Recently I did a quick experiment on forum marketing and apart from the useful result which I will share here, the initial perception I observed was that many people are using it to drive quality visitors to their website, blog or money making products- for free.
1. Some Forum Marketing Tips
- Join a forum related to your product or services. If you want to drive traffic to your website of money making niche you won’t want to get visitors from a forum related to dogs would you?. You should then join Internet Marketing forums like Warrior Forum.
- Never post spam but post only useful information to share with others in the forum. In fact make your participation count. Be seen and heard as a leader or an expert in your area of expertise. Or at least this should be what you should hope to achieve at this forum.
- Post regularly and answer as many questions as you can. That’s a good way to gain people’s trust. Over time people follow your recommendations and of course that’s where your forum signature links come in handy.
2. Forum Marketing and Backlinks
A very simplistic way of showing the relationship between forum marketing and backlinks is this. If you have done 1000 posts on your favorite forum and your signature is included in those posts, this means that you will get at least 1000 backlinks from Google. Well theoretically this is true but of course the quality of your post will determine your success rate at getting these backlinks. Personally I’ve written about 350 posts on Warrior Forum. Not really something to gloat about, but it’s still good enough to see lots of backlinks for my home business blog.
3. Optimize your forum posts:
When you do your posts on forums, it is a worthwhile effort to optimize your posts. This simply means just like your blog or article postings, putting keywords and bolding text at forum posts goes a long way in getting friendly with your Google bots visiting the forum. Well since Warrior Forum is a dofollow forum, it probably helps too that I always linkback to my blog posts after each post where possible. Here take a look at a screenshot I made to show how bolding text helped me:
4. Use Good Anchor Text for your Forum Signatures
I mentioned before the more you post the more backlinks you will get. It can’t get any simpler than that. However it would be your own doing if you do not ensure good anchor text that contains you keyword.
5. How To Get More Traffic From Forum Marketing
So I finally did some research on how to increase website traffic by using Internet Forums, starting with my favorite one, Warrior Forum. Truth be told, my traffic from even my favorite forum really sucks. Perhaps I was just too contented with getting the good amount of backlinks. But for those of you who have had great success over obtaining huge amount of targeted traffic from forums, you’d know it probably just take a little understanding about what people are looking for. So if you can somehow find this missing ink, Boom! you’ve got traffic!
6. My experiment to get more traffic from forum marketing
This is my experiment to find out what could possibly be that missing link for me in not getting the traffic from forum marketing. It is not intended to market a product or services to Warrior Forum, not yet anyway. It’s just my experiment to find out how to increase my visitors and traffic. Here is what I did or observed:
- I selected 2 of my blog posts and started a thread featuring them. They were carefully selected using topics that were interesting enough to attract people to the posts.
- Each of the 2 posts’ titles asks a question. As the topics were popular people are curious as to the answer that is found in the post.
- My experiment result after 12 hours: More than a hundred people read my 2 posts to find out the answers to the 2 posts: How To Get Free Backlinks From eBay and How To Get Google Index New Blog In 3 Hours.
- The topic of make money online interests many people in Warrior Forum as can be seen in one thread I found titled “I intend to make $10K in 7 days” which generated 9200 views in 2 weeks. Wow!
7. List of do-follow forums
Here is a good list of do-follow forums courtesy of my good friend Ben Pei. You will know that Warrior Forum is also top in his list too. Well good minds think alike.
While the good traffic to these 2 posts is of no significance as far as blog monetizing is concerned ( I got a few more subscribers though), it does show that there is enormous traffic in forum marketing waiting to be tapped. I’m pretty pleased with my experiment knowing that when I do have a hot product, or joint venture that I want launched, forum marketing is definitely one of my best options to market it with a reasonable amount of traffic expected.
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December 18, 2008 at 10:19 am
Ahh.. I see my name here again. Thanks alot for that Peter! By the way apologies for the confusion that went on on my blog just now.
Ben Peis last blog post..Video Blogging: The Next Big Thing?
December 19, 2008 at 12:28 am
@Ben Pei: It’s OK, buddy you would have done the same to me too linkluv I mean.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 18, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Thank you Peter for link luv. Forums are a tremendous source of traffic!
