Community Forums are abundant online. Using them to your advantage could help your entrepreneurial efforts in many ways.
Not all forums are suited for internet marketing and the wrong approach won’t get you very far so it’s important to note that joining the right forums and participating in the right way can give you the most output for your effort.
Forums Are Good For Online Marketing
Community Forums are good for online marketing in several ways. Let’s look at the main two reasons:
- People read the posts
- So do search engines
People read posts. They might click your link. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it? It’s not so simple as to suggest that you should simply ‘spam’ a forum. Managing your online reputation is key to success in any sort of social marketing. People read your posts so be very aware of everything you write in an online forum.
Most forums allow you to place a signature in your profile that shows at the end of each post and the way you conduct yourself on the forum could result in people clicking that link.
Search engines crawl public message forums and so everything you say can be indexed. Furthermore, for every post you’ve got, you get a backlink for the site listed in your signature. Backlinks are good for your website, especially if you’re anchoring a great keyword phrase.
The Forum Advantage
Use forums to your advantage by posting regularly, posting about subjects related to your niche market, and by being helpful to other members. If you’re posting on a forum in your own niche and help users with questions, they may visit your link, subscribe to your list, become a customer, buy something, etc. If you’re a valuable and contributing member of a community, you can make some great online connections.
While it’s not wise to simply go to forums and say, “Buy my product”, or “Click my link.” by instead becoming known as a subject matter expert and a contributing community member you can develop a following and a positive reputation.
Some forums also let you post classified ads, have a “buy, sell, or trade” section, and offer RSS syndication into your profile so that people can see posts on your blog or other sites of yours as well.
Which Community Forums Are Great
There are a lot of Community Forums dedicated to various topics. Do a search on community forums + your niche to see what’s available, how active they are, and whether or not you could benefit from joining. There are general topic forums and there are niche forums.
Some creative searching could help you find a great community that can benefit you as well. If you’re really knowledgeable on a topic and can be a great contributor, consider joining a forum or even starting one of your own.
Spending a few minutes a day checking in, being helpful, and putting in some effort will help you build the SEO for the site you list in your signature and could help you make some sales and online connections.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2010
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I like the sound of this. Obviously with all the options some prioritizing is required
Hi Sean,
This is very sound advice. Social networking is all about building relationships with people. I think if you are genuine and considerate you shouldn’t have a problem.
It stands to reason that you need to add value before you start trying to promote your products. Once you do that though the clicks you get from your forum signature will be worth the time and effort.
Hi Sean
I like the idea of posting in a community forum especially in my niche market. I would like to be helpful and answer people’s questions or make suggestions where possible.
Another reason would be to get to know people and be able to build rapport with them. That way I can build a positive reputation and a following.
Thankyou.
Great article..I know alot of people go to social networking sites to relax and hate being spammed with sales pitches…I know I hate it. I also know if people are interested in what you have to say they delve further by checking you out and if they find a item for sale there it is acceptable. Posting relavent info will get people to look at you more closely & check out your wares
Hi Sean,
There really are great advantages to using forums & I have been using them just in the last few months to generate links & leads.
I have found that some forums have mini blogs which are great to establish yourself within the forum community & gain peoples trust within your niche & to target potential customers.