How to Increase Website Traffic - 5 Simple Steps to Effective Forum Marketing

How to increase website traffic is a top concern for all professional internet marketers. Remember this formula? SALES = TRAFFIC x CONVERSION

Highly-targeted traffic is the lifeblood of any online business and goes hand in hand with conversion to create a sustainable, profitable venture.

FORUMS can be an excellent source of highly-targeted traffic, for new & existing businesses alike. They can also be very useful for learning more about your niche, inspiring content for products and articles, and building relationships with people that could become your future friends and joint-venture partners.

Forums are basically communities of like-minded people asking questions & sharing answers in the same niche or area of interest.

So, how do you succeed at forum marketing and use it to increase website traffic? Here are 5 simple steps...

1) FIND A SUITABLE FORUM AND REGISTER

Search Google for YOUR NICHE + forums and look through the top ones.

Look out for those that have a good number of members (15,000+) and that people are posting new threads daily (5+).

Check the rules for adding signatures with hyperlinks back to site, how many posts you must make before you can create a sig, able to send private messages to other forum members, add photo/logo, etc. These are important for your forum marketing success.

Check out some posts and see if the attitudes of those contributing are positive, helpful & supportive. If there's quite a lot of negativity or flaming, leave immediately and find a better forum.

Once you've found a forum that meets your needs, simply register as a new member. This is the first major step of how to increase website traffic using forum marketing.

2) CONFIGURE YOUR PROFILE
People like connecting with people, so write a short bio about yourself in your profile, include a link to your website and upload a photo.

As you connect with other forum members, some will look at your profile and it will help to build relationship. It's important to add your website URL as some will also click through to your site.

Best to avoid adding email address as some members may try to spam you. Alternatively, set up a new email & use just for the forums.

3. CREATE A "STAND OUT" FORUM SIGNATURE WHICH HYPERLINKS TO YOUR WEBSITE

This is one of the most critical things you can do to increase website traffic from your forum marketing efforts.

Your FORUM SIGNATURE will appear below every post you make on the forum. So, your signature must be eye-catching and a clear call-to-action that entices people to click through to your website.

Here's an example. Please use colour in your own signature, which I'm unable to do in this article!

JOHN SMITH
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Even better is if you can create an image relevant to your site & hyperlink that back to your site - this makes a stunning forum signature.

The more attractive and compelling your forum signature, the more people will click through to your website from your posts, and the more you will increase website traffic.

Note: Some forums will only allow you to create a signature with a hyperlink to your site after being a member for a week, making 10 posts & having a good reputation. So get started contributing and then add your sig as soon as you meet the requirements.

4) PARTICIPATE AND BE A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR

To get started in a new forum, post an intro in the newcomers section. People will gladly welcome you!

Look at forum posts and answer any questions that you can. Ask questions that you have & thank people for their answers. Seek to add value wherever you can.

Also, PM (private message) people if you like their site or post, to start building a relationship with them.

Maintain a positive tone & attitude with all your posts. Avoid getting into any arguments.

5) MAKE YOUR POSTS LOOK ATTRACTIVE

Use different font colours, italics, bold, CAPS, underlining, bullets, numbering, smiley, etc to highlight key points and make your content easier to read and digest.

Not many people do this, so it's a good way to be attractive online and stand out.

Follow these five simple steps to effective forum marketing and you'll have another solid answer to how to increase website traffic.

David Parker is an entrepreneur and marketing consultant based in Reading, United Kingdom.

David specialises in creating & growing new businesses. He also helps existing businesses to improve their online & offline marketing to dramatically increase their sales and profits.

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