December 19, 2008 at 12:26 am
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strategies: Hi JR, you’re welcomed, I believe there’s enormous traffic in forums too.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 19, 2008 at 6:49 am
Forums are definitely a good place to build links as well as stir interest in your site/product. I have primarily used webmaster forums for this. I will have to give it a try in some more niche specific forums.
December 19, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Great list of tips here. And appreciate the link to that forum list. This is something I’d like to do more of next year.
Lightenings last blog post..Note to Self
December 20, 2008 at 1:08 am
@Lightening: Hi Jodi, thanks for dropping by and welcome to my blog. Glad you like it and yes forums are a good source of traffic to your blog. Keep in touch.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas and Opportunities
December 20, 2008 at 2:24 am
Tremendous traffic indeed! Forum marketing was the very first method I ever learned and got addicted – err – mastered it rapidly.
In fact, if you’re good, there is incoming traffic long after it should have died out. There is one particular forum in which I was a regular…much more then a regular actually, but like I said; addicted lol. I left this particular forum about 2-3 months ago in total disgust over some things, and yet I STILL get emails weekly from members that have found posts of mine long buried in the archives.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Free Permanent BackLinks: Are You A Subscriber Or Follow Me On Twitter?
December 20, 2008 at 11:14 am
@Dennis Edell: You mean there’s something else that you get addicted to besides blog commenting Dennis? Thanks for sharing your experience though.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 21, 2008 at 4:12 am
I have used forum traffic way before I started blogging. I have a question though. How can you tell whether or not a particular Forum is dofollow or not?
Sires last blog post..Does Google Control Your Blog?
December 21, 2008 at 5:02 am
@Sire: There could be a few ways of finding out but the one I find pretty obvious for Warrior Forum is that whenever I post on this forum and linkback to my blog post, my blog gets an instant trackback. In fact you can see it just below this comment.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 21, 2008 at 10:07 am
Thanks for the tips! I’ve been using DP forums (as well as a few other webmaster forums) to try and promote my site… with little to no success so far. I’ve gotten plenty of (crappy) backlinks, but few real visitors. Hopefully I’ll be able to add these ideas to my marketing (and get a few extra visitors).
SoLinkables last blog post..New Technology Transforms Cheap Wine into ‘Vintage’ Quality in Minutes
December 21, 2008 at 10:54 am
@SoLinkable: Thanks for dropping by again.Glad that you could use some of these ideas.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 21, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I remember participating in DigitalPoint with a thread heading of “How I drive 15,000 visits to my blog” and I got 100 over comments and over 4000 views if I am not wrong. Therefore, I agree that headline as well as the topic to be posted in forums need to be carefully choosen. Great write up Peter.
Wei Liang
Wei Liang | Earn Money Onlines last blog post..Lesson 21: Blog Carnival
December 21, 2008 at 7:23 pm
@Wei Liang | Earn Money Online: You’re right. It’s worth spending a little more time to write a killer title. That makes the difference not just for forums but everything else too.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
December 22, 2008 at 11:39 am
Hmmm, I guess I’m the last person who aren’t yet to jump on the forum bandwagon. I’m guessing it’s making its way into my new year resolution. Cheers to 2009, Peter.
Yan
Blog Tips for Beginnerss last blog post..101 Blogging Tips I’ve Learned in 2008
December 22, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I have been doing some forum postings in my favorite coin forums but have not see the effect I was looking for. The tips you are giving here I will give it a shot and report back with my results
World Trade Center Coinss last blog post..Silver Bar With World Trade Center
December 22, 2008 at 6:42 pm
testing
December 22, 2008 at 8:29 pm
@Blog Tips for Beginners: Hey Yan, Could it be one of the reasons why
you have not done forum marketing to get traffic is you already have
too much traffic? Still that’s a very good new year’s resolution.
***
@World Trade Center Coins: Thanks for dropping by and yes do let us
know if you’ve succeeded in getting more traffic from your forum.
