You have far more information available at your fingertips than ever before. No matter where your interests lie, what you want to learn about, or what questions you may have, there’s guaranteed to be several resources that you will find tremendously helpful. Maybe there’s a tutorial video on YouTube or a great blog that you should follow.
You can learn a lot not only from the experts who are in the upper echelons of the industry, but also from the experiences and insights of other people who are going through the same struggles that you are. You have to recognize that other bloggers are not your competition; they are your colleagues and a rising tide lifts all boats.
And while you can certainly connect with your fellow bloggers over a variety of social media platforms, the trusty web forum remains an incredible source of community and information. Here are five you should check out.
Warrior Forum
A name that is almost synonymous with the world of Internet marketing as a whole, Warrior Forum has been around since the late 1990s, boasting a community of over one million marketers all around the world. There is a paid portion to the site, as well as a sizable marketplace, but you certainly have a lot to gain from simply accessing the free part of the forum too.
There are specific sub-sections for an incredible array of related subject areas, from ad networks and PPC to copywriting and email marketing. Whatever you want to learn about making money online, there’s probably something here for you.
Digital Point
With a name in the Internet marketing sphere that is arguably even bigger than Warrior Forum, Digital Point simply cannot be ignored. In fact, the expansive selection of forums on the site really do run the gamut for almost anything you’d want to know about making money online as a blogger.
There are about a dozen sub-forums on Google alone, as well as sections for Facebook, domain name appraisals, forum management, cluster computing and more. Some people have said that the site isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s still one of the best places to network with other webmasters.
The Moz Q&A Forum
If you prefer a format that is more akin to Reddit or Quora rather than the traditional bulletin board style (like phpBB) used by the majority of regular forums on the web, then The Moz Q&A Forum could be an awesome fit for you.
A big caveat here, however, is that while you can freely browse your way around the Q&A section to read and learn, you will need to upgrade (and log into) a Moz Pro account in order to pose your own questions. That costs $149/month. Alternatively, you can earn your way in by getting at least 500 MozPoints by participating elsewhere on the site.
Bloggerhub
While it may not be as big of a name in this space as Warrior Forum or Digital Point, you might find a tighter-knit community of bloggers on Bloggerhub. As of this writing, there are over 14,000 members on the site, contributing to over 5,000 threads.
Rather than approach every conceivable subject under the digital marketing sun, this forum understandably focuses a lot more on the specific challenges facing bloggers today. The most active section, as from the area where you can go to introduce yourself as a new member of the site, is “General Blog Talk.” It’s just a good place to talk about anything you might want to know about blogging in an open and free environment.
Designer Hangout
There are many elements to running a successful blog. You want to have the stellar content, of course, but you also want to stay on top of your search engine optimization game and you want to make sure that you’re taking advantage of the right monetization opportunities too. Another big element is design.
For those of you who are especially concerned with user experience, Designer Hangout is an awesome community where you can talk about everything to do with site design. Built around Slack, the conversations surround a number of different channels that you can then follow. Not everyone can sign up, though, as you’ll need to request an invite to join.