What should be done in order to make the forum more active?

[fullbenefit]

Hi, what do you think the forum is missing/needs changing? What would you add in order to get more active members?

Let's post our ideas and maybe some of them will looked at

[allaboutthebets]

Maybe some sort of prize give away? A weekly quiz?

[drifter8]

I think it is better to be a prize pool or draw on a montly bases. GPWA can organize a poker tournament or sth relative and affiliates can meat each other on a quiet place excluding the conference's halls and spaces

[PromoteCasino]

For me the forum looks very tired and needs to updating. I am sure I have seen somewhere that Michael was talking about this but seem to remember that it was not a priority.

In ways of getting more active they could take a leaf out of AGD and start reviewing true rev share %'s of the brands they are or are not promoting.

For instance a brand that actively promotes a 25% rev share to gain unsuspecting new affiliates only to find the true % after admin, taxes and all other BS deductions is as low as 5%.

This will only ever help an affiliate new or old make an informed decision whether to join a program.

Maybe this is something the members can do as I can imagine it is a time consuming exercise and that will surely get some action going.

[allaboutthebets]

For me the forum looks very tired and needs to updating. I am sure I have seen somewhere that Michael was talking about this but seem to remember that it was not a priority.

In ways of getting more active they could take a leaf out of AGD and start reviewing true rev share %'s of the brands they are or are not promoting.

For instance a brand that actively promotes a 25% rev share to gain unsuspecting new affiliates only to find the true % after admin, taxes and all other BS deductions is as low as 5%.

This will only ever help an affiliate new or old make an informed decision whether to join a program.

Maybe this is something the members can do as I can imagine it is a time consuming exercise and that will surely get some action going.

AGD does look a lot more fresh and modern.

Anything to go back to the old gpwa where there were loads of helpful posts that people engaged in.

[Triple7]

Simple.

More interesting posts, for example real experiences with affiliate programs, t&c you have to be careful for, real questions about seo, websites, programs, slots, etc. And real involvement of programs. Answering questions, sharing useful information, instead of just spamming promos or wishing people Valentine's Day in december.

And less crap: spam posts in link sell topics, "hey send me pm"-posts.

Forum looks tired. I'm not talking about the design, but about the posts. 99% of all posts are welcome threads, active member threads and crap.

Also quality of sponsors goes downhill in my opinion.

[BettingTools]

Forum looks tired. I'm not talking about the design, but about the posts. 99% of all posts are welcome threads, active member threads and crap.

Yes, a handful of users including the likes of TheGooner and universal4 (and historic posts) have carried the forum for a long time now. Forums are harder to encourage people to spend their very limited time on in the modern world and if they do it'll mostly be reading.

It's still possible to have a thriving forum community though and we can all help by posting quality content regularly.

I haven't posted for ages and this probably doesn't consititute quality but the intention is there and I'll aim to do better!

[wonderpunter]

The quality is what needs improving, Now nearly most of the posts are thanks and pat on the backs from new members, Older members were driven out and has been overtaken by spammers, been saying it for years but nobody listens but you can see the quality of threads has changed.

[DaftDog]

I feel the reason why fewer quality discussions take place on forums is that many questions are now better answered by Google. I also feel that many members are waiting for others to start meaningful discussions.

One gripe I have about the GPWA is that some of the mods tend to be too politically correct.

[DanHorvat]

I think it would fix itself if the framework was more logical and more engaging.

I like sorting things so here we go...

The sections were probably imagined before people even started coming to the forum, and now with over half a million posts it's obvious some are barely used at all, some are very popular, while some are duplicates:

Public - Domains and Sites for Sale
Public - Other Marketing Offers
Private - The Links Store
Private - Private Links Exchange
Private - Business Opportunities and Services
Private - DomainAholics Anonymous

I feel there should be a subforum that would group all this together as a Marketplace and then divide it into:
- Domains for sale
- Websites for sale
- Links for sale
- SEO services
- Partnerships & jobs

If I wanted to visit a subforum to see all the current link sale opportunities - I can't do that. There are at least three subforums I need to visit.

I also think the division between Public and Private is creating this mess, as some threads will inevitably be duplicates. I'd just create a forum the way it's meant to look like, and then keep some subforums separate (e.g. Partnerships in the Marketplace section).

Wordpress (public) and Tech Talk (private) subforums are duplicates. One subforum for web developers is enough, as it's obvious there aren't that many coders here, and those who are coders are usually working on Wordpress anyway. These two can be merged together.

Instead of starting with the Public forum I'd call it News or something. Buzz, polls, payment info, APCW, announcements, events & confs, all the things that you need to read in order to stay up to date. Plus Chatter Box and Freshman Forum, both of which are very popular. This is basically the meeting place, where you come when you just want to hang around.

Fun diversions, Hobby Time etc. don't really belong near the top though. And there's a duplicate fun/hobby section again. There's The Chatter Box as well as General Chatter, so that's actually four (!) similar sections. And they're #7, #11, #22 and #25 on the global subforums list. Makes no sense.

