website quickly and easily so you can start promoting greater reader engagement on your site and getting more traffic.
Do you have a forum on your website? Tell us what program or plugin you use for it in the comments!
Bio:
Amber Satka writes about financial topics, such as her look into zero interest auto loans. Amber is a former office manager and current mother and writer.
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