Huge Free Traffic from Forums Postings?

[artagnan1978]

Hello everyone,

I am just curious how much and what kind of traffic do you get from forum postings and of course from your signature file.

It is said that forum postings are very efficient free marketing tools. If you are posting in specific, niche forums you get quality, targeted traffic.

Do you agree? What are your experiences in this matter?

Kind regards,
Izabella

[lisa]

Since I have my own forum I don't post as much on other forums (lack of time), but when I was more active on other forums, I didn't track the traffic as much, but I made some sales through private messaging.

For example, I would try to find threads that discussed info I was knowledgeable about. Often times members would email me privately and we'd get into a discussion. If I recommend a product to them, they'd often buy through my affiliate link. In fact, some people would ask for the affiliate link.

That's why it's so important to build credibility by posting useful answers on a forum. People notice that and will often ask you for specific advice in a PM. This shows they see you as a credible source.

Of course I got some trickles of traffic from forum posting but I think the PM contacts were more beneficial than anything. Many of these people became a member of my own forum when I launched it, subscribed to my blog, etc. Forums are a great way to develop a following through useful advice and credibility.

This is a good question. I look forward to hearing what other people have experienced with forums.

[TechieGuy]

I get around 1 to 2 visitors from Website Babble which is the only forum I am active in (right now).

As Lisa mentioned it is important to create credibility for yourself by answering questions and participating in the discussions. I try to help out where ever I can.

When I search Google for links to my site I get many of the Website Babble posts that I have provided my 2 cents. This is a bonus to joining forums.

[sammyspam]

Doesnt hurt getting your link out there, according to my google analtyics only about 2% of my traffic comes from the forums ive promoted on. I dont really bother with it anymore.

[West]

I only get a few visitors from here every month. But my link popularity has grown from having my sites in my sig. When I first re-designed my site and asked for a review, I got about 50 visitors from this forum during that month.

I also participate in a baby shower forum, but it's not very active. People only post there once in a while, but I do get a few visitors from them as well.

[Jordy3738]

I post in three forums a couple of times a week. I do see occasional visitors from my signiture links. I joined the Deal OF Day forum the other day and I made one post for a free item that I ahve on one of my websites. I have had about 5-7 people a day since I made the post visit the site.

[Jazzy]

I'm on about 8 forums that are all targeted to my niche. 4 are fairly active and 4 are not so active. Three of the active ones are my biggest sources of traffic next to google and yahoo answers.

I always try to leave extremely helpful answers that leave people with the feeling that I'm an expert on my subject. I link to RELEVANT pages on my website in the body of my posts. That got me in trouble with 2 of the non active forums, but on the active ones, everyone loved it. When I open up a new section of my site I will actually post, hey guys, I have some new info for you on this subject. And everyone says, "Oh thanks!", etc. I can do that because I have great content. I also post other helpful info that doesn't involve my site.

One thing with active forums, you have to post quite a bit up front to get people to recognize your user name. Have a personality and don't be afraid to go against the grain on certain subjects as long as you know what you are talking about. I am not only living the topic of my website, I have researched it thoroughly by checking out dozens and dozens of books from the library. Other forum participants pick up on that and actually look for my posts. Some e-mail me privately for info.

At one point I was getting practically ZERO traffic from google, and Yahoo Answers and Forums were my only sources of traffic. With those 2 places alone, I was earning a google check every other month and making a few affiliate sales.

You have to build credibility though, and not just pop in to try to sell something. I stayed on both forums I got in trouble at, and both moderators eventually apologized and thanked me for staying around!

Another thing I do on forums is change my siggy now and then. When I open a new section of my website, I may change my siggy to promote that. For example when I built a new Tier 2 page on affordable homeschooling, I changed my siggy to say - "Check out these tips for Affordable Homeschooling!" With the text linking to that page on my website.

When I have a newsletter coming out, I change my siggy to promote it. For example "Looking for ideas for Valentine's Day activities, sign up for my homeschool newsletter!"

My sign ups doubled every month I did that and my ad income also spiked. I don't have an ezine list in the thousands or anything, but my site is still new and in the 100's is better than nothing.

[lisa]

Great tips Jazzy!!

[Shaun Connell]

Great tips jazzy! Great website for homeschooling. I just graduated from homeschool, and wouldn't have had it any other way.

That said, I typically have a "peak" of visitors every time I change my sig on forums. I'm on very few search engine friendly forums (this is one of the few), so I typically don't worry much about the signature. I admit, I really should be more active on forums.

::makes mental note::

[TryUsOut]

If you particiapte in related niche forums and participate constructively, chances are you get your sig files click. Its one good way of targeting your audience IMO.

[TechieGuy]

Another thing I do on forums is change my siggy now and then.

I followed your advice and it has worked nicely. I'm getting more traffic from my signature (after I changed it) then i did before.

It also helps now that I have more descriptive captions for the links in my signature.

[artagnan1978]

Originally Posted by TechieGuy

I followed your advice and it has worked nicely. I'm getting more traffic from my signature (after I changed it) then i did before.

It also helps now that I have more descriptive captions for the links in my signature.

There is always a solution for everything You just have to find it. Signature files are an excellent source of traffic, but only if it is correctly used.

Otherwise, it just doesn't mean a thing, because almost nobody will click on it!

[alpha7]

Well, I had my biggest post month on this forum last month, and my traffic doubled. My clicks did too. My site is nothing right now. I really need to fix it. People seem to enjoy it. It's not optimized at all and has hardly any content. Coincidence? I don't think so. The more I post, it seems that my traffic increases. I can't wait until my optimized sites are finished.

I wonder what would happen if I followed Jazzy's tips. Those were great tips Jazz... thank you for sharing.

[James]

You can't go wrong listening to Jazzy.

That definitely was one of the top posts ever on the site, Jazzy. Keep it up. We really appreciate your posts.

[lisa]

Originally Posted by TechieGuy

It also helps now that I have more descriptive captions for the links in my signature.

And I am lovin' that banner TG! Nice job. Did you do that in PhotoShop? It will be interesting to see if that increases your traffic from here. I would think it almost has to.... at least a little bit.