Use Forums to Drive Traffic to your Web Site

June 29th, 2009
Nasir Mehmood asked:


Forum is an online community where visitors may read and post topics of common interest. Generally speaking a forum will be member-directed and in most cases a moderator or administrator will simply act as referee when needed. They may also answer a few questions along the way. You can find forums online related to any topic, so it doesn’t matter what the question is that you might have because there is a forum out there with hundreds members prepared and eager to give you helpful information and advice to the questions you have in your mind.

Forums are a great way to connect with others on a more personal level. Some forums are very informal and involve discussion on everyday issues, while others are more informational. If you are trying to find free ways to advertise your own website, using online forums to promote website traffic is a great idea. There are several ways you can use online forums to promote website traffic.

The simplest way you can use an online forum to promote your website, is by simply adding a link to your website in your forum “signature”. Many forums allow each member to create a “signature” that is added to the bottom of each of their posts. If you include your website address, it is likely that others you chat with in the forums will become more familiar with the website name and probably even check it out. This is one of the most reserved ways to promote website traffic in online forums. You can even begin visiting forums that you usually don’t, just to get your “signature” out there more frequently across the web.

When deciding to use online forums to promote website traffic you need to consider what types of forums would be most suitable for your posts. You can definitely use forums that you regularly comment within, even if they have nothing to do with your website. People who are use to seeing your comments will likely respond warmly to your website just because they consider you familiar. In addition to your regular forums, consider searching for forums that have some sort of a link to the content on your website.

You can also simply post advertisements into online forums. This is a more direct way of reaching those that read the forum. It is free indeed, however you need to be aware of a few things before using this approach. Some online forum moderators do not allow direct advertisements on their boards. They do it to avoid the entire forum being filled with advertisements.

The search engines look into forums and blogs regularly; therefore you need to post regularly in both. However, while your own business blog is something you can control, forums could have hundreds of participants. Their posts could push your message lower and lower, till people will no longer be interested in reading it. So don’t think only search engines when it comes to forum postings.



Friendly Targeted Traffic From Forums

June 14th, 2009
Carson Danfield asked:


Forums are one of the most interactive places on the Internet where you’ll see huge amounts of traffic on a regular basis. People constantly post messages regarding their opinions on various issues and they also ask questions that are addressed by other forum members. You can find forums that discuss issues related to just about any line of business and take part in the ongoing conversation. Many forums let you add a signature file to your post - here is where you place your website link. You’ll find that many forums are ranked high by the search engines, so you’ll benefit from forum links to your website.

Be Sure To Post Useful Information -

Forums are a very beneficial traffic building strategy. You’ll come across a lot of marketers trying to sell on forums, but the right thing to do here is to establish yourself as an expert in your field. When this happens, people begin to have faith in your knowledge. They are in a better state of mind to visit your website and consider your product, simply because they believe what you say.

How To Go About It

Forums are online, active discussion areas where members voice their opinions, answer questions that are posed by other members and share relevant information that might be useful to the entire readership. Forums are not a place where you can sell directly with a sales message. Your aim must be to contribute information.

You can easily find numerous forums for your specific keyword relating to your business. An easy and quick way to find related forums is to search Google with the following search term - “ebook + forum” Be sure to use the double quotes and replace the word ebook with your own particular topic of interest.

Become a member of several of these. Many forums let you update your profile, which you can make visible to the public. You can also create what is called a signature - which will be appended to the end of every message you post on the forum. Just put a short message along with your URL. Those who are interested in your message will almost always click to find out more. You can then introduce yourself in the forum. Resist the temptation to write any hard sell message - just introduce yourself and perhaps give a brief explanation of what you do. Generally, most forum members will respond by welcoming you into the forum. It’s a good idea to thank each and every one of them - each post you make puts up another link to your website with your signature.

Participating In The Forum

Browse around the forum posts to see whether you can make a meaningful contribution to a thread of conversations or answer any questions that are yet to be responded to. Always remember to come across as someone with the knowledge to be a part of the forum. For example, you cannot ask them to click through a URL where they can find the answer in your book! That’s not what you are here for. Regular participation will build your credibility and show you up as someone who is genuinely interested in the topic. Trust will build through your communication and then eventually, they’ll visit your website - not only that, they’ll also recommend you to others.

Building The List Through The Forum

One of the main goals of being on the forum is to build a targeted list for your business. You’ll want to continuously enhance your knowledge of your subject and active forum topics. Start a relevant thread of a current issue and write meaningful information. Don’t ever try to sell your product directly on the forum. Everyone on the forum can see your links in your signature.

You may have heard it said that everybody likes to ‘buy’, but no one likes to be ’sold’. If they see you as someone who is there to sell, they’ll never click your link. Most forum members will rate your product by the kind of messages you post. Share positive experiences related to the forum content. Offer tips that will successfully increase their profits or add to their skills If you have a constant presence in the forum, that makes a difference too. The effect here is, when people perceive you as an expert whose ideas work for them, they trust you and feel eager to click through your link to know more. They will not mind giving you their contact information to subscribe to your list.



How to Multiply User Activity on the Forum

May 23rd, 2009
ryanchua6 asked:


“A forum works similar to a bulletin board and involves people with common interests that discuss and share their opinions and experiences.

