Forum Marketing for Targeted Traffic

©2008 All rights Reserved.

Do you participate in any online forums, also known as message boards or discussion forums, which pertain to the topic of your website? If you don’t, you should start doing this immediately. Forum marketing, as it is known, is a very effective, free way to get targeted traffic to your websites from these powerful Web 2.0 sites!

Forum marketing is actually quite easy, and it doesn’t have to be time consuming at all, if you do it correctly. Start by doing a search in any search engine. For instance, if the topic of your site is diabetes, you would type in diabetes discussion in the search engine, and it will come back with a list of forums that are devoted to this topic. The ones that come back at the top of the list are the ones that you will probably be most interested in.

Next, visit those forums, and look them over. Are people there? Are they active? When was the last message posted? Is there spam in the forum? If there is spam, it is a good sign that the forum is not moderated, and this probably won’t be a good forum to participate in. Look for forums where there are discussions going on – current ones – and where people are really active.

Next, register for membership. In most forums, this is free, unless the forum is part of a paid membership site. Before you make a post, make absolutely sure that you read and understand the forum rules and terms of use! This is vital. You don’t want to do something in these important Web 2.0 communities that makes you look bad!

You see, with forum marketing you not only increase your website traffic, you also increase your own visibility, popularity and credibility in those communities, and you also create inbound links for your website. Forum marketing has many different benefits – so make sure that you read and adhere to the rules!

Next, see if you are able to create a signature file. This is usually found in the profile section of the forum, where you can change your profile. If there is, take advantage of it. Again, read the rules for the forum. Many forums will have rules that pertain to how long signature files can be. This is usually between five and seven lines in length, but may be as small as three lines.

Your signature file should contain your name and your website address, first and foremost. If there is additional room, you can add your business slogan, or your city and state, or other contact information, if that is something that you want to be made available. Another powerful idea is to add the link to your opt-in form for your e-zine. If there is no way for you to set up a signature file, just create one in a text document on your computer, which you can copy and paste from.

Now, just start participating in the forum discussions. If there is an introduction section, introduce yourself. Look for questions that you can answer, or posts that will allow you to add information. Always use your signature file at the bottom of your posts! Do not spam the forum, though – be sure every post is legitimate, on-topic and helpful.

Most forums will not allow you to blatantly advertise your website, business, or products in your posts, and most frown on the use of affiliate links as well – sometimes even in your signature file. Don’t do this. Instead, just use that signature file, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the targeted traffic that comes to your site as a result of your participation in those busy forums.

For more information on Forum marketing, download the amazing Massive Traffic Bootcamp bundle created by Web 2.0 traffic expert Doug Champigny, available at our sister site, www.TopTrafficTips.com Don’t miss out on all the free targeted traffic the Web 2.0 technologies can deliver to YOUR web sites, blogs and affiliate links.

Technorati Tags: forum marketing, targeted traffic, Internet marketing, Web 2.0 marketing, Web 2.0 expert Doug Champigny, forums, building traffic, Massive Traffic Bootcamp, Doug Champigny

Bookmark This:

What one factor is common to every successful Internet business? Targeted Traffic. Every article you will find about making money from your web site or making your company successful online will always include the importance of generating targeted traffic – and lots of it!

So, as every successful Internet marketer, affiliate marketer, niche marketer or profitable blogger knows, targeted traffic is the most essential asset to a successful internet-based business company. Aside from ensuring that you have a great product to sell, and you have your web site support well taken care of, it’s time to focus on generating targeted website traffic.

If you already have a site and you feel you’re not getting all the targeted traffic you should be getting, then its time to put more time, effort and money into boosting your targeted traffic. If you are in a highly competitive business arena, you should always be a step ahead of your competition… so increasing your targeted traffic flow should have been done starting yesterday.

Timing is everything. But when it comes to generating site or blog traffic, you should always be on your toes and be a day ahead of everyone else in your industry. Never think of today or tomorrow as the starting point for building traffic, it should have been started yesterday – or last week, more likely.

