To attract and maintain a dedicated forum audience is quite possibly the biggest challenge facing the majority of forum owners out there, and there really isn't any one way to deal with this issue. Despite this, there are a large number of things you can do that should help keep your user base interested, and this article will cover some of the better ones.

• Get the user base involved as much as you possibly can, and be sure to inform them of all your latest plans, and pay attention to their responses. When an idea of yours faces strong opposition from the user base, try to find out why they dislike it, and see if a compromise can be reached. Not listening to your user base is one of the quickest ways to scare away long-time and new members alike, so always try to get a feel for what the members think.

• Always think of new ways that members can contribute to the forum, and try to regularly plan group events such as online gaming nights or chats, to help everyone get to know each other better, and build a stronger community from it.

• Reward your most active forum users any way that you can, so long as it won't alienate the other members. Encourage their activity with games, contests, and other special events.

• Make sure that you and your forum staff will lead by a positive example, and be sure to take an active role in the forum yourself. Many forums have failed due to a distant or uninvolved owner, so be sure to remain as visible as you can be.

• Ensure that you and your staff are following the same rules as all other users, and handle member issues as calmly as possible. No matter how angry some users may make you at times, you can't let it show.

• Don't be afraid to ban problem members who frequently cause trouble, even if they are friends with some of the other users. While you may lose a few good members with them, you will still be better off in the long-run.

• Be sure to advertise your forum as much as you possibly can, and consider listing your forum in directories, or paying for some ad space at a popular website. Affiliations can also help to bring you greater visibility, especially if you work closely with your affiliates to benefit your forum and theirs.

• Consider using a paid posting service, to help generate more content during slow periods. Alternately, see if you can arrange a post or member exchange with another forum owner. Also there are some forums that focus on post exchanges, although the posting quality is often quite inferior to paid posting.

• Contests with a cash or other prize is often one of the most effective ways to gather interest in your forum, especially if new contests are being held on a regular basis, with a prize that would appeal to the core audience of your forum. For example on a gaming forum, consider giving away a game or game system, or a gift card to a gaming retailer.