What's better: Forum or Blog?

[italiandragon]

Hello,

I have , for 2008 , plans to develop some websites.

But one of them will require a lot of interaction with visitors so I am looking at creating a new Forum or a new Blog.

What would be better between a Forum and a Blog , if I also would like to generate some decent revenue from the site?

It will be a general topic.

Thank you

 

[notlikeyou]

Go with the Blog, getting a forum up & active is a lot of work. With a Blog you don't have the constant need for continual interaction with the audience. If you post 2-3 sound/quality posts on a blog per week it's just enough to keep your readers (and possible revenue generators) returning.

 

[italiandragon]

Go with the Blog, getting a forum up & active is a lot of work. With a Blog you don't have the constant need for continual interaction with the audience. If you post 2-3 sound/quality posts on a blog per week it's just enough to keep your readers (and possible revenue generators) returning.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I thought about that but how about if I was confident to find easily already about 100 members ? A Forum would live by itself while I`d need to keep alive the Blog.

I just wonder if I can generate more money with a Forum or with the Blog, providing both have same readers?

 

[Zilla]

it depends who u are ....if u are the best knowledgeable person in that niche and like writing, blog is good, as people mainly read from what you said, if u are the best facilitator in that area, forum is good, u are the person encourage others disucussion...

 

[shockie]

i think it depends on the type of interaction you're looking for.

if you're just looking to update your visitors about your site, recent changes, etc, then a blog is the way to go. if you're looking to really build a solid community then you'll need a forum.

so you need to figure out what the purpose of the blog/forum will be and why it is needed as a part of your entire website. you could also start it as a blog first and put forum in a beta and see how it goes. a forum is just as hard as a blog to start out at first because you will also have to write in a new forum to get it going.

 

[italiandragon]

i think it depends on the type of interaction you're looking for.

if you're just looking to update your visitors about your site, recent changes, etc, then a blog is the way to go. if you're looking to really build a solid community then you'll need a forum.

so you need to figure out what the purpose of the blog/forum will be and why it is needed as a part of your entire website. you could also start it as a blog first and put forum in a beta and see how it goes. a forum is just as hard as a blog to start out at first because you will also have to write in a new forum to get it going.

Cheers guys. I may go with the Forum then, I have no problem in building communities, done that since 2000

I have left rep for everyone except for shockie justbecause it does not let me , it seems I already repped you too much

Regards

 

[netmeg]

From my experience with AdSense (and in AdSense forums like at WebmasterWorld) I can tell you that forums typically make far less money from ads than most other type sites. So if you're thinking of making money that way, you might want to stick with the blog. If you have something else (like affiliate programs) that might work - but forum members in almost any niche are notorious non-clickers. That's just the way it is. People with forums are *always* asking why they aren't making more money from it.

 

[Sameh]

Blog will be better. IMO

 

[notlikeyou]

I also would like to generate some decent revenue from the site?

I can tell you that forums typically make far less money from ads than most other type sites. So if you're thinking of making money that way, you might want to stick with the blog. If you have something else (like affiliate programs) that might work - but forum members in almost any niche are notorious non-clickers. That's just the way it is. People with forums are *always* asking why they aren't making more money from it.

A blog will be much easier to generate revenue from.

Best of luck

 

[unholy1]

Start with a blog and as you get more interest and traffic, add a forum for more interaction. As the site grows you could switch over and make the blog the secondary part of the site or build a portal front page as the entry point of the site.

 

[nu-money]

I think a blog too.

A forum is much harder work, and will use more of your time (moderating, removing spam, etc). Also, it could take ages until you grow a large userbase.

A blog however, will only take a couple of hours a week and will be a lot easier to make money from.

 

[and5rey]

I would go for blogs too (uless you have forum domains), as it is easier to manage a blog than a forum IMO. With forums it is really difficult to get new members.

 

[italiandragon]

Start with a blog and as you get more interest and traffic, add a forum for more interaction. As the site grows you could switch over and make the blog the secondary part of the site or build a portal front page as the entry point of the site.

I like your suggestion. Thanks Rep on the way

Could you also suggest me which Blog is the best one to get revenue from? I have never used ADSense so it`s all new to me.

I would go for blogs too (uless you have forum domains), as it is easier to manage a blog than a forum IMO. With forums it is really difficult to get new members.

No, this project is not for domain names, NamePros is the best one and I`m not planning to be a competitor of NP

Towards the topic that I have for my project, I`m confident that I won`t have any issue in getting a community started but it`s not sure 100 % so I appreciate your input as well.


