As I venture from one part of the web to another, I have noticed more and more community owners suggesting that you give contests to your members as it keeps the forum active. While this is the case in some instances, contests might not always come with a positive outcome. There is always a risk when it comes to giving something away, because you can never know the result. So, why don’t contests always work?

Participation

No matter what type of contest you run on your community, you are going to need participation from a lot of members. If your community is just starting off then barely anyone is going to take part in the contest. The whole purpose of a contest is to increase activity, but if there is only a small percentage of members participating in the contest then you are losing more than gaining. Therefore you are possibly giving away something in which you could have saved for a more proper time.

Attracting The Wrong Crowd

Believe it or not there are people who search the Internet for free stuff! While obviously its a smart thing on their part, because they are saving some cash but its an overall bad thing for you. If your contest offers a very desirable product, lets say as an example, photoshop. Then people are going to take part just to earn the prize and not to actually take part in the community. Everyday, I see the same members going from forum to forum just to take part in contests for prizes. Those are obviously the kind of members you want to avoid.

Advertising the Contest

Unless you have already built a following, then you are going to have to alert the people in your niche that you are having a contest. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this? Your paying for the contest prize and then you also have to advertise it? Id much rather spend that time building reputable links instead of giving away my money and that’s the truth.

Cheaters

A contest always has a cheater of some sort, whether it be them spamming content or paying people to sign up. So, when creating your contest you are going to have to make sure to keep on top on who is doing what and how they are earning their spot in the contest. ALWAYS, make sure to investigate the techniques of the top 3, especially if your running a referral based contest. The main goal is to get the prize to real winner and not someone who took a shortcut.

Now believe me when I tell you that contests can work, but you have to hold them on the right time. Ideally when your first starting off a community, a contest should be the last thing on your mind until you bring in a reputable audience. After you have gained your audience then you can start a contest to bring in an extra boost of traffic. This is just my opinion, so what do you think about contests?

This post was kindly provided by Josh, the owner of the webmaster blog Admining. So, make sure to check out his blog if your interested in reading more webmaster, search engine optimization and forum administration related tips.

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