Small Business Marketing
Using Forums to Market Your Business
Written by Rayzelle Forrest Young for Gaebler Ventures
This article discusses the use of online forums as a way to get free targeted traffic. Also learn about how to make use of a systematic approach to effectively do your forum posting.
The use of online forums to market your business is a great way to generate free targeted traffic for your company website.
After all, getting traffic to your website is the driving force for a lot of businesses to gain and keep customers. You could have the best website in the world which includes glossy pictures, pertinent information and good products for customers but if no one sees it, it's useless. In order to make money you need people to visit your site and purchase your products or services. The use of online forums is an excellent way to achieve this and it's free.
In order to get free targeted traffic to your website via forums you need to post to the ones that pertain to your company's product or service. If you sell auto parts it will certainly do you no good to submit to forums that pertain to outdoor grilling and cooking. Submitting to forums relevant to your niche will ensure that your information gets in front of an audience that is already interested in what your business has to offer. This is called getting targeted traffic.
With online forums, the good thing is when you answer questions or participate in discussions, you can include a link to your company's website. If this is done at enough forums, you will generate massive amounts of free traffic. You do want to be careful that you don't just post your website url without at least leaving a comment or answering a question. This will be viewed as spamming and can get you banned from the forum. In order to market your business effectively with this method it is good to have a systematic plan.
Make A List
Make a list of at least 35 forums to submit to. Again, make sure they are relevant to your product or service. This is your key to targeted traffic.
Post
Post to one forum a day until you get to the end of the list. Once you have finished the list, start all over. Make sure you are adding relevant information to the discussion. Take the time to read the questions and answers of others so that you can either respond with an answer that can help someone or ask a question you may have that hasn't been answered yet.
Share Knowledge
Feel free to share what you have learned from a forum when you move on to the next one. This type of participation will be beneficial to you and the others you are able to help. It will also give you name and product recognition in your industry.
Submitting to online forums to market your business will prove to be a worthwhile venture if done correctly. There is nothing more budget friendly than getting targeted traffic that is free. This method of marketing is one that will pay off in added customers as well as increased industry knowledge that you can use to improve your business.
Rayzelle is an entrepreneur and writer. Based on her experiences as an owner of her own dance studio, she will share her personal tips on being a successful entrepreneur.
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