I repped all of you guys, thanks for your replies.
Now , I should just choose which blog is better , thanks

 

[unholy1]

I like your suggestion. Thanks Rep on the way

Could you also suggest me which Blog is the best one to get revenue from? I have never used ADSense so it`s all new to me.

Now , I should just choose which blog is better , thanks

The quickest answer to that would be Wordpress, but then your purpose is to eventually build a large (I assume) forum type interactive community and in the long run Wordpress will not not give you an easy way to expand to levels you will probably want to get to at that stage.

The best choices to start with then is either Drupal or Joomla. Both have a very stable blog engine at their heart and they could both expand to places where Wordpress will not be able to.
The choice between the two is not an easy either, both have high learning curves, both well supported by their communities, both highly customizable and both will also allow you create a bridge between your blog and the forum that you intend to put in eventually. Their are so many debates as to which of the two are better but in the end it all just comes down to personal preference.

 

[italiandragon]

The quickest answer to that would be Wordpress, but then your purpose is to eventually build a large (I assume) forum type interactive community and in the long run Wordpress will not not give you an easy way to expand to levels you will probably want to get to at that stage.

The best choices to start with then is either Drupal or Joomla. Both have a very stable blog engine at their heart and they could both expand to places where Wordpress will not be able to.
The choice between the two is not an easy either, both have high learning curves, both well supported by their communities, both highly customizable and both will also allow you create a bridge between your blog and the forum that you intend to put in eventually. Their are so many debates as to which of the two are better but in the end it all just comes down to personal preference.

Fantastic advice mate!

Again these Drupal & Joomla come out. I was adviced to use these software to develop my sites but did not know that they had so many features so I started using what I knew:
XSitePro (which is not even free, do you know it? If you do, what do you think of that? I don`t know all its features yet)
But now, if that one is not good, I`ll have no choice but study one of these other 2......from SCRATCH
Also, last time I got Joomla, it seems that there were many versions of it. Which one would you reccomend me?
Thanks VERY MUCH

 

[italiandragon]

The quickest answer to that would be Wordpress, but then your purpose is to eventually build a large (I assume) forum type interactive community and in the long run Wordpress will not not give you an easy way to expand to levels you will probably want to get to at that stage.

The best choices to start with then is either Drupal or Joomla. Both have a very stable blog engine at their heart and they could both expand to places where Wordpress will not be able to.
The choice between the two is not an easy either, both have high learning curves, both well supported by their communities, both highly customizable and both will also allow you create a bridge between your blog and the forum that you intend to put in eventually. Their are so many debates as to which of the two are better but in the end it all just comes down to personal preference.

Ok, since I can`t wait to start all my projects, I just started a Blog with Wordpress, that was really easy so easy that I decided to start one about domains too.

But how do I get revenue from it? How do I add Google ADWORDS?

Is there also a way to see the traffic and where it comes from like with Google Analytics?

Thanks

 

[shockie]

Ok, since I can`t wait to start all my projects, I just started a Blog with Wordpress, that was really easy so easy that I decided to start one about domains too.

But how do I get revenue from it? How do I add Google ADWORDS?

Is there also a way to see the traffic and where it comes from like with Google Analytics?

Thanks

i think you mean adsense. you have to apply for an account (www.adsense.com).

the same goes for google analytics (www.googleanalytics.com). if you can't use it directly with your blog, i know wordpress has a handful of plugins that will work with analytics.

 

[italiandragon]

i think you mean adsense. you have to apply for an account (www.adsense.com).

the same goes for google analytics (www.googleanalytics.com). if you can't use it directly with your blog, i know wordpress has a handful of plugins that will work with analytics.

yes ADsense, thanks

Thank you for the info

 

[weblord]

wordpress can have multiple users with adsense sharing for a blog, if you have staff then go with the forum with adsense sharing.

Hello,

I have , for 2008 , plans to develop some websites.

But one of them will require a lot of interaction with visitors so I am looking at creating a new Forum or a new Blog.

What would be better between a Forum and a Blog , if I also would like to generate some decent revenue from the site?

It will be a general topic.

Thank you

 

[italiandragon]

wordpress can have multiple users with adsense sharing for a blog, if you have staff then go with the forum with adsense sharing.

No, I`m all alone

I have been adviced to use this one for the Blog:

http://www.doshdosh.com/prosense-adsense-ready-seo-theme/

What do you think?