Forum marketing is a great way to get traffic to your website, but only if it is done properly. Most people don’t really understand what a forum is, or how valuable it is to have for marketing your business. It’s also a great resource to build a reputable name for yourself, and expand your customer base. In this article I will give you three basic forum marketing tips.
A forum is a meeting place where people come together to ask questions, answer questions, or give advice. This is usually related to one specific subject. What you should do in a forum is answer people’s questions, and give out advice as well. You can’t answer these questions unless you have knowledge about them, or you plan on educating yourself. Knowledge is power in forums, so make sure you actually know what you are talking about, or you will sound like a fool, and people won’t want to click on any link in your signature. This brings us to our next basic forum marketing tip.
The second basic forum marketing tip is to create an effective forum signature. A forum signature is the little bit of text after a post, and using it effectively is important. Focus on including your name, and a link to your website. Another important aspect is making your signature look attractive. Don’t use different font sizes, and don’t use more than two or three different font colors. It might distract rather than attract. The text you write should give the reader a subtle call to action, but you should stay away from writing something generic.
My last basic forum marketing tip is to be committed. I can tell you right now that you probably won’t make it up to the top of Google immediately. The more posts and comments you make, the more credible you become. This will raise your rank with Google, and then you’ll get more traffic to your website. It’s a chain of events, and in order to become a trusted user, you should post comments about five times per day, if not more.
In conclusion, forum marketing is underused and undervalued in business marketing. Using forums is a great way to promote your business. However, if you don’t use these three basic forum marketing tips – to answer questions and give advice, create an effective forum signature, and be committed. – forum marketing could be a waste of time.
Wishing you the best,
Beth Balcum