Forum Marketing

Forum Marketing

Forum marketing is  marketing tool that gets you noticed in the niche you are in and at the same time gives you valuable back links to your website.

So what is the best way of going about forum marketing?

First you need to find the right forums for your niche.Go to big-boards.com and use there search facility to find the forums that operate in your niche.You can search by Alexa ranking or by keyword and see the number of posts made ,number of members and page views.

Once you have found the right forums, I would suggest about 10 is a good number,you will need to register otherwise you will not be able to post.Some forums will check your site out to ensure it is relevant to that forum but if you have done your research this will not be a problem.

You will need to check the policies of the forum to ensure you don’t get banned for inappropriate behavior.You must know if you are allowed to promote your business.Some forums will only allows this in your signature file.If you are wanting to use forums to gain back links to your site check if the forum is either follow on no follow.If it is no follow you will get no kudos from the search engines for having a back link to your site.

Using your name is the best option for a user name if your brand is yourself but if you have a business name that will do as well.Ensure you upload a picture of yourself .Avoid pictures that have no relevance to your business

A bio of yourself is also useful but stick to showing people how your talents can help them.Do NOT go on about yourself.People are on forums to find information or people who can help them.So list the benefits of your expertise.Leave a means for people to contact you be it a website or email address.

Many forums encourage new members to introduce themselves.Often at the top of a forum are fixed posts which never move down the list of posts.There you will find an “introduce yourself” section.Tell people a little about yourself.Once your have done that start reading the posts and see where you can make a contribution.

You need to be seen as an expert in your niche so resist the urge to ask to many questions.Look to “pay it forward” and find questions from other forum users that do not even have one response .Go in there and provide an answer.You will get much kudos from the person asking the question if you are the first to reply.They may well start following you.

Usually the place to market yourself is in your signature file.This is the piece of narrative that you have written in which you tell people what expertise you have and have you can help.Ensure you have a hyperlink back to your blog or website.Write something like”Joe Smith is dedicated to helping people achieve the goal of xxxxx and invites you to sign up for your free seven day training in xxxx” Show them the benefits and offer something free.

I would resist the urge to outsource forums posts.Ofter an outsourcer will just write “great post” or something similar clearly showing the post is there just to get a back link.

You run the risk of getting banned if you do too much of this.Only hire people who know your niche and can demonstrate success in this area with other clients.You will most likely have to pay more but the risk is too great if you hire someone just because they are cheap.

So follow these forum marketing tips and watch the traffic come to your site.

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