Driving Traffic Through Online Forums

An online forum is an area for discussion made available on a website for users to post discussions, read and respond to posts by other forum members. Online forums allow members or users to start new topics and reply to existing posts too. Conversations on forums are called threads.

With the advent of the internet, businesses are leaving no stone unturned to promote their businesses online. Among the various other means to market websites online, forum posting is turning into a popular option. To top that, it has been noted that visitors to websites by way of forums are worth more than any average visitor. Why? Simply because, forum visitors are active information seekers and engaged users, who are more likely to be interested in your services. However, you should note that forums are primarily beneficial for driving human traffic to your website. Search engine rankings follow closely and with a signature link with every post, you are assured greater visibility in the search engines too.

Here’s how you can take advantage of internet forums to drive traffic to your website:

Introduce Yourself: Begin by participating in the ‘Introduce Yourself’ section of the forum. Also, don’t forget to welcome new members!

Become an Active Member: You could choose forums or topics, which interest you or are closely related to your business or service and actively participate in the discussions. Try solving problems and offer help and advice when required. Don’t underestimate yourself and believe that you cannot become a moderator. The effort that you put in to become a moderator on a forum is worth it and you are assured increased visits to your blog as visitors already believe you are a subject matter expert.

Your Signature Tells All: A well-defined signature, with linked text to your URL, is essential if you want visitors to notice your link.

Say NO to SPAM: Drop your links in the posts you visit or reply at. But, not in a spammy way! If you are dropping links before you establish yourself as an active contributor, it won’t take you long to be ignored or banned!

Know the Forum Rules: Different forums have different and specific rules. Make sure that you have read them thoroughly (usually you can find a post on the forum rules prominently displayed in the forum index) so you aren’t banned after you have posted.

Check for typos and missing words before you click ‘Submit’.

While you work hard to increase free website traffic, you should ensure that users find relevant information on your forum posts too!