I was just going through one of my forums and noticed something I hadn’t seen in a few years. A 3 year old forum post was brought back from the dead by a brand-new member of the site, whose comment had NOTHING to do with the discussion at hand. While his post was not any form of SPAM, it was what I’d call a junk post . . . just some garbage posted for what you’d think was no reason. While I normally would move or delete such a post, I was curious if there would be some kind of follow up, so I decided to let it go for a bit.
Fast forward two hours
Another post showed up on the same thread, this time by another new member. This post, answered the non sequitur of the first new poster, but in doing so, pointed him to this awesome website that demonstrated what he was talking about.
Spammers will Never Learn!
Promoting yourself through forums is a great way to get traffic to your website, but pulling this crap isn’t the way to go. Its just amateur hour! Of course, upon doing a quick IP lookup, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber had the same one . . . SHOCKER! The posts were removed, along with my two new friends (who, I’m assuming you now understand was the same idiot person).
How to Use Forums to Market Your Website
Forum marketing is one of the most simple, effective and FREE ways to market, period. Here’s how you do it:
- Join a forum that is related to the niche of your website, and after doing so, be sure to read their site rules. Every site has a different set of rules or guidelines to work within . . . break the rules like the idiot I mentioned before and you’ll likely be booted. That said, 75% of the forums out there (I pulled that number out of a hat, but from what I can tell, it works!) don’t do any kind of moderating, so the entire thing is going to be a haven for spammers – posting here is a waste of your time . . . move on!
- Create a forum signature. Again, be sure your signature complies with the rules of that forum. Make sure to include your website in your signature. I’d also recommend using your real name. People are more likely to have some kind of interest in you and your links if you’re willing to put yourself on the line by telling people who you are.
- Get active by posting RELEVANT content on the forum and by participating in different conversations. Don’t just post a bunch of fluff. Engage in conversation and get involved. As you spend time on the forum, people will get to know you (make sure you’ve got a personal avatar uploaded), and eventually, they’ll likely want to visit the link in your signature.
- It is that simple! You don’t need to post nonsense posts that link back to your site or manipulate the forums by posting a one-two combination like the aforementioned bozo. Just get involved and you’ll soon see actual gains in traffic from your engagement.
Good luck!
