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Backlinks are hyperlinks placed on another website which link to your site. The most powerful backlinks are one-way backlinks. This means that another website has links pointing to your site, but you don’t have reciprocal links pointing back to theirs.

Using forums is a great way to get high quality one-way backlinks to your site. These links can generate direct traffic to your site, as people browsing the forum click your links in addition to raising your search engine ranking. But you have to be careful when using forums in this way. Do it wrong and you will be branded a spammer and most likely get your forum account closed. But if done correctly, forums can be a very powerful tool in your traffic generation arsenal.

Step 1: Find relevant forums
The key word here is ‘relevant’. You want to be sure to find forums related to your niche – the topic of your website. The easiest way to do this is to go to Google and type in your topic along with the the word ‘forum’. Let’s say you have a blog on coin collecting. You’d type this into Google:

coin collecting forum

There are two reasons you want to find forums related to your niche. First, the search engines will usually give more weight to links pointing to your site if they come from sites centered around the same niche as your site. Secondly, you’ll get much more direct traffic from a forum where the members are interested in your niche.

Step 2: Pick the best forums and join them
Now that you have found some forums you need to check them out and choose which ones to join. Click the links to visit about half a dozen of the top search results. Most forums will allow you to view the content without having to join, it’s only when you want to start posting that you have to register. If you land on a forum that won’t let you view unless you join, forget it and move on.

When looking for a forum to join you want to find ones that are popular, so look for those with a decent number of members. You also need to make sure those members are active. Go into one of the more popular forums categories and scan down the list of threads to see when the last posting was made. This information is usually in the right hand column of the forum threads table. If you see a lot of posts made in the last 24 hours, you’ve found a forum with lots of active members. With the content changing this often, the search engines should be all over that forum, which means that your links will get picked up quickly. Search engines tend to love sites with lots of frequently updated, relevant content. This is the type of forum you want to join.

Now there is just one more step before joining. You need to make sure this forum allows you to have a ’signature’. Jump into one of the more popular threads on the forum. Scroll down and look at the posts to see if anyone has a signature showing at the bottom of their post. There will usually be a horizontal line after the body of the post and some text and/or links underneath it. Often people just have a quote or witty saying, but sometimes they will have links as well. Not everyone will have a signature, but try to find some members who do. Signatures are crucial, because this is where you are going to put the links to your site.

When you find a forum that meets the criteria, follow the steps to register and confirm your membership. If you find just three or four forums that’s plenty to start with.

Step 3: Set up your signature
After you login to the forum you should see a link to your user profile. Often this will be called ‘User CP’ or ‘User Profile’. In the user profile area you can edit things like your avatar, your bio and preferences. Look for a link that says something like ‘Edit signature’ and click that. You’ll see a text field where you can type in the text you want to appear beneath all your posts. This is where you’ll put the backlinks to your site.

Forums use a special kind of code to allow members to format their posts. It’s called BBCode and it’s quite simple to use once you get the hang of it. Copy the examples below and change the URL and text to your URL and some catchy keyword-rich text. Paste the code into you signature box and save it.

Link to your website or blog with this code:

Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.

You can see in the code above where you need to edit the domain to be your domain. In this example, ‘Coin Collecting’ will be the anchor text for the link. This is where you want to put your keywords. Almost all forums will allow you to have a link in your signature.

If you want to make your signature bold, just add the bold tags around it like this:

[b]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/b]

Most forums will allow you to bold the text in your signature. If you add the bold code and your signature still doesn’t come out in bold then it’s you know the bold formatting is not allowed.

Some forums will also allow you to change the color of the text, although the anchor text will come out as the default link color, usually blue. Here’s how you change the text color:

[color=red]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/color]

You can also combine formatting. This would make your signature red and bold (except for the link text which will usually be blue bold).

[color=red][b]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/b][/color]

One final tip for creating your signature. Less is more. If you make your signature look spamming people will treat you like a spammer. You don’t have to use up all available lines in your signature. Make it short, sweet and to the point. If you post great content and people are interested they will click your link.

Step 4: Participate!
The first three steps were all preparation. Now you get to start creating backlinks to your site! It’s simple, just participate in the forum. Post good content, ask questions. Try to help people out by answering questions. Be nice, be helpful.

Every post you make will give you a backlink to your site. The higher the quality of your post, the more powerful your backlink will be, at least in Google. Because Google looks at the text surrounding a link to determine the relevancy of a link having good content in your posts is much more valuable than having a post that says something like, “great post, I agree”. If you simply participate in the forum and try to be friendly and helpful chances are your content will take care of itself.

That’s it. Have fun. And remember, you can change your signature any time you want. You might changing the text a bit from time to time to find out what generates the most clicks through to your site.

Being a frequent participant on forums can increase links back to your website, increase your chances of being seen as an expert, increase your mailing list, sell more of your product, get new affiliates to sign up, make you new friends – in fact there’s not a lot to be said against joining a few forums. However, there are some things to think about before you get started:

DO:

1. Research each forum before you join. Make sure it’s relevant to your business and see if the participants are in your target market. Look at how much traffic the forum gets. How busy is it? – there’s no point in joining a dead forum with very few posts.

2. Check the forum rules before you post. Some forums will allow you to post adverts for your business while others will object. Check if you are allowed to add a signature at the end of your posts – adding a small biography with a web link to your business is a great way to increase incoming links to your site and to get more traffic.