-Peter
Work At Home Ideas
April 7, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Loved the post and need some help. I would like to do forum marketing but in my niche there are only a handful of active forums, the people that run them are part of a larger clique and they will do anything they can to completely delete posts from people that they don’t like or posts that contain links to outside websites that have competitive products. How would you approach forum marketing in this situation? Thanks for your time!
May 12, 2009 at 11:29 am
Your site contain a many useful information. I look for a lot of this experience. Thanks!
May 25, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hey Peter or anyone for that matter,
Can you answer my post with some advice? It would be very appreciated. Thank you,
Paul
June 17, 2009 at 11:03 am
@Medical Billing Trainer: Most people don't like anyone to put links within the post even blog post for that matter. It's almost expected of people not to do this even if the owner does not explicitly said it. I've deleted many such links on this blog too.
I would approach it this way. Always provide solutions to someone else's problem and be the first to do so. Over time people know more about you and remember your expertise and your helpfulness. Sometimes being seen as not pushing too much helps you more. After all your signature if crafted well will do its work.
June 18, 2009 at 10:36 pm
This is a worthy post for me I would like to ask you that when and how do you use Article Marketing and Forum Posting ways to make money online with affiliate programs? Thanks.
June 19, 2009 at 8:33 pm
@ Lax transportation: Most ezine sites do not allow you to put your affiliate links on your Author text but you could as with most people, link it to your main site or specific page where your affiliate page is found. I think for forums, it's the same too. Nobody would point it to an affiliate page as the link, however weak, doesn't benefit you.
August 11, 2009 at 12:56 am
The best forum marketing on my recommended is DP Forums.
August 31, 2009 at 9:38 am
Forums is something I have recently got into, hadn't considered the title though for keywords, so thanks for making me think about that one!
…Have you had much success with articles?
thx again!
August 31, 2009 at 10:28 am
@ suzie_100: No, not much going on for me at the moment for article marketing but only if I need to promote something that others will like too. I usually send to EZA.
October 15, 2009 at 1:04 am
You have explained the importance of forum marketing and side-by-side also detailed how to do it. Thanks for sharing some of your stats and experience – you are always too generous and I get a lot to learn from you. I already do forum marketing and your post will help me to polish my strategies.
November 18, 2009 at 3:18 am
Thanks for these great tips. If we put 2 anchor text links in the signature file, does it mean we double our link for every post we make on the forum?
December 7, 2009 at 6:28 am
Excellent traffic from forums. I think, that two of the success factors in forum writing are the information you share but also how you share it. In many forums the quality of posts is not that high perhaps because people write them in a hurry and this offers a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Your idea about using the question in the title is excellent and this could be a good idea for the sig-file titles too.
Juhani
Financial Freedom Reverse Mortgage
December 28, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Wow you must really know your internet marketing techniques! Forum marketing is one of the oldest and greatest tips for working online, but it can really bring in tons of backlinks and raise your PR through the roof!
June 1, 2010 at 12:58 am
Forums are the best resource to get traffic…but now forum posting is approved after few many days by the moderator as many forum postings are in a que
June 1, 2010 at 5:58 am
Forums are the best resource to get traffic…but now forum posting is approved after few many days by the moderator as many forum postings are in a que
November 15, 2010 at 2:10 am
Forum posting is one of my favorite link building ways. In addition, I can learn some new related to my niche in forums.
November 15, 2010 at 2:27 am
@safety blog: I love forums (mostly Warrior Forum) but more to learn new things and techniques or buy some good offers. I don't use forums for link building anymore since I have other ways that proved better.
May 26, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Many of the people use forums to spread their ideas this is what i used to think when i started reading forums but lately i realized its a very way of marketing… Marketing through forum is getting quiet positive response..
August 23, 2011 at 10:33 am
It was a wonderful and informative blog post as far as forum marketing is concerned. I also have a got a great benefits from the forums marketing but learned more from your blog posts that how can be get more traffic from the forums.
Thanks
November 18, 2011 at 9:54 am
Warrior Forum is the best forum that I’ve come across. Tons of traffic on that site. It only makes sense that one would try to gain some of it. So long as your providing great content, people will come. Great post.