Placing your niche content on the index?

[Cedric]

I wanted to start a discussion about placing niche content on the index page of your forum. Does a higher placement always mean better visibility and engagement? Or does thematic placement matter more than anything else? Does it matter where the center of your niche's discussion resides?

We all know that the index page is the gateway to the rest of the forum, but where should your niche content be placed for maximum exposure?

Some argue that the higher up your niche content is placed on the index page, the better. This means placing it at the top of the forum or at least above the fold. The idea is that if visitors can see the content immediately upon arriving at the forum, they'll be more likely to engage with it. While most traditional forums first have a news and introduction at the top, some others have their core discussions first.

I'm curious to hear what you all think about this. Have you experimented with different placements for your niche content? What has worked best for you, and why? Let's share our experiences and insights so that we can all make our forums as engaging and successful as possible!

 

[Cory]

My niche content is usually placed near the center of the board. I have multiple sources for finding such content with a link to the code and skin index in the header and skin thumbnails below the actual skins forum. I think if people are interested enough they'll scroll through your board to see how everything is laid out and whether they should register or not depending on the contents found on the board. I think different niches can have different layouts that may make it more prominent to place the niche content on top of the board and other boards can place the niche content where it seems most logical to be placed.

 

[Arantor]

It's always been the wisdom that showcasing something above the fold on the landing page is the most prominent place you control on your site. I've never entirely understood whether this was ever *actually* true or just the accepted wisdom, for the simple reason that I don't believe people naturally only ever arrive at the site on the landing page, depending on what site you're talking about.

Now if you're providing some kind of service, it makes perfect sense that your above-the-fold on the landing page is absolutely critical, and should be your most prominent niche content.

But for any site where traffic - especially non-advert, aka organic, traffic - is coming to you for pages that aren't the landing, the value of the index page is surely diminished. That's not to say that you shouldn't consider the above-the-fold space in general to be more valuable, because it is, but my experience is that people don't want to have to go digging around for content further below the fold unless what they see above the fold gives them reason to believe it's worth their time progressing down the page.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I tend to have my niche content directly after the important section of my community. I think it's better to have in the middle of your layout so members and guests can find the niche content easier. I always have important site information at the top because I want my members to see anything new going on right away or to easily find the rules.

 

[Jason]

The drumming content is placed in the center. The welcome section is on top. The boards regarding other musical instruments are at the bottom.

I feel this is best cause of the niche of the forum which is drumming.

 

[Reverie]

I think the niche content should be centered at the very least. I get if the first area is the "FAQ & Suggestions" and Announcements. After that I would hope to see the niche.