Discussion boards are a great way to get people to visit and return to your Web site. In fact, more than one-quarter of online consumers rate or review products or contribute to a discussion board, according to a January 2007 Forrester Research report.
A discussion board is a Web page that allows visitors to share ideas with each other and ask questions. It usually gives them the ability to:
- Create a discussion
- Comment on a discussion
- Filter and sort discussions
- Switch to different views
- Sign up to be notified of changes
The first thing you need is a Web hosing plan that supports discussion boards. Once you have that, you can create your discussion board using a script from the following sources:
- Included in your plan
- Open-source discussion board
- A code you've written yourself
Next, consider how you will monitor the content. People generally want to be able to express their opinions freely, even those critical of you or your advertisers. However, most people won’t respond to long rants or profanity. Review comments before they hit the discussion board to maintain your site's integrity.