Having affiliates / partnerships with other forums

[Cedric]

This used to be something very popular, unfortunately with the decline of forums, so have affiliates declined. Do you think it's still interesting to have partnerships, or do you feel they are a waste of time and space ? I can only encourage everyone to start doing affiliates again, as they bring in a fair amount of traffic - at least back in the day. This is still a huge thing in the role playing community.

Edit 01/03:
Benefits of affiliation:

1. Increased traffic: By affiliating with a popular forum, you can drive more traffic to your website or product, which can lead to increased sales and revenue.
2. Improved brand awareness: Partnering with a forum can help to increase your brand awareness, as more people will be exposed to your brand through the forum.
3. Access to a targeted audience: Many forums have a specific focus or theme, which means that their users are interested in that particular topic. By affiliating with a forum that is relevant to your business or product, you can access a targeted audience that is more likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
4. Networking opportunities: Forum affiliation partnerships can provide opportunities for networking with other businesses or individuals in your industry or niche.
5. Increased credibility: Being affiliated with a reputable forum can lend credibility to your business or product, as users of the forum will view your affiliation as a seal of approval.
6. Increased customer loyalty: By participating in and contributing to a forum, you can build stronger relationships with your customers and increase their loyalty to your brand.

 

[Arantor]

So here's a fun fact - part of the last while I've been hiding out in the roleplay space, and for them it's like it's 2006. It's completely normal to have 88x31 affiliate icons (and reams of them) and even have a board for guest posting where you can advertise site-to-site, as in you visit, leave an ad, and that's implicitly a request for the other admin to come and leave an ad on your site.

The efficicacy of any of this is hard to judge, though, and there are people who are suggesting it doesn't work particularly well - but it's fascinating to see what everyone's doing if nothing else.

One thing roleplay does do which is sort of related, is cross platform promotion. There are forum directories, Tumblrs and Discord servers whose primary existence is the promotion of other roleplay sites. You go up, post your ad once a week or whatever and it gets added to the queue for others to see. Very often these sites are also tagged as affiliates, with some of them even requiring you have their affiliate ad listed in order to be listed.

Whole different world.

 

[Cedric]

So here's a fun fact - part of the last while I've been hiding out in the roleplay space, and for them it's like it's 2006. It's completely normal to have 88x31 affiliate icons (and reams of them) and even have a board for guest posting where you can advertise site-to-site, as in you visit, leave an ad, and that's implicitly a request for the other admin to come and leave an ad on your site.

The efficicacy of any of this is hard to judge, though, and there are people who are suggesting it doesn't work particularly well - but it's fascinating to see what everyone's doing if nothing else.

One thing roleplay does do which is sort of related, is cross platform promotion. There are forum directories, Tumblrs and Discord servers whose primary existence is the promotion of other roleplay sites. You go up, post your ad once a week or whatever and it gets added to the queue for others to see. Very often these sites are also tagged as affiliates, with some of them even requiring you have their affiliate ad listed in order to be listed.

Whole different world.

There is a more partnership vibe to role playing forums than any other niche. I feel that we should all really lean more towards that. There is still too much hostility between forum owners in the same niche that are scared one member would flee to another. If you're certain of your forum and you provide good content and a family/friendly atmosphere, there isn't anything to be scared of. A member can be a frequent member on both or more forums.

 

[Arantor]

Well, you say that, but also at the same parts of it are really really not like that.

So, while there are the resource forums and the Discords, there are also a rotating cast of gossip sites out there spreading 'the tea' (the gossip) about each other like they're back in school and people are on the naughty list. And some of the arguments are seriously petty and boil down to 'in a hobby about collaboration and joint communication, try communicating?'

It's like Mean Girls wasn't a film but a documentary. I've seen multiple 'burn books' and I've seen multiple people entirely hounded out of the community for wrongdoings both perceived and actual.

It's gotten to the point where the collective groupthink is moving towards 'semi-private sites' (aimed at 5-8 people or thereabouts) or even just going into the realms of 1-on-1 writing.

 

[Cedric]

Well, you say that, but also at the same parts of it are really really not like that.

So, while there are the resource forums and the Discords, there are also a rotating cast of gossip sites out there spreading 'the tea' (the gossip) about each other like they're back in school and people are on the naughty list. And some of the arguments are seriously petty and boil down to 'in a hobby about collaboration and joint communication, try communicating?'

It's like Mean Girls wasn't a film but a documentary. I've seen multiple 'burn books' and I've seen multiple people entirely hounded out of the community for wrongdoings both perceived and actual.

It's gotten to the point where the collective groupthink is moving towards 'semi-private sites' (aimed at 5-8 people or thereabouts) or even just going into the realms of 1-on-1 writing.

Yeah, that may be true, but that’s just plain toxic. And that’s more or less typical woman. It tends to be brought over from real life where they are used to causing drama and whatnot.

