[1it]

Hi

I'v got a domain name that i want to use to start a football forum web site

Just wondering how much it would cost 'ball park' first of all

Thanks

Steve

[jstep]

It would cost under $5 a month, if you were going to do it cheaply, but to be successful, it will take much more, and long hours of marketing, and adding to the forum

I believe someone like Rj could better answer this

[Ringr]

I guess it all depends on three things: hosting, forum software, and advertising.

Hosting could cost you anywhere from $0.50/month to $30.00/mo and beyond. Hosting costs all depend on which host you go with. Look for a cheap one that has positive reviews. Also: if you're just starting this football forum, I wouldn't go with a hosting package of 15gb of bandwidth a month, until it starts getting more popular and needs more bandwidth.

As for forum software, I'd recommend MyBB - it's free, secure, and easy to work with. It's like an IPB/vB/phpBB clone.
Then of course there's phpBB which is also free, I can't stand phpBB - so I'm not exactly recommending it at all.
And then of course there are vB and IPB. Both of which cost money to use because you need licenses to run them. Licenses cost around $180-$200 USD per board if I am correct. Not really sure on the prices though, as I've never used a paid forum software in my life.

Then there is advertising. Try to do 'free adverting' the best you can. Get good SEO in search engines, link to your forum in sigs, send a monthly newsletter from your board to it's already-registered members, trade links with people, try to get listed in directories, etc.
When all else fails, save up $50 and put it in a Google Adwords account and start an ad campaign. I've read that most Adwords campaigns that forum owners use can be one of the bes things to do if your forum is friendly and easy to sign up on.

[Cradle]

URLhost could sponsor your forum for just a 468x60 banner spot on your forum, we can help you promote also.... currently we receive a good increase in visitors plus we are close to buying a second established site for mainly promoting it already gets 400-600 new a day.


but ont he forum part, it isnt easy alot harder then promoting hosting services to me, it ook me a long time to get my forum getting good uniques compared to our hosting, maybe i did soemthign wrong lol, adwords is a great way and using adsense i hear also, ive been sticking to buying domains with already traffic on them and forwarding them or putting a banner on it permanetly plsu web directories work awesome!

Regards,

[WebForging]

Check out www.theAdminZone.com (and tell them 'WebForging' sent you if you would, please).

TAZ is to forum builders what NamePros is to Domainers.

IMHO, vBulletin is the only way to go if you are very serious about your forum.

Cost of development depends on your skills. If you need help with design, the NPer ' GH0D ' (that's a zero in there) is excellent and he runs a soccer site I think. He did the banners and design for my www.WebLoggers.Org forum.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/domain-newbies/152570-how-to-start-a-web-forum.html

I've had more trouble finding reliable php help and have had to resort to using my associates at work (which cuts out their billable time that pays their checks...and we're backed up with work). If you can hack the site there are so many awesome things you can do...just take a look at NamePros, and talk to RJ.

Good luck.

Regards,
Keith

p.s.: I outsourced the board at www.Scouts.com for about $ 700 total. Outscourced design only at www.WebLoggers.Org for $100 or so including 8 banners, and did php work in-house. Both cost $160 for vB license (lifetime) and paid another $150 for vbSEO at one of them.

[1it]

having a dns problem

[1it]

Hi

Low budget (FREE) but seems okay

Thanks for the advice

The phpbb was all part of the package and free with 5gigs.com
Only took 5 mins to setup.

Wigan Athletic FC Forum

Thanks again
Steve

[bigtreble]

I use Dreamhost for hosting. Paid $7.77/year (promotion last year) and has a 1-click (free) forum install.

[Palyriot]

I use www.intekhosting.com for cheap, but nice hosting. I'm also making my own forum, so I am probably going to buy vBulletin. Thanks for the tips everyone.

[Fkrule]

i use http://jamroll.co.uk formy host they give you an offer of phpbb and smf in fantastiqo abut you can uploads the other as well