Can I Still Profit from a Forum Like phpBB Today?

[danieltj]

Yes you can make a profit from a forum if you market it well so people can find it. Although if you're wanting to make some quick money it's probably not going to happen. It takes some time to build a community and have that community create resources on your forum that can get indexed.

You can find reasonable web hosts for around £30 a year on a shared hosting deal. It's fairly cheap and easy to get started.

[KevC]

Getting it going is a very different question to making a profit.

I think the days of happily making money from google ads are gone. If you have a site where you can get direct sponsorship, that can work.

It's all very dependent on the subject. If it's something where you can do a search and already find dozens of well established forums or facebook groups, forget it. You will never ever outrank them. But if it's something brand new like a new model of a car or a hobby/fad or a video game then you have half a chance of getting off the ground because you're likely to be the only one.

[[Dimetrodon]]

If your goal is to simply profit, creating a forum/board is a long shot at that. They're extremely difficult to get off the ground, even under the right conditions.

[thecoalman]

Even if you get it off the ground profiting is difficult. You're chasing nickels and dimes with Google adsense or any other ad network on a forum. Years ago it could be quite profitable but not anymore.

You need an active forum in a niche ranking well in search results that can attract direct advertisers.

[[Dimetrodon]]

Even if you get it off the ground profiting is difficult. You're chasing nickels and dimes with Google adsense or any other ad network on a forum. Years ago it could be quite profitable but not anymore.

That is also true.

I would say it is impossible to profit off a phpBB board entirely.

[AbuHossam]

Certainly, it's feasible even with social media.

Begin with an annual plan, then, 'if visitor traffic improves,' transition to a shared plan, and finally, to a dedicated server 'upon reaching the peak'.

[[Dimetrodon]]

Certainly, it's feasible even with social media.

Begin with an annual plan, then, 'if visitor traffic improves,' transition to a shared plan, and finally, to a dedicated server 'upon reaching the peak'.

If traffic improves, which likely won't, and as thecoalman said, you'd then be scavenging for peanuts anyway.

[Anișor]

You need a good topic. Gaming has huge potential.
Especially games that are public (source code) and users can add their mods, etc.
Don’t try many combined you should pick a good category/topic and stick to it.
Forums are very popular in Europe still and don’t get a Discord server that will kill the forum. If you intend to install a chat system limit it to staff only so users can keep the forums active.

[JLA]

Yes, if you have content - you will certainly make money if you properly monetize.

[[Dimetrodon]]

Yes, if you have content - you will certainly make money if you properly monetize.

For older forums, yes.

For newer ones, no. Or I should say, the odds are so low that it would be like winning the Jackpot from a Lottery.

[JLA]

Respectfully disagree on that statement.

[[Dimetrodon]]

Wait, what happened to the OP?

[warmweer]

Wait, what happened to the OP?

It looks as though this is a split topic (or the topic start post has been removed).

Added: After some deep research (please keep this secret) I've found the missing link in Area 53.

[[Dimetrodon]]

Wait, what happened to the OP?

It looks as though this is a split topic (or the topic start post has been removed).

I think the OP got nuked entirely. Perhaps they were a spammer.

[danieltj]

It looks as though this is a split topic (or the topic start post has been removed).

I think the OP got nuked entirely. Perhaps they were a spammer.

I was really confused for a second because I know I didn't start the topic!

I'm going to assume that the real OP tried to start a forum and found out in fact that they could not make money from their forum...