Your blog is starting to gain some traction and you’re wondering what you can do to take it to the next level. If you’re at this stage, then you might want to think about adding a forum to your blog.

Why You Want a Forum for Your Blog

Some people may think that forums and blogs are two very distinctly different kinds of websites, but that does not mean that they cannot co-exist. In fact, many of the most popular blogs on the Internet also have their own forums. This is the case with shopping sites like SmartCanucks, as well as technology sites like Futurelooks.

One of the biggest reasons why you may want to add a forum to your blog is that it can be (almost) self-sustaining. We’ve mentioned several times before that content is king on the Internet, and when you set up a forum, the community will freely add new content to your site on a continual basis. This helps to keep your site very active in the eyes of the search engines and it helps to generate even more traffic through a variety of means.

This increased traffic, of course, represents some terrific advertising and monetization opportunities for you too. With the community constantly starting new forum threads and replying to one another, you have a constant stream of site visitors that the advertisers can then target.

On the flip side, just like you should be careful about spam comments on your blog, you have to be careful about spam posts in your forums. You also have to keep an eye out for trolls and other people who may not make for the best community members. That’s why it may pay to hire a part-time forum moderator, either paid or volunteer, to help you in that regard.

When You Should Add the Forum

A common mistake that many beginning bloggers make is that they add a forum right when they launch a new blog. This is not the best strategy. The fact of the matter is that a “dead” forum is actually quite a bit worse than no forum at all. People engage and participate in forums that are active. If you do not have the traffic to sustain a forum, you should probably wait until you do.

It’s hard to tell exactly when is the optimal time to launch a forum to accompany your blog, but you will want to have a reasonable level of “engaged” traffic before adding a forum.

How to Add a Forum to Your Blog

Just like how blogging has been increasingly simplified and made more accessible through the advent of WordPress, the same circumstances have parlayed into the world of online forums too. No longer do you have to deal with complicated coding and complex installations. Many forum software packages have easy installation guides; if you were able to launch a WordPress blog, you’ll be able to install a forum.

If you like the interface of WordPress and how it operates, then you’ll feel right at home with bbPress. This forum software was developed by the same people who created WordPress. They’ve kept things as small and light as possible, while still allowing for all kinds of customization and features through plug-ins, just like WordPress.

Another free option is phpBB. Designed to help you create communities, this forum software is completely free and open source. While it has been dubbed “bulletin board” software, that is fundamentally the same thing as what we would normally call a forum. phpBB offers an extensive database of modifcations, as well as many different styles and image packages.

For people who would like a more premium product, vBulletincomes highly recommended. Unlike the first two options, however, vBulletin is not free. The “Forum Classic” software is $195 for a new license and it includes an asset manager, greater customization, and SEO-friendly URLs. The Publishing Suite is more expensive and includes a widget platform, community blogs, and more.