The latest update on the quest to build a Successful Niche Forum.

I’ve had nothing back from ForumShock or HackerSafe so I will need to chase them up…thanks to Andrew Mason who told me to try Submit2Please I think will try them and a service provided by a DigitalPoint user.

I’m getting some ground work done but the most important issue is Members, this is where I need ForumShock or another to at least help get some content in there or this project will fail if I have traffic and no users. This is the most fundamental part of a forum building process.

I have just purchased Submit2Please 500 directories for $99 which will take them approximately 18 days. I like the fact the tell you the time scales as this is important and will save me chasing them up on this service (Jon Warass take note). Lets see what happens, I’m impressed at the site and testimonials so lets wait and see…

After not hearing from HackerSafe I have decided to add a Single Root SSL to show my concern for safety, something I cannot emphasize enough with this type of Market and consumer. Safety online is their No#1 main concern. Just adding a Secure SEAL will set me apart from most other forums in this niche possibly even regular Insurance Forums.

SSL Certificate NameCheap:

* Single Root Certificate - Easy to Install
* The Lowest Cost Single Root Certificate
* 24/7/365 SSL Issuance
* Online Validation - No Paperwork
* 99% Browser Recognition
* Free “Secured by RapidSSL” Site Seal

Really worth it for $12.88 Per Year!

Purchasing that now, lets see how easy it is to install, hopefully will be simple and won’t cause issues with Phorum the software I use for the forum.

One thing I have slacked off is promoting the forum in other similar targeted forums. I have tried in the few I could find (it was harder than I thought) I will settle for the long term organic root for finding the forum. Everything else will happen naturally I would presume. Love that word “Presume” to presume is such an ignorant thing to do…

NetBusinessBlog seems to be ranking well for the term (second page) Oap Insure something I don’t need! Lets hope to get those results with the forum in the next few months.

Remember my Competition Starts tomorrow so if you want to Enter you need to get in and email subscribe now.

Popularity: 25% [?]

The new theme is finally Live!

Its taken over two months partially due to technical issues as I wanted some Bespoke coding done which we still had to postpone due the complexity. I am happy with the overall usability and functionality of the new look NetBusinessBlog.

I started looking into a new theme for the blog the day I took over here at NBB. I was busy with other things until I finally went to a few business forums to ask for pricing etc…

I actually had a theme built which didn’t suit the style I was looking for and just as I was about too go elswhere I was approached by RealityHosting asking if they could design and build the new theme. After looking at their previous work I was happy to go ahead.

David Saraiva of RealityHosting has been excellent and very thorough throughout this project. I am very happy with the customer service I have received and level of satisfaction.

The new spec allows more space for advertising and other features like Competition / Guest Posts highlighting. One main flaw with standard Blogs is the fact new and old visitors miss out on fantastic older content. My main idea was to get this to the front page where visitors could view out great content easily. I have ended up with a nice admin functionality that allows me to adjust the “Top Articles” section when I want, allowing forgotten about content to be seen again as this benefits everyone which was my initial goal.

This will eventually be automated to choose our older content on the fly daily. At the moment I choose and update them manually.

Our Latest Article will stay on our homepage for one day and then be rotated around and see again in the Top Articles section which is great. This can also beneift Advertisers getting their Reviews etc seen again and again and not lost within the Archives that nobody ever bothers to trall through…

So our Competition / Contest is Live! NetBusinessBlog January Contest check that out.

Our Advertising has been set at Great Rates so why not get in now before they start to creep up again! I would like to apologise for any of you who saw us down a lot over the last few weeks, I don’t want to get in to the issues I had with HostGator but we did eventually work out what was going on.

That’s it I hope you all like the new theme and I look forward to giving you more great content in 2008!

Popularity: 26% [?]

I’m waiting for SubmitEdge to finish and I am already a bit worried when I saw some of their english grammer mistakes (not just typos) in the set-up section when you sign up to their service. Lets hope the end product is good. I will let you all know if it was worth the money.

To recap, SubmitEdge are going to write a Press Release (500 word) Article and submit it to 100 Article sites which I hope will funnel much needed traffic. The Article will be focusing on roughly 7-10 keywords:

“travel insurance”
“health insurance”
“auto insurance”
“car insurance”
“life insurance”
“life insurance for over 50s”
“over 50s life insurance”

CommunityStarters never got back to me? - what are these guys doing. It annoy’s me to see ignorant website owners missing out on revenue. My main achiles heel is with forum posters, I seem to be struggling to find not just one individual but anyone to post in my new forum. It’s ok though as I think I have left the best till last as I think I have a good feeling I will find someone through Sitepoint.

I asked for help at WebMaster-Talk and contacted CommunityStarters with no luck.

I am now waiting for Sitepoint to accept an eCheque from PayPal. This was my fault as I clicked the wrong button and paid the $15 via eCheque form so I have to wait for that to clear (January 7th) then I can list on SitePoint.

One crazy thing is my traffic that I purchased from VisitorHost (I know its fake) I did it for Google really. Just look at these laughable false numbers.

I like it that most Search Engine bots are coming in already as to me that’s a good sign.

Right now I’m looking for a replacment for DIRSP.com (directory submission) which has ceased trading? - If anyone knows of a good directory submission service please leave the URL in the comments area.

Business.com $199 - Yahoo.com $299. These directories do work to give you priority in the SERPS (for your keywords) due to fact you will gain some weight and trust being listed in these highly distinguished websites. This will push me over budget, so I will think about paying for these later on once I re-evaluate my visitor level.

Also I haven’t heard from HackerSafe? - I will persue that tomorrow and keep you updated. I feel I do need some sort of safety protection seal for this type of market.

As I was writing this update, I have found ForumShock which I think I will test to get some activity going. I’m going to purchase the $140.00 for 14+ New Member - 670+ Total Posts.

I wanted to quickly mention a service I tried out for this blog roughly three months ago ( I should have known better) owned by some kid named John Warass - absolute waste of time, money, effort. I tried to escalate a PayPal claim which has so far come to nothing. I recommend you do not use this guy or his so called services. I never received the service I paid for.

The site was BuyBlogComments

Popularity: 100% [?]