Its a time tested technique and has been working for me since I got my start with blogs. If you can manage to use it properly you too can pull in hundreds of visitors a day, and get a lot of returning readers.
Traffic from forums is awesome because people who use forums are ‘community-minded’. They are the types of readers that enjoy interaction, which means they like to comment.
Here is how you do it:
1. Find forums for your niche.
You may be thinking that not all niches have forums about them. But you would be surprised what kind of forums their are out there. I even found forums about appliances, remember finding places your potential readers gather is easy with Google search something like “appliance forums.”
Try to find more than 2 of them, currently I am using 4 or so to bring in some traffic.
2. Sign up and customize.
Now if you haven’t already signed up go do it now and come back to read on.
Ok, back? Good, if the forum lets you use signatures with links in them, you obviously want to add your site and use some catchy text. You also want to set up your avatar, use the logo+slogan of your site and maybe the url. If the forums you just signed up for don’t allow any type of links I would shy away from it, even though you don’t exactly need them to get some traffic.
Rules for signatures:
- No flashing text, it makes you look unprofessional.
- No neon colors, like the last one.
- No long descriptions, people just wanna look at your links and know whats their. They don’t want to read a paragraph.
Rules for avatars:
- No multi-color avatars, they look ugly and leave a bad impression.
- Use your logo, avatars create a brand. If people see the avatar enough they will remember your site.
3. Don’t jump into quick, you might drown.
I see it time and time again, people rush into a nice forum and spam their links in every thread they get a chance. Which is a great way to get banned and annoy people, thus hurting yours and your blogs reputation. So snoop through the forums for a day or two before you get into it.
What you do while you snoop:
- Look around and find the best topics and most active areas.
- Read the rules and get a feel for the people their.
- Figure out whose in charge and who is popular.
If you do this then when ever you do start posting you will be able to get better results.
4. Get posting.
Now that you have joined, setup your profile and you’ve gotten a feel for the place you can start posting. Just make sure you do it in little steps.
Your first 100 posts.
Because people hate newbies that spam the place they practically live in you want to take it easy, at least for the first week or two. You should just answer peoples questions, be helpful and friendly and if possible link to blogs other than yours. Do not post about your articles just yet, get some where around 100 posts just so people don’t automatically say, “pshh just another youngster tryin to teach us something” and leave the thread.
After 100 posts.
This is about when you want to start pushing your blog into posts. You have already helped a good amount of people and built a small reputation for your self amongst some, so now you should start writing good content in threads of your own. Include a relevant link to your blog in each post saying “learn more about this here: link to your site.” You could even link saying “get your daily dose of blogging tips here: link to your site.” If your posts are good enough you will drive alot of traffic to your blog, no doubt about it
Posting rules: Cause you don’t want to over do it.
- Don’t spam your link every chance you get, it makes you annoying.
- Don’t link to you blog more than once in a post or thread.
- Make sure you don’t spam the place with threads, it will get annoying.
- Be an active member, don’t just post for traffic, post and help people out, they may click your signature links.
7. Make good with others.
I have made quite a few friends through forums, it really just happens. If people find your content really helpful they may private message you asking you a quick question or two. But don’t just leave it their, you should put in some extra time to establish relationships with key forum members such as moderators, administrators and owners. Send them a message just telling them how much you like their forum, maybe offer some help and throw in some suggestions too. You cannot have enough influential friends, they can help you send bucket loads of traffic to your sites.
Some side notes.
I have tried a few ways of getting traffic out of forums that may be questionable but they work.
Get into an argument, I have been in some good and bad arguments.
Good ones are the arguments that two or more people share their thought to try and prove a point. People can actually learn from these and even though they stay out of the argument the usually still read it. Thus getting you some exposure which can turn into traffic.
Bad arguments are the useless quarrels that a few members get into, I had one about Americans not being stupid, it got me a lot of traffic but I can’t say it was all good traffic. Plus this can ruin your image at the forum.
Fake site sales, every time I go to sell a site I end up getting a good hundred visitors within a day to the site I want to sell. Some times I may post a fake sale with a really catchy title that pulls in potential buyers. They all check out the site and some stick around to comment. The only problem with this is that if you don’t sell you may get some angry posters.
A quick recap:
Since its a 1142 word post 
- Their are forums in your niche, so find them.
- Sign up, then set up your profile.
- Snoop around the forum and get a feeling for the place.
- Take it easy for the first 100 post, don’t spam and link to your blog too early.
- Make friends with the mods and owners, they can help a lot in the long run.
- Sketchy ways of pulling in traffic: Fake website sales and arguments.
What do you think about forums as a constant form of traffic? Any other tips or words of advice?
You can all expect to see a lot more quality posts like this one in the future so SUBSCRIBE!!!
Image by wwarby
Amazing post buddeh, and I really liked the quick snap at the end.
Swastik’s last blog post..Make yourself some money with product launches
Excellent piece of article. I did write about forum marketing not long ago but I concentrated more on using signature as a form of driving traffic:
Write a unique article and post it on the forum. Then create a catchy signature that has a strong call to action. This will drive targeted readers to your blog and the chances of converting those to regular readers are pretty high.