3. Be polite and treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. Even though you don’t meet people face to face you will build up some great relationships if you take the time to give good answers to questions, to be helpful and to respect other people’s opinions. And every post you answer adds to your reputation. Use your posts to give genuine, useful advice, not just to plug your business and you’ll soon be looked on as an expert.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice – no-one knows everything and sometimes you will need help.

5. To make the most of your time on the forums, allow yourself only a certain amount of time each day. Read only the posts that are relevant and that interest you and post answers quickly before moving on. It’s very easy to spend the whole day on forums and not get anything else done.

DON’T:

1. Never, ever use a post to blatantly advertise your business, particularly if the forum rules don’t allow it. Nothing will damage your reputation faster than spamming a forum.

2. Don’t go through the list of forum members, collect email addresses and send them unsolicited mail. At best you’ll be banned from the forum and at worst the owners might report you to your ISP.

3. Don’t ever get involved in a flame war (this is when a heated conversation on a forum boils over and degenerates into nothing but an exchange of personal insults). It might be really satisfying to say what you think about someone, especially if they’ve been getting on your nerves, but just imagine what other people will think of you if you do.

In conclusion, treat people online like you treat people in real life. Think of it as a networking event that’s taking place on your computer and don’t forget that other posts on the forums are made by real people with real feelings.

You already know how to make friends and new contacts face to face. Apply what you already know to online networking and you could be enjoying great success with a global audience.

One great advantage of online marketing forums is that they generally draw a good cross section of members, from the marketing newcomer to the experienced. Additionally, popular forums tend to attract members with a wide variety of business interests and backgrounds.

You can use these advantages to the benefit of your Internet marketing business.

First, join online forums to gain valuable marketing knowledge and insight:

- Find out what products, programs and services are currently popular.

- Learn more about tried and true methods of marketing and advertising.

- Get recommendations on preferred marketing tools and resources.

- Ask experienced members the marketing questions you can’t get answered elsewhere.

- Ask for opinions or feedback on your planned marketing materials or advertising campaigns.

Second, join online forums to network with other business people and Internet marketers:

- Develop partnerships to joint venture with each other or cross-promote each other’s products or services. This could lead to additional connections and introductions through their network that may also benefit your business.

- Form a feedback alliance where you review and evaluate each other’s marketing materials, advertising, websites, ebooks, etc. This can help improve your materials and your marketing efforts.

- Expand your circle of influence so you have a higher quality network of leaders informing you first when new products or resources come available and to whom you can return the courtesy.

Third, join online forums to casually prospect for customers:

- Blatant advertising and outright prospecting are not typically tolerated in most forums. You need to build respect as an active, participating, contributing member. Your aim is to develop a reputation as a trusted source for information and resources in your particular niche.

- The best way to build your image and reputation is by posting thoughtful, respectful, helpful comments in response to posts by other forum members. Offer insight and advice based on personal experience or education.

- Look for opportunities to start new topic threads. If you start a thread that is meaningful and relevant to forum members, they will be motivated to post comments in the thread. Every time they do, your thread goes back to the top and that helps to keep your name in front of other forum members.

- Finally, take advantage of the opportunity to include a signature with your forum posts. Your signature is one more way to advertise and promote your Internet marketing business. Most forums allow you to include a few links to sites of your choice, such as your website, blog page or a sales page.

As mentioned, online business and marketing forums can be information, networking and prospecting goldmines, but you do need to follow the rules and become a respected member of the forum. Approach forums with the right attitude and you will find the experience to be incredibly rewarding.

Forums are online communities where individuals can discuss topics ranging from fly fishing to breast feeding to internet business. Discussions are conducted by posting notes to the forum. A single discussion is called a ‘thread’ and most forums have several – even hundreds – of threads going at any time.

What is truly remarkable about the use of forums is the personal quality of the discussions. Read some of the posts on forums such as ivillage.com and you’ll soon see that the members become more like neighbors (and even friends) than strangers connected only by the keyboard and monitor in front of them.

Where brick and mortar businesses used to prosper based on their involvement in the community – online businesses now have a neighborhood all their own – online forums.

How can participating in a forum help YOUR business?

NETWORKING:

Online forums are a fantastic place to connect with others who are knowledgeable about your business. You probably cater to the same audience and share a common interest. If your businesses compliment one another you might just find a highly profitable partnership or joint venture.

Even if you don’t find a working relationship you may find the referrals or discussions highly beneficial.

TRAFFIC BUILDING:

Along with the referrals you may get when you’ve developed a trusted online presence with other members of the forum, you are also likely to attract targeted visitors to your website.

If the forum permits you to post a signature (your website URL) onto the posts then you can be sure that some of the members and quite likely some of the ‘lurkers’ (people who view but don’t post) will come check out your site.

EDUCATION:

Using the forums wisely can open you up to a great education. Whether it is from fellow entrepreneurs in your field or experts and other posters – you are participating in an ‘inner circle’ type discussion that may open your eyes to new developments and opportunities in your business.

ADDICTIVE:

The only downside is the highly addictive atmosphere. With members posting from all over the world it can be difficult to reign in your viewing time on forums.

On the flip side, other members are hopefully as interested in what you have to say and you may quickly develop a reputation as a reliable source for information.

Be very cautious to follow forum rules. Never spam a forum – your aim should be to participate in a conversation, not interrupt it. Have fun and watch your business grow!