 

[Arantor]

Plenty of the men in the scene are just as bad, if not far worse in some cases though. I think it comes out of the fact that for once these people feel like they can say what they really think without being deplatformed or disenfranchised for saying it, and that many of the points are valid but never handled in any productive way.

 

[SpookyZalost]

We're not a roleplay forum and we do the whole 88x31 forum link affiliation thing Though it's certainly more popular in places like neocities which is a geocities throwback type place.

That being said if anyone needs 88x31 buttons made I can certainly offer my services in that regard if anyone's interested.
An example I made using GIMP

As far as affiliations being helpful. I think it's useful in that backlinks on main pages to other main pages seems to raise the group ratings in google Searches while also being fairly visible to anyone who visits one of the affiliated group's sites.

My question is do people think there needs to be requirements for affiliation or should it be a sort of request thing that the admin/forum owner can choose to say yes/no to?

 

[Cory]

My question is do people think there needs to be requirements for affiliation or should it be a sort of request thing that the admin/forum owner can choose to say yes/no to?

I let some boards slip due to special reasons, but for the most part, I have the requirement that boards need to be at least half my size in terms of posts and members to affiliate with me. At least, from the index page. I have an affiliation page where a board of any size can affiliate with me.

 

[SpookyZalost]

I let some boards slip due to special reasons, but for the most part, I have the requirement that boards need to be at least half my size in terms of posts and members to affiliate with me. At least, from the index page. I have an affiliation page where a board of any size can affiliate with me.

That seems reasonable. Filters out inactive boards that are more flashes in the pan than ones that are growing and planning to stick around.

 

[Cedric]

I let some boards slip due to special reasons, but for the most part, I have the requirement that boards need to be at least half my size in terms of posts and members to affiliate with me. At least, from the index page. I have an affiliation page where a board of any size can affiliate with me.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed when I wasn't accepted for your index affiliation, but I learned that I needed to respect your choice then. Every person has their own terms in any subject, so that's okay.



In general, there are many benefits to affiliation.

1. Increased traffic: By affiliating with a popular forum, you can drive more traffic to your website or product, which can lead to increased sales and revenue.
2. Improved brand awareness: Partnering with a forum can help to increase your brand awareness, as more people will be exposed to your brand through the forum.
3. Access to a targeted audience: Many forums have a specific focus or theme, which means that their users are interested in that particular topic. By affiliating with a forum that is relevant to your business or product, you can access a targeted audience that is more likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
4. Networking opportunities: Forum affiliation partnerships can provide opportunities for networking with other businesses or individuals in your industry or niche.
5. Increased credibility: Being affiliated with a reputable forum can lend credibility to your business or product, as users of the forum will view your affiliation as a seal of approval.
6. Increased customer loyalty: By participating in and contributing to a forum, you can build stronger relationships with your customers and increase their loyalty to your brand.

 

[Cory]

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed when I wasn't accepted for your index affiliation, but I learned that I needed to respect your choice then. Every person has their own terms in any subject, so that's okay.

I'm glad that we got to do affiliation in the end. After all, our boards are of similar niches. If I accepted all affiliates, no matter the size of the board, my footer would be miles long.

 

[Cedric]

I'm glad that we got to do affiliation in the end. After all, our boards are of similar niches. If I accepted all affiliates, no matter the size of the board, my footer would be miles long.

Oh definitely, I can imagine that.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

This used to be something very popular, unfortunately with the decline of forums, so have affiliates declined. Do you think it's still interesting to have partnerships, or do you feel they are a waste of time and space ? I can only encourage everyone to start doing affiliates again, as they bring in a fair amount of traffic - at least back in the day. This is still a huge thing in the role playing community.

I think it could be a great way to get forums more popular than they are now through community marketing rather than traditional digital marketing.

But I think it needs to be more than just an affiliate link or button.

I think the affiliate partnership should consist of each partner promoting the forums actively.

Partnerships in 2023 and beyond are not like they were 15 years ago. They're collaborations.

We must evolve with the times or we'll continue to see a decrease in popularity.

 

[SpookyZalost]

you know, you're right? Honestly it's hard promoting a community in the current era. Forums are often seen as antiquated but the communities on them thrive. Finding others in your niche can also be just as difficult so affiliation helps a lot.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

you know, you're right? Honestly it's hard promoting a community in the current era. Forums are often seen as antiquated but the communities on them thrive. Finding others in your niche can also be just as difficult so affiliation helps a lot.

I think as a forum owner, it is always a good idea to continue searching for your niche online.

Try to be seen and become involved in every aspect of that niche.

It will help you with your authority and expertise of the niche and get you noticed.

With that being said, it's good to use a common name, avatar, voice, etc. (Brand yourself!)