When creating an online forum, the basic structure should be based on what your site features and offers as products or services. Online forums can help you realize the expectations and complains of your present and soon to be customers.

Increasing user activity on your forum is similar to creating excitement in a market place. Users are often attracted to more activity, updated posts and growth in the number of active members. To increase the number of users on your forum, employ forum-posters to contribute few interesting threads on a daily basis.

Creating interests in users require constant marketing and even references from affiliate websites. Stated below are some ideas that can increase the popularity of your forums.

Establish Your Niche Topic for the Forum.

A forum’s popularity is dictated by the content it offers. As a Webmaster, you may feel that the forum must cover anything and everything to generate better posts and dedicated members.

It isn’t so; a purposeless forum could become stagnant in a matter of weeks. The fact is a forum is run by its theme, without which it is simply a chat client. Enthusiastic webmasters that start-up with many sub-forums, lose out on their ratings. If a visitor happens to visit such a website, he may leave looking at the ‘general forum’

A forum’s success in enrolling new members depends totally on its niche topic. A niche topic takes weeks to develop, but it can stabilize your forum and secure genuine members that can reach moderator status. Besides, a niche topic can get the forum listed on search engines generating more revenue and creating affiliates.

However, at the same time you can still reserve a sub-forum for broad discussions. A Lounge sub-forum is one such suitable place that permits posts on anything and everything.

Select the best and Right Web Forum Script

Launching a forum is an extremely risky venture and would require a lot of financial compromises. In addition, the success of a forum depends on active member participation and you must make your forum experience as pleasant as possible.

A Forum experience depends on the layout, the source code and the front-end design. The efficient display of a forum front-end requires timely coordination of these three components. A failure in set-up of any of these three components can lead to a cached or a scrambled look of your forum text and activities. At the same time, serious users looking to participate in a forum discussion would not like a system slowdown or errors while uploading forum pages or while visiting hyperlinks

In such cases, it is better to use a low-end free forum script (phpbb) that is compatible with high-end advanced forum-script (vbulletin). Such scripts are able to migrate forum information and logs to another forum script without problems and errors.

Providing Regular reviews and Accurate Information:

As a Webmaster, you have a duty of keeping your members well informed about product reviews and updates. The reviews could be of your own product or of affiliates. Visitors looking for reviews should be able to find them in a the center “”main”" content area.





Top 10 Tips On Effective Forum Signature

May 4th, 2009
cris ma asked:


Forum signatures have traditionally been employed in mail service, e- mails and then in message board or newsgroups discussions. It is no surprise that the signature scheme also shaped up into the net forum and is extensively backed-up by plain forum.

There are two prominent points why you should make the best of applying forum signatures. The fist point is the direct traffic you are able to acquire, and second, the search engine optimization advantage. These tips below will really maximize the outcome of forum signatures, as well as capture beneficial traffic as an effect of them.

Here are top 10 tips on creating an effective forum signature for your advantage.

1) Separate lines by color. If the forum you are posting on allows you to post in various colors, do it. Colors are great way to draw attention to a signature and keeping one color per line allows you to easily promote several items in one signature, without confusing the reader into thinking they are related.

2) Smilies - Be seen. These just work. The more movement the better.

3) Grab Attention With CAPS - CAPS grab attention because your mind is used to paying associating CAPS with yelling or emphasis.

4) |@|–$ymb0l$–|@| - Symbols are hard to read, if a curious reader glances past your forum signature and sees a message to be decoded, they will likely give it a whirl.

5) Offer many resources - If you list a lot of helpful URLs that you have nothing to gain from, you are showing the reader your care about sharing helpful resources. Accidentally slipping in a link to your own resource is also suggested.

6) Updating - Forums have a lot of repeat traffic and people get used to blocking out familiar forum signatures. Update your signature often and add a new creative label to let people know it changed.

7) Use patterns - Try this little trick. Alternate your link colors from yellow to black, red to blue, brown to black, etc. People see random links all the time, but they don’t see patterns. Give it a try for yourself!

8) Hide it - That’s right, make it hard to see. If the forum background is a dark green, set your link color to a slightly lighter green (enough so you can tell there is a URL there without actually being able to read it without focusing). This will cause your readers to question what the link says and highlight it to read it. They still might not click, but at least they read it.

9) “Don’t click this” - Who can resist? At the very least you’ll get someone to hover over the link to see the URL.

10) Obey the rules. As effective as the above tips are, they won’t only get in you in trouble if they break the rules. Some forums specifically don’t allow some of the above because it is so effective.

Most bulletin boards will have a few rules on forum signature lengths or forum signature arrangement. Basic forum signature formats that are sanctioned by veteran forums are text-only forum signatures and narrowing down the amount of lines in the forum signature. Always comply by the forum regulations and particularly in the forum signature rules as numerous forums are particular about members not linking their forums for the specific intention of spamming their links through their bulletin signatures or posts.

A forum is an ideal home to build a name for yourself. These forums have masses within that are tired of ordinary things in life and eager to learn something different in you. This difference makes an extra-ordinary effect to your market or your products. Your forum signature can be a valuable instrument to stir a bit of promotion for your site and services.

If you are able to prove a name for yourself within you, imagine the sales impact it would become. Forum signature is an excellent extension of your success together with your your niche by writing expert answers on peoples queries.