Wei Liang
Wei Liang | ABloggerBlog’s last blog post..Lesson 20: Blog Contest
Hello Ardit,
I am a firm believer that forums are a great way to not only get new readers, backlinks, and build relationships you also have a platform to help people and show your expertise.
I personally avoid arguing. All that does is get you banned or makes you look like an arse. That depends on who you argue with and how others feel about you pushing a point to that extent.
I go to forums to gather info & meet others with the same interest. I do not need the drama of an argument. I will say that I like a discussion as long as all involved are open minded & have resources to back up any statements.
The faking your income made me laugh. I know many people that have done that & been busted.
You are right that spamming & only posting adverts will not get you anywhere – no one looks at them or clicks on them.
I would suggest to always do an introduction (if they have a section for that). Do not talk about your super great business, tell them a bit about yourself!
Forum post also stick around for a long time. You may even get hits from a post you made a year earlier.
Have fun,
Sheryl
Sheryl Loch’s last blog post..Record Skype Calls for Free with Call Graph
Awesome post man! You’ve written a very detailed blog post, something that I will actually be my next step in my blog building efforts. Since I haven’t hit the forums yet.
I was super impressed with your blog design, I liked reading your post and than it hit me, you’re using the Marketing Vision wordpress theme. A theme I helped design and create! haha, awesome work man!
Since I am very pleased to see great content on my theme, you get a free membership to my SiteFlipRemix.com membership, check out my blog for more information and send a e-mail to me if your interested!
Hope to see more good posts
Wynter Jones’s last blog post..SiteFlipRockstar Beginner Checklist
@ Swas: Thanks I try
@ Wei Liang: Thanks for the comment, yeah signatures are only a small part of it.
@ Sheryl Loch: Thanks for the comment. I agree forums are just great overall to develop your site & relationships.
@ Wynter Jones: Thanks bro, Im glad you like it that much
Swastik just showed me your site. Ill get in touch with you.
Have you checked feedsr.us site?? It gives you a signature style banner which you can use in forums. It acts as rss feeds to that forums. So in effect your feeds will appear in every post you make in that forum…
Avatars and signatures, in my estimation, are the best tools to drive forum traffic to your website. A catchy phrase in the signature, as you mentioned, is a sure way to get some curious minds come flooding to your website.
Nice post man!!!
Thanks for the comment dude, I agree that signatures and avatars are good ways of getting traffic but you won’t get all that much. One actual thread about your blog on a nice forum can bring in 100 hits no problem
I suppose I’m one of those fews who don’t use forum marketing to drive traffic. Call me lazy if you want, I am. It’s never been high on my priority list. Still you’ve written a detailed article on the subject. Good stuff, Ardit.
Yan
Blog for Beginners’s last blog post..Duplicate Content: Penalty or Policy?
Thanks dude, Yeah the whole forum marketing isn’t for every one.
I know alot of people that just don’t like forums at all
Excellent post buddy. Whenever traffic to my blog dips (every other day when I do not post) I bank on forums and twitter. In fact, most vBulletin forums have multiple advantages of getting traffic + backlinks. Moreover they inspire me a lot to write on different topics.
I have only one point to add. One needs to be really patient with forums initially. You more or less touched on that point that experienced people out there hate newbies. Since there’s a minimum post requirement to add signature, one needs to slowly build the momentum over a week or so. Another thing, don’t join a forum just to get one issue answered. For that you may go to answers.yahoo.com etc. Many people establish relashionships with a particular forum that results in great traffic, discounted services (graphics design, traffic, link exchange, buy/sell ads etc)
Great post once again!
Ajith / DollarShower
Ajith Edassery’s last blog post..Global Recession and Current State of the MMO Blogosphere
@ Ajith: Thanks for the comment bud.
I know what you mean about the traffic dips, i got a good amount of visits today but tomorrow i will get a significant amount less.
I completely agree with you when you say take it slow, and don’t join forums for one question.
I really appreciate the feed back, glad you liked the post.
I don’t really use forum marketing much to drive traffic to my blog, not that i don’t like it but due to my lack of time and so much to do anyway great detailed article you got here. Keep it up!
Salwa’s last blog post..Banishing Blogging Myths
Thanks bud, you should really give it a try. Forum marketing can do really good.
Ardit, that’s a nice post. Good job.
khena25’s last blog post..Increasing Targeted Traffic To Your Blog!
Hahaha. Some pretty great tactics for getting traffic. However, I don’t know that ‘fake site sales’ are a good idea… They’re almost as bad as illegitimate contests in which you don’t actually select a REAL winner.
Shirley’s last blog post..Help! I Messed Up My WordPress URL Settings
@ K. Hena: Thanks for the comment.
@ Shirley:
That’s why I said it was sketchy tactic, try it at your own risk.
Great article, I get tons of traffic from forums. I help other forum members and giving away my ebook. So there’s a good reason to visit my blog.
KushMoney’s last blog post..What I Learned From Successful Drug Dealers
I get a lot of traffic from forums. Mainly DigitalPoint.
Tom – StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..SMART Goal Setting For 2009
Thanks for the wonderful tips. I have already registerd myself in digital forums but have hardly used it. I think its time to apply some of the tips you have suggested here.
Cheers,
Krish
Krish | BLOGGER TALKZ’s last blog post..12 People To Follow And Go Viral On Twitter