To help you generate tons of targeted traffic to your sites & blogs, here are some seven surefire ways to increase your targeted traffic almost immediately:

1) Invest in good advertising on the search engines

Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great advertising programs that are very effective and can deliver great targeted traffic. While some will shy away from spending money to increase their traffic, it is imperative to using advertising to boost website traffic.

2) Trade Links with other sites & Blogs

More targeted traffic is the usual result for both partners when you trade links on your sites, or add each other to your blogrolls. First you benefit directly from each other’s existing web traffic, and you also benefit by having another links to your site for the search engines to spider. And the more closely related the topics of your sites or blogs, the more targeted the traffic you receive will be.

3) Use Viral Marketing

Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your company and product little or no outlay on your part. Simply produce or aquire a downloadable resource others will value and make it available from your site or blog. BE SURE to let the people who download it know that they can pass it along all they want – encourage them to, in fact. Every time they hand it out or have it downloaded, your links are being put in front of others who might otherwise never have known you existed. For more on building traffic virally, visit Jeff Dedrick’s Viral E-Book Explosion.

4) Search out and use targeted keywords and tightly-targeted keyword phrases for your site’s or blog’s content

Find the keywords being searched for most in your field, and the ‘long-tail’ keyword phrases most used – then write your content with those keywords in mind. If you aren’t able to write keyword-laden content to attract targeted traffic from the major search engines, it’s wise to hire a good copywriter to do that for you. While it IS very expensive to get great copy written, the extra targeted traffic you attract should definitely make up for it before long, and leave you sitting pretty from that point forward.

5) Write & Submit Articles that draw targeted traffic to your sites & blogs

Create even more great content relative to your topic, and submit it to the article directories and any sites in your niche that accept article submissions. Putting your website or blog link in the author’s Resource box both boosts your visibility with the search engines and drives in more targeted traffic from the directories themselves. Another win-win, with you on both sides!

6) Join forums and form online communities

Forums and online communities help boost targeted traffic in tremendous ways. First, your signature file usually has links to your sites, so the more helpful and active you are there the greater number of links to your sites, and the higher the volume of targeted traffic directly from the community to – you guessed it – YOUR sites and blogs. Secondly, that’s more links on other sites for the search engines to find, giving you a better chance of being indexed, and of ranking higher in those engines that use such criteria. And if you ARE truly knowledgeable in your field and give of yourself generously in the forums, you’ll quickly brand yourself as an expert, everyone’s ‘friend in the biz’ as it were, and not only generate more traffic but increase your sales conversions as well!

7) Last, but far from least, BUILD YOUR OPT-IN LISTS!

Opt-in e-mail lists for e-courses or e-zines are A MUST for successful Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, niche marketing or power blogging – and by far the best way to drive targeted traffic back to your online properties again and again. DO NOT expect to be truly successful at boosting your targeted traffic and your online profits unless you start, maintain and constantly build your own in-house opt-in mailing lists!

There are other ways to build targeted traffic, and infinite refinements on the list above – a blog like this one is just one example. But start with the 7 Traffic Building Tips here for now, then read more about targeted traffic generation and maybe even invest in my Top Traffic Tips Bootcamp. It’s time to boost your traffic, your sales and your profits online!

===============
Doug Champigny is a well-known Traffic Master with over 100 websites and a number of blogs under his control, including the Top Traffic Tips Blog and the Top Traffic Tips Bootcamp. Doug has also authored numerous e-books on increasing traffic for Internet, niche and affiliate marketing. Be sure to bookmark his sites for the latest in targeted traffic generation to bring a flood of traffic to your web sites and blogs.
===============

Note to Webmasters & Bloggers: You may use any article from this site provided you do so without altering the text, and that you include the author’s resource box with the links fully operational on you sites or blogs.

Technorati Tags: website traffic, generating targeted traffic, building traffic virally, viral marketing, Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, forums, articles, links, advertising, Doug Champigny

Bookmark This: