For those who run an internet website that sells a product or service, you know how much traffic to your site can improve your sales. But how many different ways and methods can you think of to get traffic to your site? If you have exhausted all of your conventional options, it’s time to try something new. Forum marketing is an option that you can use when traffic statistics for your site are in a slump.
The first thing you need to do is to find a forum that caters to the niche that your business belongs to. A great way to find these forums is to search google with the keywords of your niche market, plus the word forum. It’s that simple!
Once you have set up an account at the forum, you will need to customize your signature to show your website link with a very short explanation of what it is. Draw people in. Be creative.
A big mistake people make with using forums is spamming the boards. Never try to sell your business to other forum members. This can get you suspended or deleted from the forum depending on the terms of service. What you need to do is let your signature speak for itself. To do that, you need to begin posting on the most popular threads where people will be looking. Also, when people post questions, try to find the answers for them. This way, they will have to read your post and they will see the link on your signature.
Tags: forum marketing, niche forums
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May 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
That is true. You can also do it to blogs but this can sometimes get you spam and a lot of unnecessary comments from other people. I’ve been doing this for a year now but I just don’t have that much time to update my site so all my efforts for promoting my site proves useless.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Nice tips! A helpful suggestion can go a long way towards building trust in a forum or online community and if that becomes a habit, eventually the visitors do take note of the sig. Just as you pointed out, blatant promotion by drawing attention to the sig only spoils the case as opposed to sincerely extending support where you can. The latter inspires confidence and people are less inhibited to act on your recommendations.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I think forum marketing will only be effective if there is real effective content available on the forum. The quality of exchange between posters is also an important factor in assessing the quality of a forum. Spamming to gain awareness and traffic should never be done to promote all sites not only forum sites.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I know what you mean because I’m always posting on forums that have the same niche as mine. My favorite forum is Digitalpoint because they have a lot of topics and I do learn something new every time I visit the site. I never say something like “please visit my site” because I know people will just think you are there for the purpose of using them to promote your own site. What I do is comment on every thread that I have found. Of course, I have my signature on everything that I comment about.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I also find that Forum Marketing is an effective way of building backlinks, because most forums allow dofollow links > always good.
What you are saying is completely true, though, I get about 5% of my traffic through forums that I post my signature link on
May 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The thing I like most about Forum Marketing, is you can to some degree - get to know the people you are potentially going to do business with.
Of course, like everything else, there is a downside to Forum Marketing; sometimes no matter how great your posts are, you get the odd member that likes nothing better than to fued with people, which can lead to bad content being submitted to your own website.
Let that not be a distraction though people - If you find an active forum, by all means join, and advertise your business as tactfully as you can, because like stated above; it’s a brilliant means for marketing, plus, the chances of anything bad coming of it (unless provoked by yourself) are minimal.
Brilliant Article! Thanks.
- Malakai
May 16th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Great post! Forum marketing is indeed a valuable way to get traffic to your website. One thing you should always do is read the posts at the forum before you start making posts so you can get a feel for the kind of material that is acceptable at that particular forum. You should also check to see if they allow signature files before you add one to your posts.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Yes this is very cheap method to pull traffic to your website without having pay anything. Just be a regular poster on a forum related to your niche and then traffic will come. I have been doing this now for months and the outcome is as expected. It works. This is a great method for those like me who can’t or don’t want to pay the bucks
May 17th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I agree with other posts. Generally, forum advertising isn’t appreciated by the community. Especially when it’s clear that the user has only signed up for that purpose. I think, if you’re going to advertise this way, to make an effort and take part in the forum… and don’t blatantly advertise. As said, something like a signature would be best.
May 18th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Yeah, agreed, I find it rare to participate on a forum that even allows marketing… many forums don’t even allow signature advertising. At most, they’ll have a sub-forum specifically for this purpose; i.e. a place hidden in the depths that everyone else can easily ignore. =P
May 24th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
This is a good idea. Many become forum members but immediately start spamming. A customer will lose interest if they see it as spam. Try to be very brief and effective on the headers. Use catchy words and make it different to pull in the crowd. Remember everything takes time so do not be in haste.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:51 am
In the past, forum marketing worked for me because I didn’t have the money back then to buy campaigns like I do now. Most of my traffic comes from forums even though I never say to visit my blog. I know the most important rule of forum marketing is to not spam others because most of the members are also website owners like me.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
@Postman
Yeah, that is a good point. A majority of the people might be there representing there own website.
A good way to present your site without spamming, is to establish your credibility and relate “your site” to the niche in context. For instance, if you are talking about hosting plans mention how “your site” utilizes its hosting plans. Don’t use the name of your site and users will really inquire if you have sparked their curiosity.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Forum marketing does actually work if you make you signature attractive and professional enough for other people to want to click on it. Having links in your signatures on several forums does also increase your site back links. I also think spamming on forums never creates any long term benefits for the spammer and his site.
June 16th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Forum marketing is only effective when posted on targeted forums in the appropriate sections, spamming can seriously affect your site’s reputation though and possibly damage, rather than help, your cause in the long-term.