New Web Forum - Which category is the best ?

Hello friends,
I am looking forward to launching a new discussion forum on any one of the following areas :

• health
• shopping
• hobbies/ recreation
• personal relationships

I am looking for the right mix of demand and supply, i.e. the one with the highest demand and the least supply.

Any clues how to go about this ?

Thank you so much.

 

It's probably best to go with a subject you're knowledgeable and passionate about. That way, you can help provide relevant, well-written content.

 

The webmaster would rarely write content on a forum. a good example is this very discussion.

 

That's because this site is gigantic, but, the owner here does comment on things all the time and contributes often. You clearly want to make a forum that's going to see you the best returns, but, how can you do that without content? You're not going to open a website and get millions of visitors a day. It doesn't work like that.

 

Obviously health, shopping, personal relationships are in the highest demand, but they are all filled to the brim. I wouldn't be surprised if there are 5K+ forums for each of those categories.

Hobbies / recreation can be your best bet. There are hundreds of hobbies out there. You can try to encompass some of them into one forum, maybe?

 

Thats very insightful. Thank you so much.

Any ideas on how I compare supply and demand (for web forums on a particular topic) ?

 

I think that if you went with "hobbies / recreation" you'd have better luck nailing down a specific hobby or recreational activity. For example, "recreation" is very vague, but a site about camping or motorboating might attract a more specific and loyal audience.

 

I think health and fitness as well as sports discussion boards could be good. However you have to make sure that you will have a jumpstart. Hiring maybe a couple of knowledgeable posters to start discussions and fill up forum categories for the first few months is necessary.

 

IMO, it'll be the best to mix "health" & "hobbies/recreation"... target "old" people with some kind of disease.

 

Unless you're prepared to write a lot of content [Unique] and have access to huge amounts of cash, friends be prepared for a big fail! Forums are incredibely difficult to make active, rank high and take years! Spammers are a nightmare! ...ugh! It is a war out there! At least one person who has replied to this thread has started a forum at one point that failed.

It always starts off as a beatiful fantasy and a very exciting fairy tale until the dream world fades. This is not a very good attitude.