One of the things that I like to do every single day is surf the internet. I love finding new sites which have interesting information, graphics or other useful or merely entertaining data. It's a normal part of my routine, and I make it a point to visit at least a dozen sites each night.
When I visit a site, I make a point of looking for some standard features which increase the value of my stop. One of these things is a guestbook - why? Because I want to sign it and let the webmaster know that I appreciate his or her efforts. This is important to me, as someone went to some trouble to communicate, and I like to communicate back, even if it's just a "nice site, thanks". Sometimes I have to spend an extra few minutes to find something to compliment, but I usually am successful.
I also look for a link to send an email to the webmaster. This allows me to send private messages, which are more useful for feedback not appropriate for a public forum such as a guestbook. I don't always send an email or make a comment, but it's useful to know that I can if necessary.
It's always a huge delight to find a message board, and it's even better to find that the board is active and in use on a regular basis. You see, this means that I can have discussions with people about a subject, knowing that most of them have some interest in the conversation.
An example of my own message board can be seen if you click the link below.
http://www.internet-tips.net/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi
A good message board allows people to register (as does mine), lets people set up profiles with information about themselves (all voluntary), and informs people (optionally) of updates via email. Additionally, people should be able to post replies and add messages anonymously (at the discretion of the board master).
What does all of this do? It allows people to have conversations about specific topics with a group of interested individuals. What is the value of this? Well, suppose your site is all about the X-Men comic series. It has some great stories which you have written, some graphics and a few videos from the movie (all with permission, of course).
Think of the value you could add by allowing others to have conversations about the X-Men as well. You could let people post questions (which you or anyone else could answer), give advice on where to find the rarer comic books, submit stories and do any number of other things.
This not only has value to you, it has value to your visitors and improves their perception of your site. People will tend to come back to a message board, as long as it is active, in order to find out what's happening, get answers to questions and keep in touch. This, of course, increases the traffic to your own site.
And if you sell a product or service, then a message board takes even a higher value as it gives your visitors a way to communicate their concerns, questions and experiences with your company and your products in a public forum. It's far cheaper than a telephone number, and it's free and easy for your customers.
The moral of the story? Include as many ways for your site visitors to communicate as you can. Put in a guestbook (carefully monitored), an email or form to give communication to the webmaster, and a message board. All of these things give a way for your visitors to communicate, and this gives them reasons to come back.
Additional Information
Free stuff Headquarters
http://www.internet-tips.net/Freestuff/Freemessageboards.htm
Message Boards Message boards are a great way to add value to your site and to get visitors to come back again and again.
Message Boards - Ethics
http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/ethics.htm
Nothing is more sad than a once proud message board being reduced to rubble by a malicious moderator.
Message Boards - Contributor http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/contributor.htm
Message boards thrive on contributions. In fact, without contributors there is no board at all.
Message Boards - Promotion http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/promotion.htm
Message boards are very useful in getting people to return to your site, but they must be promoted in order to be of maximum benefit.
Message Boards - Moderator http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/moderator.htm
The best message boards are wonderfully and expertly moderated. The worst are frequented by nothing but spam robots.
Sticky Sites - Message Boards http://www.internet-tips.net/Sticky/msgboards.htm
You can add a message board to your site to get people to want to come back over and over.
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.