Hey, I have a pretty intriguing question for everyone. Ok, currently I purchased a ***forums.org domain name on intentions of building a forum community. The forum has a pretty decent name for the *** part but I want to keep it hush-hush right now.

The thing is, I wouldn't mind building a content site on top of the root directory of the domain and host the forums in its own directory. However, I was wondering if this wouldn't be a great move because the domain does consist of the word 'forums' in it, knowing everyone thinks that 'forums' in the domain usually means the a forum is on the root directory. Something like if EarnersForum.com didn't have the forum on the root directory, but instead had an article site on the root with the forum in a different directory.

Would any of you professionals advise not hosting a article-content site on the root directory? Anyone know if this could potentially hurt SEO or help it? Would it turn off visitors to the site and prevent registrations?

I wanted to get your guys insightful opinions on the matter.

I honestly think you might get off with a portal? But other than that.. you have to have the content coming from the forum to have your domain reach its minimum potential

Its a good question and one i often ask myself when creating a new forum.

Its really a matter of preference. Personally I think if a forum is the main focus of the site, it should be just that...the main focus. No portal to draw you away upon entry to the site. I am not really a big fan of portals in general however, as they seem just too cookie cutter to me. Its like prepackaged information being served to you wether you like it or not. I just want to get straight to the goods and i hate having to search for the forum link.

But thats me. Take that as purely one persons opinon and do with it what you will. But may i suggest that you consider this, and really think about if a portal is TRULY necessary. The worst thing you can do imo is to have a portal site at the beginning of your sites launch with crappy or half-assed information.

If anything, i'd start with a forum, and once its built up a bit, then create a porrtal page for the members.

Your correct, I'm not a big portal person either. Thanks for the input so far guys.

Well, I never said to use the portal. I'm just saying if you wanted a "site" outside of the forum maybe a customized "portal" would be a good idea..

You can always move your forum files once you really start a content or article section.
Or, instead of using the default '***forums.org/forums/' URL you could use '***forums.org/***-discussion/'.

Make two sites, and then you'll have the beginnings of a network.

Cgsociety.org is the best example I could find quickly, but there are a number of forums that employ this method. Basically, have a content site that links to your forum, and a forum site that links to your content.

In this case, cgsociety.org has a sister site which is cgtalk.com. At the top of the cgtalk forum, there are images that link to different profiles, features and articles found on the content site, cgsociety. Although, in my eyes, what they've done here is a bit of a forum no-no, between the self-promos and the ads they take up almost all of my 1280x1024 screen. I'd suggest minimizing this area some.

Likewise, on the cgsociety site there are links to hot threads from the forum, cgtalk. I think this method is beneficial because it allows user to access the two areas directly, while still being exposed and reminded of each area.

Anyways, have a look at the sites, they might give you some ideas.