How to best host a blog/article system and a forum on the same site in 2023?

[linux.poet]

Recently I've been digging around trying to start a toy forum. Most of my successful competitors (that focus on specific toys, not toys in general, I want a general toy site) use a "reviews and news" type of content model to draw in visitors, in addition to various contests and giveaways to gain users. Basically that means they post articles to gain SEO on the front, and have forums for users to respond on the backend.

For example, consider this site: https://www.bzpower.info/ This is the frontend of the site where the admin posts reviews and articles.
Then the forum is here: https://www.bzpower.com/

But this forum and site were made in 2001. I want something better than this. On the other hand, this site uses an addon for a forum system to post articles, and the results aren't good-looking: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/

So what would you recommend to solve this problem? Is there a system that can handle a forum and blog together on the same site without looking ugly? Or is a hybrid system of using subdomains to install blogging software and forum software in different folders still a good idea? If I go with a hybrid, which systems should I use, and how should I design the site so it doesn't look like it has been pieced together with the web designer equivalent of duct tape and baling wire?

 

[Kane]

What is your primary site, a forum or a blog? If you give more emphasis on the blog, I think the best option would be using wordpress for a blog and plugins like wpforo to create forums would be good. If you want a versatile forum, this might not work, so a better approach is to use wordpress for blog and forum sortware on directory for your forum

 

[linux.poet]

What is your primary site, a forum or a blog?

I think the forum is most important to me for this model. The front end blog is just a necessity to bring in visitors (by competing for SEO) and entice them to join the board.

Your board has to be the best source of information about toys to be worth joining, in essence.

 

[Kane]

I think the forum is most important to me for this model. The front end blog is just a necessity to bring in visitors (by competing for SEO) and entice them to join the board.

Your board has to be the best source of information about toys to be worth joining, in essence.

I am running a site where I am using the home page for a blog. Since my blog post is SEO optimized, I get search traffic. I have a forum on the directory. My forum does not have a lot of activities but still it helps to keep the bounce rate low on my site because forum thrives on interaction