Forum Posting Etiquette to Build Backlinks and Gain Traffic

If you’re like many people, you use the Internet as a way to connect with others who have similar likes and interests. The good news is that you can put your social butterfly skills to good use and make some money while you’re chatting to others about your business.

Marketing in forums is one of the simplest ways to make contacts and drive people to your business website. The vast majority of forums have no fees to join. They offer a goldmine of prospective buyers who are interested in specific niche topics.

When you get the process right you’ll find that marketing in forums can be a very lucrative, and a fun way to sell your business. Here’s a step-by-step plan for forum marketing success.

Step 1: Finding Forums that Fit Your Niche

The first step to marketing in forums is finding the right one to become a part of for your online income strategy. The Internet is a vast connection of social networks and no matter what niche you’re involved in, there’s bound to be a group of people talking about it.

The biggest thing to look for in a forum is activity. Does the forum have a lot of members, or just a hardcore few? You want to find a forum that has a wide variety of regular posters, so you’ll have lots of people to market to. Still, don’t rule out a smaller forum if you want to test the waters because sometimes a highly targeted group can mean a higher conversion in click-throughs to your links, and ultimately – sales.

Also, make sure the forum allows you to use a signature or ‘sig’ file when you post. Your sig file will be home to your product links, so it’s vital that you’re allowed to use one.

Step 2: Lurk to Get a Clear View of the Demographic

Once you’ve found a worthy forum (with a good number of posters that allows sig files), go ahead and register for the forum. Normally, you’ll only need to provide your email address and your desired username.

Before you post anything, however, take some time to observe what’s going on in the forum on a regular basis. Nothing ruffles forum members’ feathers more than someone coming in and posting 100s of product recommendations in their first day.

Figure out who’s who in the forum. There are always different roles that you can identify. You might see certain members who see themselves as ‘experts’ in the topic. Others always seem to have problems that they want the forum members to fix. (Could you be the person who positions themself as a go-to authority figure?)

Also, pay close attention to the mood of the forum. Do they use a lot of graphics in their posts? Are the signature files bright and flashy, or more subdued? Do they encourage off topic posts, or are threads kept to the niche topic only?

All of these factors will help you fit in better when you start posting on the forum. Spend at least a week ‘lurking’ (watching the board but not participating) in order to get a feel for how things run. After that you’ll be in prime position to become a valuable member of the forum.

Step 3: Positioning Yourself in the Community with Good Will

Next, you’ll want to get involved in the forum by using your past observations as your guide. You can either set up your signature file right away, or wait until you’ve made a few posts in the group.

Plan your posts wisely. There’s nothing that breaks down your credibility faster than misspellings and bad grammar. Proofread before you hit ‘enter’ and make sure your post says what you intend it to say.

When you first get started, you’ll want to post a brief introduction. Share a little about yourself and your experience with the niche topic. You don’t have to go into too much detail.

Don’t start off your posting history at the forum by giving out a lot of advice. Remember, you’re still a ‘newbie’ no matter how much experience you have with the topic.

You have to earn the trust and respect of forum members.

Before starting your own threads, participate in existing threads to begin with. Try some ‘me too’ posts. In a ‘me too’ post, you basically respond to an existing message with agreement.

They can be used to increase your clout on the forum, but too many can make you look like a spammer – or like you have nothing of value to add to the group. Balance your ‘me too’ posts with valuable information.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to not try to sell anything in these initial stages. You’ve got to earn the respect of your fellow forum members before you can begin to offer advice and recommend your product.

Once you do feel you’ve established yourself enough in the community, feel free to offer advice to your fellow members. Keep your posts short and sweet. There’s nothing worse than trying to wade through paragraphs of information to get to the important posts. A targeted, short post will be much more valuable than a rambling response to someone’s question.

It’s also important to note that every forum, from time to time, has its share of drama. Try your best not to get involved. Some people just wake up on the wrong side of the keyboard and attack others.

If you find yourself in a position where you’re being ‘flamed’ (attacked by posts in a forum), try to respond in a professional manner. Don’t get angry and post nasty messages back and forth.

If you can, ignore the flaming all together. Don’t be bullied into leaving a forum.

In most cases, forum drama is normally limited to a few people and is squelched by moderators within a few hours. Do your best to stay out of the fray, and you’ll keep your image untarnished.

Step 4: Turning Your Posts into Profits

Most forums discourage direct promoting of products within your posts. However, that’s where the signature file comes in handy. With a sig file, your product recommendation is included as part of your post each and every time you converse on the board.

Your signature file is a little portion of text that appears below each one of your posts. The more you participate in a forum, the more your signature file appears. When you set up your signature file to show your business link, forum members can click on that link.

Making a signature file varies just a bit from forum to forum. However, most of the process is the same. You can normally edit your signature file by editing your profile. There will be a box that you can type your URL or product link into.

Before you add your product links in your signature file, make sure that you can use links in your sig. The forum rules should state whether or not this is allowed. Sometimes they only allow you to post links to your own sites, while other times you can promote your business publicly.

You’ll want to make your signature link a ‘hyperlink.’ This means that the forum members can click on the link, and it will take them directly to the product page. Every forum is different. Some require you to use HTML, and others use a BBC code. But the basic set up for the code is the same.

Applying these tags mean your words will show up as a link:

HTML: <a href=http://www.myaffiliatelink.com>My Site</a>
BBC code: [url=http://www.myaffiliatelink.com]My Site[/a]

Of course, you’ll want to use something catchier than ‘My Site’ to describe your link. Use a phrase or sentence that will entice the other forum members to click on your link.

For example:

‘Tired of paying too much for health insurance?’
‘Find out the top 5 secrets to making money on TradeMe’
‘Looking for more tips for bonsai gardening?’

You can make your signature stand out in the forum by adding special code to make it appear bold.

For HTML: <b><a href=http://www.myaffiliatelink.com>My Site</a></b>
For BBC code: [b] [url=http://www.myaffiliatelink.com]My Site[/a][/b]

Remember, you don’t have to point people to your link within your posts. Simply post and contribute to the forum in a positive way, and your link will be there for others to click.