There should be a subforum called Membership, near the bottom of the screen, where Planning & Discussions, GPWA Seal, Prospective new members and New User Information would be. All the stuff that's boring to people who are already members.

Maybe give us a subforum dedicated to Traffic & Conversions. Put all the SEO stuff there (except for paid services, which belong in Marketplace). Tech Talk would also belong here, as this subforum is for people who are actively working on improving their websites in some area. Business Introduction and Member Site Reviews should also be here.

You see people posting tech questions in General Chatter. They do that because Tech Talk is notoriously unpopular, and if you ask something there, no one will see it.

Diversification section has 95 threads in 15 years. Merge it, find it a new purpose, or archive it. It's obvious we don't want to diversify as we're already in the most profitable niche.

Clean up the mess, give the forum a good structure, and people should be interacting more efficiently. This is just my 5c, I'm sure with some more thought a perfect structure can be found for this forum. With the correct public/private division for each subforum.

Ironically, this thread should have been posted in Suggestion Box and not General Chatter. Which once again shows the forum isn't structured very well because it long outgrew the initial structure. Two threads in the Suggestion Box this year, and only one belongs there while the other is a membership question.

[PROFRBcom]

Maybe some sort of prize give away? A weekly quiz?

They already have an incentive program... featured links on the homepage. This however has been thoroughly abused by spammers in the last year or two. Some still get away with it despite many long-time members protesting and/or outright leaving because of the blatant spam.

For me the forum looks very tired and needs to updating. I am sure I have seen somewhere that Michael was talking about this but seem to remember that it was not a priority.

Like updating to HTTPS... would surely be useful, and is a quality signal for Google. Speaking of quality signals, lets kick all the blatant spammers off and erase their link spam, which will raise the value for all the real posters!

NOTE THE SPAM SCORE HERE!! The algos are going to start penalizing links from this place at some point. Devaluing them for sure, and perhaps this is already happening.

I could easily clean out thousands of spam links in a day of bannings...

In ways of getting more active they could take a leaf out of AGD and start reviewing true rev share %'s of the brands they are or are not promoting.

For instance a brand that actively promotes a 25% rev share to gain unsuspecting new affiliates only to find the true % after admin, taxes and all other BS deductions is as low as 5%.

Yes! This is probably the greatest feature of AGD, their program reviews. I think it would be excellent if GPWA did this also, perhaps with their own twist somehow to make theirs unique.

The quality is what needs improving, Now nearly most of the posts are thanks and pat on the backs from new members, Older members were driven out and has been overtaken by spammers, been saying it for years but nobody listens but you can see the quality of threads has changed.

Nailed it!

The damned SPAM issue pops up over and over and over again. I don't understand why so many of the members who are active and post regularly have been, not ignored, but definitely not taken seriously enough, when they complain about the blatant spam by some members of this forum.

It is just so plainly obvious who the total garbage posters are that contribute virtually no value, and use spammy reply tactics to get signature links into almost EVERY thread on the site.

So frustrating!

[PromoteCasino]

Yes! This is probably the greatest feature of AGD, their program reviews. I think it would be excellent if GPWA did this also, perhaps with their own twist somehow to make theirs unique.

To make it different they could maybe produce a table showing the best and the worst in the business, that would be different and useful as you would not have to trawl hundreds of threads to look at them all.

[ddm]

perhaps add a 'guides' section.
eg for coding / automation / CMS setup / optimization / Push notifications / segmentation etc.

There's a lot of clever folks in here who could share their knowledge if the right place existed to do so.

[Former Member 14]

Zero tolerance to spam - that would be a good start.

The Elephant in the room, is definitely forum-spam. It's not conventional spam, instead, cr#p posts of no value. The end-game is what drives the motivation for these crap posts. EG - A member requests a 'site review'... Most people oblige, and provide constructive useful feedback. However, pitted in these threads, are posts, which don't provide anything of value. It's the same modus operandi in other threads.

Forum Structure
DanHovak's post on this topic is excellent.
https://www.gpwa.org/forum/what-shou...tml#post909069

In addition, I've always been a strong supporter of post-count. If someone genuinely wants to be part of a community, and benefit from membership, they'll continue to be part of the forum. EG - Not signup do 5 posts to gain 'Private Membership' and the "GPWA SEAL", then in most cases, go MIA. Maybe that philosophy is good for gaining inbound GPWA links, and bums-in-seats for promotional marketing... but it doesn't benefit the growth of the its forum community. If anything it detracts from it.

Same goes for 'Public Members'...
IDK what the post count is to gain sig-links, but handing them over with little to no commitment, seems counterproductive.

Some people will say "forums" are dead, there a thing of the past. In some instances that maybe true. However, I don't believe that's true, here.

Side stepping for a moment... I'm a member at a couple of car forums. The quality of posts, along with the membership commitment, is truly outstanding. Over this time, I've sought help with a few topics. Not uncommon to receive multiple responses, with oodles of knowledge.

What seems to have been lost at the GPWA (maybe just misplaced), is the comradery which, at one point, brought everyone together.

