Forum Marketing

The great thing about forums is that because they are constantly updated with fresh content and new posts, the search engines are consistently crawling the websites looking to index the latest content. What this means to you is that just by including your affiliate link within forum posts and your forum signature, your link will get instantly indexed and you will be able to generate traffic quickly from both the forum itself and from your new ranking in the major search engines like www.Google.com Of course there are rules to follow with every forum and it’s important that you read over their guidelines prior to posting so that all of your efforts pay off, and your posts aren’t removed or your account banned. One of the most overlooked elements of forum marketing is in the actual profile section itself. Many forums are built on the backend of popular scripts like vBulletin or Simple Machines, and all of these forums allow users to set up profile areas, that can include your photo, a short bio and of course, your website links! You want to set up a number of profiles on relevant forums and include your affiliate link within the profile box BUT be careful adding affiliate links to forum signatures or posts. It usually is not allowed, so you will need to take a different approach. The easiest way to get your links passed through without any concern over being removed or banned by a moderator is to create a quick blog or website that features quality content. You can use one of the blogs you created for your linkwheel, or you can quickly create a new blog using www.Blogger.com, www.LiveJournal.com or www.Wordpress.org Then, instead of posting your affiliate link within your forum signature, you can include a direct link to your website. That way your links pass the approval of forum moderators yet you are still able to generate quick traffic to your pages! You want to focus on being active within relevant forums relating to the type of products you are promoting. Try to spend some time interacting on the board by offering help whenever possible and truly offering value to the community. It will go a long way in being able to build credibility and convince people to click your links and explore your websites. When searching for relevant forums, you can find countless boards a number of different ways including by searching through one of the largest forum directories online http://www.big-boards.com or by visiting www.Google.com and entering in search strings that include keywords like “forum” or “board”. Example: Your-Niche-Keyword+Forum Your-Niche-Keyword+Community Your-Niche-Keyword+Boards