When it comes to generating back links to your website,
as well as being able to keep a pulse on your market,
explore new product ideas and stay on top of what is
selling and in demand, forums and community
marketplaces are essential ingredients in effective
marketing campaigns.
If you are part of the Internet marketing industry, the
Warrior Forum, available at http://www.WarriorForum.com
is an incredible resource to learning about the
industry, as well as in building a list and
establishing your brand online. Regardless what your
niche is, or your overall focus, there is bound to be
active forums and communities worth exploring.
One easy method of locating potential message boards
and communities is by reviewing the directory of forums
located at http://www.big-boards.com
At Big Boards, you are able to search their database
for some of the Internet’s most popular message forums.
Simply enter in keywords to locate potential
communities worth exploring.
You can also search for active discussions in your market by using the Google search engine. Visit
http://www.Google.com and enter in search strings
including “your keyword+forum” or “your-keyword+message
boards” to locate hundreds of possible communities.
Once you have established a list of forums that you
intend to target, you need to make sure that you have a
landing page to use within your signature box.
Depending on the forum that you are a member of, you
may be permitted to include a link to your website from
within your signature box.
Even forums that don’t allow this are sometimes worth
exploring, if the community is consistently active
where you can add your website URL to actual threads
and posts, while building a reputation as an authority
in your market by interacting with the community and
posting useful and informative content, tips and
suggestions.
Obviously, the more active you are within these forums,
the more traffic you will be able to generate to your
website. One thing you want to keep in mind however, is
that you don’t want to appear to be spamming the forums
immediately after joining.
Instead, focus on building relationships with the community members, because their feedback and
participation is far more useful to your long term
strategy of being able to conduct market research
quickly, build products that people want, and grow
email lists of targeted subscribers who will respond to
your broadcasts and follow your activities and new
launches.
Last Minute Tips:
1) Follow The Rules
Remember to read and respect the forum rules. Take a
few minutes to search out the guidelines and read them
from start to finish, especially any rules regarding
the use of signature files since this is where you will
want to add a link to your website.
2) Build A Reputation, Not Just A Post Count
Despite having good intentions at times, even if your
posts are meant to be helpful ones, a lot of forums
look down on new members posting a lot at once, since
no one knows you, where you are coming from or if you
are reputable and legitimate, so keep this in mind when
you begin posting.
3) Lend A Helping Hand
You should keep in mind that your ultimate goal should
be to help other people. The best way to introduce yourself and make a good first impression is by putting
a lot of thought into each and every one of your posts,
ensuring that you are doing your best to help people,
or provide useful, solid and accurate information.
Forums are an incredible way to drive traffic to your
website, as well as build an active list of subscribers
to your mailing list if done correctly. You will also
get link juice from the forums that rank high in the
search engines.
Some of the more popular business forums online are:
Digital Point
http://forums.digitalpoint.com
Site Point
http://www.SitePoint.com
Webmaster World
http://www.WebmasterWorld.com
DaniWeb
http://www.Daniweb.com
Complete Forum Directory (with alexa ranking, etc):
http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/best-webmaster-forums