Granted our Industry has had substantial growth. Furthermore, previous to WordPress etc., etc., to be a gambling affiliate, you either coded yourself or hired a web-developer. That was probably a contributing factor to keeping the GPWA community tight.

I'd like to avoid being seen as waffling on like an old-timer, akin to Grandpa going on about the good-ole-days. Plus, I don't want to blow smoke up anyone's backside. BUT... there are some very knowledgeable members here. People who have done the hard-yards, and have literally years upon years of experience. And, who have become successful affiliates because of it.

Granted, everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, there just seems to be a bit of trend over the last couple of years, where 'greenhorns' (those who've been in the industry all of 2 secs), want to go toe to toe with vastly more experienced affiliates. Let me just say this... A community who alienates those who can offer substantial guidance, will eventually lose that asset.

With that vein in mind, there's real value in getting to know your peers within the community your a member of. There's always been a BIG push to attend conferences. It provides a great platform to Network with other affiliates. Being where I'm located, I've never attended a conference. But, that doesn't mean I haven't formed solid, trusting Networks. Over the years some of these connections have developed into very good friendships.

A the end of the day, the glue which binds all this together, will always be the contributing community. Because frankly, without these people, a forum (any forum) would be a ghost-town without this #1 commodity!

[Former Member 14]

Agreed, editing my posts seems to be my hallmark

Though, didn't want to follow suit in this case.

Had this thought...
What about forming a 'buddy' system. There are established and trusted members here, who, could become "buddies" for new-members. I'm sure new-members receive a welcome email or PM, but lets face it, that's a generic cookie cutter.

Providing a buddy system, would make new members feel welcome. If people feel valued (not a number), they maybe more likely to stick-around, and be part of the GPWA community.

[RacingJim]

They lost me with all that snowflake nonsense with that guy who was clearly spamming and they wouldn't take any action.

I know certain other good users went by the wayside a while back (bookiesoffers) due to disagreements with how it's run.

But overall, also, the trend on all forums is to be more quiet, times have changed, people have less time for this stuff I guess. The affiliate industry is becoming tougher and it kinda has a feel of a party that's passed it's peak, you know, when 80% of the people have gone home and you've ran out of bumps and the barman shouts "last orders" and then you go out in the street and it's daylight and people are starting to go to work and you still haven't been to bed. Yeh, a bit like that.

[universal4]

We could never take any private threads and just make them public, anything that has ever been posted in the private areas has always been done so with the understanding they are not public and therefore not to be indexed or seen by those without private access.

The reason things such as link sales or tech advice etc is also available in the private areas is that some members asked for this and that some members would only ever offer to buy or sell with private members. Whether a single individual feels that way or not is not the point if others do.

We have had discussions about moving some of the sub threads around some, but we also do not want to add too many sub sections either so it is sometime difficult to balance them.


Rick
Universal4

[universal4]

What seems to have been lost at the GPWA (maybe just misplaced), is the comradery which, at one point, brought everyone together.

I do think this is true to a degree, but I also feel a handful of some of the members that have been around a while are a little too critical of a new member that may be overly enthusiastic about the approach. Very often they are just trying to be friendly or trying to find a way to fit in, only to be scolded or ridiculed because they asked what others may feel is a newbie question that has been answered dozens of times.

The long time members were all new once too

Providing a buddy system, would make new members feel welcome. If people feel valued (not a number), they maybe more likely to stick-around, and be part of the GPWA community.

I am not sure how something like that could be structured, but certainly if more of those members who have been around a while reached out to others, it could certainly go a long way, I know that I personally have stayed in contact with many who reached out to me back in the day when I first became a member.

Rick
Universal4

[PROFRBcom]

Zero tolerance to spam - that would be a good start.

The Elephant in the room, is definitely forum-spam. It's not conventional spam, instead, cr#p posts of no value. The end-game is what drives the motivation for these crap posts. EG - A member requests a 'site review'... Most people oblige, and provide constructive useful feedback. However, pitted in these threads, are posts, which don't provide anything of value. It's the same modus operandi in other threads.

Here Here!

Same goes for 'Public Members'...
IDK what the post count is to gain sig-links, but handing them over with little to no commitment, seems counterproductive.

I say we hold a vote! I would vote for at least 30, but probably more like 50 to get sig links.

It should be pretty easy to weed out a spammer in 50 posts. Hell, just having the requirement that high will weed out most of them altogether.

Make signatures a perk for ESTABLISHED and PRODUCTIVE members, not jackasses who post "I agree" and "#MeToo" in damned near every reply.

They lost me with all that snowflake nonsense with that guy who was clearly spamming and they wouldn't take any action.

Yes, that was absurd IMHO. Kind of like the kiddies who look at their genitalia and still can't figure out which bathroom to use.

[fullbenefit]

If old/dead sub-forums would be taken care of and if we had youtubers/twitch streamers advertising the forum, that would be great.
However, forum needs more content for players and not affiliates or those who mainly play and have affiliate as a side thing.
It needs to be more cool, but also needs to look professional.