Forums are a great way to get traffic to your site and best of all they are free to use. You can get traffic by simply joining forums related to your business and doing nothing but contributing to the discussions, yes, it’s that easy.
You can find forums by searching google. If you want to find bass fishing forums then you just go to google and enter “bass fishing forum” and you should find exactly what you need.
Forums are full of real people with real feelings and you must respect that. If you wish to use forums effectively then talk to people the way you would a friend or a family member at home.
When you join a forum, you should do the following:*Read the rules of the forum. You must do this as if you break the rules then you could be banned very quickly.
*Use your real name and not a silly made up name as it will be more appealing to other members, you can brand your real name on the forum as an expert on the subject, it will show a sign of trust and not seem as though you are hiding yourself. If you do wish to use a handheld, then I would advise you to think of something good and not a silly name as you might have to keep that name for the rest of your time at the forum and that could be years.
*Provide a primary email address in your profile as other members may wish to talk to you and maybe even arrange business deals that could improve your business greatly. You want the friends you make at the forum to be able to contact you at any time.
*Make a respectable signature file and not a billboard. If you are new to forums then you may not know what a sig file is, it is a small box that will appear below your posts and you should be allowed to put a link to your website there as well as in your profile. A respectable sig file will get you more traffic than something like….
Your name here
Website name here - My new product will help you to **** and ****
*Contribute as much as you can to the discussions and try to be as helpful as possible. If you do not know all that much about the subject of the forum then it might be hard to join in and help others, so you may wish to lurk for a while and gather some knowledge first. If there is something you know about then do not hesitate to join in the discussion and contribute your opinions and knowledge.
*Be as friendly to other members as you can. When you talk to others, you should be polite and friendly as it will definitely show professionalism. You will more than likely gain friends and business partners by being nice to others. Remember, most forums can be viewed by everyone and anyone and your name can quickly be brandished as a troublemaker.
Do not join forums and do these things:*Do not post blatant advertisements for your site. It is a very bad idea to simply post about your website and ask people to visit it as you have not gained any trust with other members. If you post blatant ads for your site, then you will more than likely find yourself getting banned very quickly and you do not want that.
*Do not start rows with other members simply because you disagree about something. Sure, I believe you should voice your opinions but starting rows will definitely not help you in the long run and you would be better to simply disagree in silence.
*Do not simply post to get your signature file shown. When a discussion is ongoing, you should not chime in and post something like “I agree” or “That’s nice” as it will be seen as you doing nothing but posting to get exposure for your link. Only contribute to the discussion when you have something of value to offer.
As you get used to the forum and the other members you will realise the good points and bad points of the forum and it will not be a problem for you to post and not break any rules.