Should every website include a forum?

[alexanderzx360]

I'm starting a new website and I was thinking if it should include a forum or not. A place where people can discuss about the page, give recommendations and everything else. What would be the difference between having a recommendations only forum than having a personalized e-mail to receive all these responds?

Thanks!

 

[vinaya]

It depends on what kind of websites do you have. If your website is a business website or a company website, having a forum is an added benefits. Your costomers or the employees can have a very healthy discussion on the forum. However, if your website is a content site where you publish resourceful contents, then I don't think forum is necessary. For example your website is on travel niche and you publish articles on travel destinations and travel tips. If people want to say something, they can say it through comments, forum is not necessary. However, if your website is a travel website where you sell travel packages, you need a forum for your customers.

 

[Soulwatcher]

I think the question should be reversed. Should every forum have a CMS! The glory days of forums are over! Social media is killing forums and you can hang it up in the wind unless you have something else to offer beside a forum. That's why I firmly believe that every forum needs some sort of CMS with content to attract people to the forum and give them something to talk about on the forum. And even then 99.98% of all new forums fail. So I wouldn't use a forum unless its for business purposes.

 

[Petershene]

Petershene

I agree with this , social media is faster less regulated , and just more apealing than forum's have a look at the alexa charts for all the big forums nd you will see traffic drops in most if not all. A forum is also a very time consuming thing to manage , and because of that misconception many fail. You will be fighting spam robots all day , may need to get moderators and traffic going and still run your website. It would be overextending yourself , for a purpose which there are much easier solutions.

 

[alexanderzx360]

I think the question should be reversed. Should every forum have a CMS! The glory days of forums are over! Social media is killing forums and you can hang it up in the wind unless you have something else to offer beside a forum. That's why I firmly believe that every forum needs some sort of CMS with content to attract people to the forum and give them something to talk about on the forum. And even then 99.98% of all new forums fail. So I wouldn't use a forum unless its for business purposes.

This is an interesting take that I didn't think before, it's true that pages are more than ever connected to social media and that's the best way for users to post their thoughts and comments about anything I post. The website I designed already has these social media implementations, so maybe a forum is not necessary at all

It depends on what kind of websites do you have. If your website is a business website or a company website, having a forum is an added benefits. Your costomers or the employees can have a very healthy discussion on the forum. However, if your website is a content site where you publish resourceful contents, then I don't think forum is necessary. For example your website is on travel niche and you publish articles on travel destinations and travel tips. If people want to say something, they can say it through comments, forum is not necessary. However, if your website is a travel website where you sell travel packages, you need a forum for your customers.

Now from the other hand, my website does require at least some kind of costumer interaction page, such as what you're describing. Maybe I could do something like that with a social media link?

Thank you both for your answers!

 

[24x7serverman]

It's depended on what type of website you have. If the website is related to hosting then you can think of developing the forum., If website is of online sales or selling something then forum is not needed. It's totally depend on your website. It's not necessary and compulsory to have the website. Many people thinks that they will acquire the new customers from forums but it's depend on the type and quality for service you providing. If you are providing the tip quality service then no need of forum.

 

[onlineblogger]

It is a great advantage if a website has a forum. That is a good marketing technique as the visitors can post comments and suggestions that other visitors can learn from.

 

[aljo67]

That kind of word-of-mouth advertising is invaluable to your business. If it's carefully moderated, the forum can provide a place for a great exchange of ideas and dialogue that can only help you and your clients or customers succeed.

 

[gjgcint]

I do not believe that every website should have forums. Social media has being a massive forum for all. Everyone posts literally everything. Also a lot of content creators that focuses on product review do a very great job doing product review and sometimes going the extra mile by dissecting products. They literally break products. I always remember unbox therapy bending an iphone.

 

[Gazoo]

I'm starting a new website and I was thinking if it should include a forum or not.

Since you are saying that this will be a new website then it would probably be best to not include a forum at the beginning because you will most likely not be getting enough activity and posts made so that the forum would look active enough to get people to want to join and post.

It would probably be best to wait until your website grows and gets a lot of traffic that could be potential forum members that would be posting and adding new and fresh posts and other content.

If you have a forum and it looks dead then that will discourage many people from wanting to join because they can always find a more active forum elsewhere. Most people want to be a member of forums where there is a lot of discussion happening so a new and dead looking forum without a lot of activity will most likely be unsuccessful.

 

[naknakdatu]

I think every website should have a forum because this is where the information and ideas met and being shared.

 

[wizard]

I think yes, it is also for their own benefits, forum can be means of evaluation to their website and by the comments and blogs of other people, the web master will have the knowledge how to improve their website.

 

[Petershene]

For a website selling a service i would say no. Today is face paced , people do a query on google , they want to enter a website in under 3 seconds loading time. They want to see the call to action button . they want to click it and get a quick fast accurate description of the product. They want to add it to a cart . and buy it. There is a reason forums are falling away , because humans now want fast information , images and video with minimal text. Text used to be the main way of communication it is not anymore.

Besides if you are openly accepting feedback on how your product must improve in the same area you are selling it you arent going to sell much ...Think about it

 

[Ellyza de gala]

Having a forum in your website could be one of the useful tool on how can you advertise your website or blog. In this way, visitors would be able to share their thoughts to further improve your content.

 

[Nancy G]

Forums for most companies are used mostly for customer or technical support services. Visitors can exchange discussions on certain topics and derived solutions or learning. It is very important that it will be properly managed and moderated to ensure its healthy dialogue and avoid spam or undesirables. If you are starting small and new in the business, may be a blog in your website or live chat for a start and grow into a forum as your traffic expands or depending on the need.

 

[24x7serverman]

Forums is a good place where people share their ideas and knowledge. You can imagine asking the importance of forum whether it should be their or not On this particular popular Forum , I agree today social media are fast and outpacing the users requirements, but i can tell you there are vast users who are still liking to read on forums and making business out of it. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Johvin4]

I think all the websites have forums, because they take advantage to have this to give their site to become popular. One of their advantage is they take a many people to their website. Most of the website need a forums is that want to their website, to earn money their website or they need use to their bussiness. Other website use facebook, youtube or a youtube channel, twitter, and other website that you enable to promote your website or bussiness, but forums is most their needed to their website.

 

[Hazelting]

I'm starting a new website and I was thinking if it should include a forum or not. A place where people can discuss about the page, give recommendations and everything else. What would be the difference between having a recommendations only forum than having a personalized e-mail to receive all these responds?

Thanks!

It will depend upon your topic. If it needs an interaction of the readers, absolutely, forum is required. Here, you will learn more ideas from the people who read your articles or blogs. It is somewhat tiring to the readers to send you an email about the thing that they want to discuss. It is more convenient for them if they write immediately on a thread.

 

[CatherineEsco]

Definitely should! In this way, you may able to hear your visitor's opinion, questions and inquiries. It is somehow serves as a rating system to your website. If you're an online store, then you can have suggestions regarding how to improve your services and what else your customers wants to see or interested to see in the future.