Forgive me if i posted in the wrong place but Its hard to find the right forum.
So, I've been thinking. Ho do people make servers that usually have 15+ Players on 24/7 ?
For MONTHS I've put my server on advertising websites, told friends, posted reviews, and done everything that i can to try and make my server popular. Ive never actually gotten players or anything from reviews. I add good information, screenshots,banners and it never works. I don't have a nobody server either I just cant seem to get people on, so i ask, what and or how do you make a server have 15+ players on.
The review sites IMHO are something great to put yourself on but in reality, how many times did you ever go there to find a server? The best way is to think back to when you used to find servers, where did you go and what did you look for?
I feel the best way is to make a thread here and a posting on planet minecraft. But more importantly, add content to the thread, show that it is a labor of love that you really have poured yourself into. Post some good screenshots, use images for the sections not just big text, maybe find someone you know who can make a little introduction video for the server and put that in there too. Also helps to have some posts already made, if you make a new account on the forums that only have a few posts to its name that one may not be best for making the thread as it does not show legitimacy or that the owner is going to be here for long because there isn't that history there.
The way to keep them once they have found your server is different though and the key there is having other people on. That may sound a little bit like circular logic, and it is. You need to make sure that you have some staff on for as much of the day as possible as they are the key to it all. They need to be engaging with the community and mature. Do not flood the server with staff, you may have friends that you want to have as staff but wait a bit, let them just be players on it. It makes the server look as though players want to be there and not just those with powers.
The sad truth that I have discovered also is that hackers are a necessary evil. When a server is new that is most of your playerbase. If you ban them all you will forever stay a small server, ban too few and you will scare off all of the legitimate players. People have disagreed with me on this one a lot, but when you think of it as people want to play on a server that already has people and hackers just want to play on a server that does not ban them right away it creates a delicate balance. But every server has their own stance on hackers, I do not advocate not laying down a ban hammer on them all, just that sometimes it is better to leave one here and there if they are not causing a disruption for other players.
My opinion, make the server your business. As in offer features and things people can do on your server that aren't on others, or offer an experience that is unique. Im not saying that you have to come up with all these mini games on your own.. or have One of a kind plugins.. now that can help! but its not required. Just build something that people enjoy, and promote it. Tell people! tell EVERYONE! Even people that you don't think play! and tell those people to tell people. Word of mouth is the best marketing strategy for anything.
If you are looking at this as a way for you to make money via donations and what not. Remember, it takes money to make money. So invest in different ways of advertising. Even if its paying a Youtuber $5 to talk about your channel and promote it! I'm not sure if any would do it, but thats just my best example of an easy way to do it.
Basically just make the server special in some way, whether it be that the people are nice, theres special or one of kind features, anything you do will be ok as this is a very open and subjective area. Then just make sure everyone and their mamma knows that its there for them to check it out!
But how are people supposed to find your server in the first place? Posting on Minecraft Forum brings it off the first page within minutes, and PMC brings nobody but spammers, advertisers, and people asking for admin/ranks/op. My server has mostly grown through word of mouth.
Word of Mouth is good, YouTube is also a huge platform for advertizing servers.
Post on as many server lists as you can! If you do this there could potentially be thousands viewing your server. If you have a budget you can use the advertising is a good way to go. Many Minecraft server lists provide the option to pay like $20 /month to become "premium" and they'll put you to the top of the list.
There are ways you can promote your server without money but you need to make your server as unique as possible to grab peoples attention over all the other servers.
Basically, if you're willing to spend the money to get the exposure for your server, then you're going to get traffic. Some servers will be successful with free PMC posts, and word of mouth, but It's hard.
It's like real life, people spend millions on advertizing, TV commercials, etc. etc. because it works, it gets your message to people.
So, I've been thinking. Ho do people make servers that usually have 15+ Players on 24/7 ?
For MONTHS I've put my server on advertising websites, told friends, posted reviews, and done everything that i can to try and make my server popular. Ive never actually gotten players or anything from reviews. I add good information, screenshots,banners and it never works. I don't have a nobody server either I just cant seem to get people on, so i ask, what and or how do you make a server have 15+ players on.
Thanks
-loyalender
I feel the best way is to make a thread here and a posting on planet minecraft. But more importantly, add content to the thread, show that it is a labor of love that you really have poured yourself into. Post some good screenshots, use images for the sections not just big text, maybe find someone you know who can make a little introduction video for the server and put that in there too. Also helps to have some posts already made, if you make a new account on the forums that only have a few posts to its name that one may not be best for making the thread as it does not show legitimacy or that the owner is going to be here for long because there isn't that history there.
The way to keep them once they have found your server is different though and the key there is having other people on. That may sound a little bit like circular logic, and it is. You need to make sure that you have some staff on for as much of the day as possible as they are the key to it all. They need to be engaging with the community and mature. Do not flood the server with staff, you may have friends that you want to have as staff but wait a bit, let them just be players on it. It makes the server look as though players want to be there and not just those with powers.
The sad truth that I have discovered also is that hackers are a necessary evil. When a server is new that is most of your playerbase. If you ban them all you will forever stay a small server, ban too few and you will scare off all of the legitimate players. People have disagreed with me on this one a lot, but when you think of it as people want to play on a server that already has people and hackers just want to play on a server that does not ban them right away it creates a delicate balance. But every server has their own stance on hackers, I do not advocate not laying down a ban hammer on them all, just that sometimes it is better to leave one here and there if they are not causing a disruption for other players.
If you are looking at this as a way for you to make money via donations and what not. Remember, it takes money to make money. So invest in different ways of advertising. Even if its paying a Youtuber $5 to talk about your channel and promote it! I'm not sure if any would do it, but thats just my best example of an easy way to do it.
Basically just make the server special in some way, whether it be that the people are nice, theres special or one of kind features, anything you do will be ok as this is a very open and subjective area. Then just make sure everyone and their mamma knows that its there for them to check it out!
Word of Mouth is good, YouTube is also a huge platform for advertizing servers.
There are ways you can promote your server without money but you need to make your server as unique as possible to grab peoples attention over all the other servers.
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Hire youtubers.
Basically, if you're willing to spend the money to get the exposure for your server, then you're going to get traffic. Some servers will be successful with free PMC posts, and word of mouth, but It's hard.
It's like real life, people spend millions on advertizing, TV commercials, etc. etc. because it works, it gets your message to people.