When you’re starting a new online community, there’s a frustrating question that comes up almost immediately:
How do you get people to join when there isn’t much activity yet – and how do you get activity when you don’t have many people?
It’s the classic chicken-and-egg problem.
A forum with no discussions can look empty. A social network with no members has little interaction. And a community website with no user-generated content may not give visitors much reason to join.
At the same time, creating a large amount of content yourself before you have an audience can take a tremendous amount of time and effort.
So how do you get things moving?
The User-First Approach
A user-first strategy involves attracting people to your website and encouraging them to become active participants.
The idea is that your initial users will create content, interact with one another, and eventually help attract more users.
This can work particularly well when you already have an audience somewhere else. For example, you might have existing customers, an email list, followers on social media, or an established website that can introduce people to your new community.
The challenge is that it can be difficult to convince people to join an empty or inactive website.
If someone arrives and sees very little activity, they may simply leave.
That’s why a user-first approach usually works better when you already have a way to bring in people who are genuinely interested in the subject of your community.
The Content-First Approach
The opposite approach is to create useful content before trying to attract a large number of users.
This gives visitors something to see when they arrive and can help demonstrate what your website is about.
Depending on the type of community you’re building, that content could include articles, discussions, questions and answers, photos, videos, listings, announcements, reviews, or other information that would be useful to your target audience.
The advantage is that a visitor doesn’t arrive at an empty website. There’s already something there that can provide value.
The downside is that creating all of this initial content can take substantial time, particularly if you’re building the content yourself.
So Which Comes First?
The answer is usually: a little of both.
You don’t need thousands of users or hundreds of pages of content before you launch. The goal is to have enough initial content and activity that your first visitors have something to explore, while also bringing in a small group of people who are genuinely interested in your subject.
That gives you the beginnings of both sides of the equation.
Solving the Chicken-and-Egg Problem
Here are some strategies that can help get a new community moving:
1. Seed Your Platform
Don’t launch an empty website and expect your first visitors to create everything for you.
Before actively promoting your community, create some initial content yourself.
If you have a forum, start some useful discussions. If your website is based around user-generated content, add some examples that demonstrate the types of contributions you’re looking for.
You might create initial articles, questions, discussions, photos, videos, listings, or other content depending on the type of community you’re building.
You don’t need hundreds of posts.
The goal is to give your first visitors enough to see, read, explore, and respond to so the website doesn’t feel like an empty shell.
2. Start With a Core Group
You don’t need thousands of members to get a community started.
A small group of genuinely interested people can be much more valuable than a large number of inactive registrations.
Invite people who already have an interest in your subject. These might be existing customers, friends, colleagues, people from another website or community you manage, or people who have expressed interest in what you’re building.
Give those early members opportunities to participate and encourage them to help get conversations started.
Once there is some genuine activity, new visitors are more likely to see the website as an active community rather than a site that is still waiting for its first members.
3. Incentivize User Contributions
Give people reasons to contribute.
Depending on your website, you could offer recognition, rewards, special privileges, contests, featured-member spots, or other incentives for useful contributions.
Gamification can also help encourage participation. For example, points or achievement systems can give members an additional reason to post, comment, contribute content, or participate in other activities. You can do this easily with the UltimateWB built-in Rewards app.
The incentives don’t have to be elaborate. Sometimes simply recognizing someone’s contribution can make them feel valued and encourage them to participate again.
4. Leverage Existing Networks
If you already have an audience, use it.
Invite existing customers, newsletter subscribers, social media followers, or visitors from your other websites to join the new community.
You can also work with people who already have an audience in your niche. Influencers, industry experts, organizations, and other established communities may be able to help introduce your new website to people who are already interested in the subject.
The important thing is to attract people who are actually interested in participating, rather than simply trying to increase your registration numbers.
5. Focus on Engagement
Getting someone to register is only the beginning.
You want people to come back, participate, and interact with one another.
Respond to questions. Join discussions. Welcome new members. Highlight useful contributions. Ask questions that encourage people to share their experiences and opinions.
A community becomes much more valuable when members begin interacting with each other, rather than relying entirely on the website owner to create all the activity.
6. Let the Community Help Create the Content
One of the best ways to eventually solve the chicken-and-egg problem is to get to the point where your users are creating content for one another.
A member asks a question. Another member answers it. Someone else adds their experience.
A discussion might lead to an article. An article might lead to a new discussion. A user’s contribution might give another member an idea for something they want to share.
The more this happens, the less you have to create yourself.
Your role gradually shifts from creating all the content to facilitating a community that creates and shares content itself.
Don’t Try to Make the Community Look Bigger Than It Is
A new community doesn’t need to pretend that it already has thousands of members.
In fact, empty sections and obviously inactive areas can make a website feel less established.
It can be better to start with a focused set of features and topics that are actually active.
As the community grows, you can add more categories, sections, content types, and features based on what your members are interested in.
A small but genuinely active community is much more valuable than a huge collection of empty sections.
The Balance Will Change as Your Community Grows
The balance between users and content isn’t something you solve once and forget about.
In the beginning, you may need to create most of the initial content yourself and actively invite people to participate.
As more people join, user-generated content can become a larger part of the website.
Eventually, your members may be creating enough content and activity that the community starts generating its own momentum.
At that point, the relationship changes:
Content attracts people → people create content → that content attracts more people → more people participate.
That’s when the chicken-and-egg problem starts working in your favor.
Social Networks Built on UltimateWB
You can find examples of social networks and community websites built on UltimateWB on our Showcase page.
- Me We Too
- Shout Out Universe
- Top X Picks
- Gym Chat Sports Network
- Flashcards Club
- Smilies On
- Health Refs
- Friends Match Me
- Cards Match Game
- Get Print Quotes
- CareLister
Related Articles
- What are some ways to create an online community using blogs and forums? – Learn how blogs, forums, articles, comments, and other community features can work together.
- How to Start a New Online Forum and Make It Successful – More strategies for getting a new forum started and encouraging participation.
- How to Prevent Forum Spam: Effective Ways to Protect Your Message Board – Practical ways to keep spam under control as your forum grows.
- Technical Considerations for Setting Up a Forum Website: Size Matters – Technical considerations to keep in mind as your forum and community grow.
Are you ready to design & build your own social network? Learn more about UltimateWB! We also offer web design packages if you would like your website designed and built for you.
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