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It goes without question that forums
can generate additional traffic to your web site. Done
right, the traffic that arrives will be relevant to the
subject of your site, free, and in many
instances...prepared to buy.
Posting at online forums not only will drive free targeted
traffic to your website, but should also be part of your
search engine optimization strategy. Postings done
correctly, which would include quality information along
with well-chosen keywords will probably enhance your
PageRank at Google as well as Yahoo, MSN and ASK, just to
name a few.
Using online bulletin boards is extremely easy, takes a
minimal amount of time, and can be targeted if you take a
little time to research forums available for your use.
This is probably the easiest part involved in using forums
to promote your web site. The hard part is finding the
right forums and placing messages that do not use a
hard-sell method. You want to whet the readers appetite
enough that they'll want to visit your site for more
information. Don't use a forum as a blatant advertising
tool! Some forums frown on these methods and most readers
simply will not respond to such tactics.
Finding The Right Forum
Actually, this really is pretty easy to do because we
have done the hard part for you. There are several very
good directories that list forums by topics that are free
to use and contain easy-to-navigate listings. Your job is
to prepare well-structured posts which include relevant
keywords and phrases and be sure to post to categories
that are related to your web site. Some of the better
forum directories are:
BoardReader at http://www.boardreader.com/
A forum search engine that delivers pretty good results.
It searches several message boards simultaneously using
proprietary software developed for just this purpose.
Find Your Forum at http://www.findyourforum.com/
This is a fairly new forum directory (2006) but don't let
that fool you. The directory is quite large and contains
just about every topic imaginable.
Forum Showcase at http://www.forumshowcase.com/
Founded in 2004, Forum Showcase is not as big as most
other forum directories, but it contains a good
cross-section of categories and most are quality forums.
Definitely worth a visit.
Forum Zilla at http://www.forumzilla.com/
Founded in 2004, Forum Zilla lists over 1,250 forums in
its directory. Simply search by topic or interest and
results are returned quickly.
Forum Guide at http://www.forumguide.info/
Another fairly new forum directory, Forum Guide offers a
fairly extensive list of forums by category. You can also
locate new additions quite easily and includes a 'top 10'
list as well.
ForumsInfo at http://www.forumsinfo.com/index.php
Founded in 2004, ForumsInfo lists over 50 categories and
almost 2,000 sites.
Other Excellent Forum Sites
WebProWorld at http://www.webproworld.com/forum.php
This is definitely one of the best eBusiness forum sites
we have found. Although it is restricted to just business
( Search Engines, Marketing, Site Design, IT Discussion,
and eCommerce ) don't pass this one up. If you don't find
it applicable to your posts, it certainly will expand your
knowledge base.
Free Advertising Forum at http://www.freeadvertisingforum.com/
Targeting Internet Marketers, Free Advertising Forum is a
heavy hitter (100,000+ members). A Google PR of 5 and an
Alexa Traffic Ranking of 5,493 just about says it all.
Visit and post is a must.
ABestWeb at http://www.abestweb.com/
Well established (2001) forum for Affiliate Marketers.
Over 20,000 members and 450,000 posts add up to an
affiliate marketer's dream.
This article was originally
published by The Business Junction on April 24, 2006.
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