Forums a.k.a. "message boards" may be workable advertising tools for your page . They attract repeat visitors and provide a meeting place for them to share their thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns.

Unfortunately many webmasters that attempt to launch a board on their page , finish up closing it down due to lack of activity and popularity.

So whats the key to success, you inquire of ?

Below you will find 5 quick tips on creating and marketing a communication board for your website.

1. You Need Plenty of Traffic

If your site is receiving small amounts of visitors per day, then it will be very hard to get the conversations going on your board.

Keep in mind not every body that comes to your web site will even notice or visit your board, and those that do stop by might just browse without placing. In fact, the majority of the visitors to your board will only look around.

Your page should be acquiring at least 1,000 unique visitors per day before you even launch. Do not open it up prematurely because it can generate your website look uninhabited if no one posts.

2. Create Some Starter Conversations

Once youve created your board, post a few questions to get the ball rolling. This might coax people to jump in and post some comments.

And if you are using a free board like http://www.phpbb.com, you may create polls to spark participation. People like interactivity and to give their opinion. Post a few polls and allow your visitors to vote on topic.

Also, do not be ashamed to talk to yourself. What I mean by that is you might want to create a few usernames on your own and have them post questions and answers. It may sound silly but if youre lacking activity, this might help get some conversations going. No one will understand they arent real many people , except you! ;)

3. Promote! Promote! Promote!

Do not just provide one or two links to your message board. Link to it from every page on your website. Include it in the signature of your emails, and if you have a newsletter, devote a special edition to the launch of your board.

On your "Contact" page, suggest that your visitors post a question on the communication board as an alternative to emailing you. This will force some people to browse the board and possibly find the answer they absolutely need. If your visitors begin finding the board useful, theyll return almost always and hopefully will beginning posting.

4. Keep The Categories to a Minimum In The Beginning

A big bad choice that people contruct with new communication boards is that they create too many categories. Remember that for most new forums, the number of posts are going to be small at first. So if you have 10 categories and only 1 or 2 are being used, it makes your board look scarce.

Try creating just one or two in the initial and then once the traffic starts coming in you might add new ones.

5. Make The Board Easy to Use

Do not force your visitors to search for commands on how to make use of your forums. If they have to figure things out, they will be discouraged and leave. Be sure to use a code that is neat and intuitive.

I recommend http://www.phpbb.com. Not only are they free of price , but the setup is brain friendly and the layout is nice and clean.

Hopefully these quick tips will help you as you launch your new messaeg board. Again, dont forget to promote it like crazy. If you can contruct an active community, it might be quite the selling tool for your site.

Lisa Irby is the author of 2 Create a Web Site -- a page that encourages you to plan accordingly before diving into the internet site creation process.

http://www.2CreateAWebSite.com