How to Use Forums for Traffic Generation

How to Use Forums for Traffic Generation

Forum advertising is one of my least favorite, not because of the response rate, but because it is just downright boring to me. But I felt it was only fair to talk about it here; you can choose to use it or not!

Basically, forums are online information exchanges where many people who have an interest in a similar topic will gather to talk online and ask questions.

One thing that is important is that you only use forums that are pretty closely related to your topic. Here are the steps involved in utilizing forums:

1) Find all the forums that pertain to your web site’s topic. Go to a search engine and type in your topic and the word ‘forum’

2) Go to the first forum. If you have never used a forum before, take a few minutes to get a feel for how it works. Basically, members of the forum will share information and answer questions for each other. There are usually different areas of the forum set up for different specific topics.

3) Become a member of the forum. In the process of signing up, you should have the opportunity to create a personalized signature. A signature is a line or block of text that will appear at the end of every post you make. Include your web site address (preferably your squeeze page address) in your forum.

4) Go the introductions section and introduce yourself.

5) Begin to read through the various forums and begin posting. You can either answer questions people have asked to which you have useful information, or you can offer new information. The key here is that every post you create has a link to your site. When people read your posts, they can click through to your site and join your mailing list. One thing that is important here is that the forums are looking for good quality information and posts, not blatant advertising, in exchange for letting you post your link in the signature area. Don’t abuse this, or you will be removed from the forum.

The key with generating traffic with forums is to spend time everyday in all the forums you join. Just like all other forms of traffic generation, this must be an ongoing effort. You cannot simply spend five hours posting to forums one day, and expect to get traffic for the next year.