Monday 4 August 2008

Using forums to promote your site

Forums can be a powerful way to promote your website, but care must be taken to not cross the unwritten boundaries. Here I'll look at what you can do, and what you shouldn't do.

First, promoting your website in forums doesn't mean spamming every forum you come across. Done properly, it is subtle and no-one will complain. Done incorrectly and everyone will complain and you will be booted off your forum.

So what shouldn't you do? Unless the topic of a forum is ultra-relevant, you shouldn't open new forum threads with the idea of promoting your site. Moderators will quickly close the thread.

You should also not be replying to open threads just with the intent of name dropping your site. This can also upset the moderators and they are likely to remove your site name and its links. They might even remove your posts and your logon.

So what can you do? If your site is very relevant to the forum then you might be able to announce a new product within the forum. If in doubt, mention it first in an existing thread and see if anyone minds you opening a new thread.

But the main time you can get a site mention is in open threads. Look for people asking questions and needing some help, that your site provides. Maybe you offer accommodation around an event and they are looking for that. Or maybe they are looking for hard to find presents and you sell a suitable idea. A mention of your site name in these instances is (usually) allowable.

Also, many forums allow you to use a signature in which you can mention your website name. Or as part of your forum nickname maybe your site name is relevant. If so, then try it out. I've seen both of these done well and no-one minds. In signatures, the forum may block the link to the site from the search engines, but whenever you are posting replies your signature is seen. If you are posting often and become seen as an "expert", then it's likely that people will want to read more about what you say and that's when the signatures come in useful.

Just don't go randomly posting links to your websites in random forums. Use forums well and they can be your friend.

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