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July 26, 2005
Generating Free Traffic to Your Website
Submitting comments on popular forum/blog posts is one of the easiest methods of driving targeted visitors to your website for free. This really hit home with me this morning when I was reviewing my web traffic stats.
Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite blogs and commented on a post. In the 24 hours that have past since my comment, my unique visitors and page views tripled!
Here are the keys to making this work for you:
- Identify forums and blogs which your target audience reads.
- When you create an account, be sure to add your website address to the signature and ALWAYS add your signature to your posts.
- Become an active participant in the forum/blog by offering your knowledge and helping other people with their problems. Do not spam these forums/blogs with blatant sales messages, that'll only turn people off to you.
This will fulfill two goals for you:
- Being seen as an expert by your target audience.
- Your link popularity will increase with the signature links pointing back to your website.
If your not sure where these forums/blogs are, go to any Search Engine and type in your industry (or target audience) and either forum or blog. Read through some recent posts and see where you can add your expertise to the group.
Posted by Mark Beck on July 26, 2005 | Permalink
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Comments
Mark,
I know good advice when I see it, and I am wasting no time taking it. In my mind, your first goal is a strong factor as to whether those of us who consult find success. For 35 years, I have worked to become an expert in my field (some today call that becoming a "Thought Leader" or an "InfoGuru). And each time that I gain that level of recognition, as my career moves around the country, my business grows. I strongly urge others to work hard to become published, to be speakers at events and seminars, and to find their way onto the internet, radio, and TV.
Posted by: Lewis Green | Jul 26, 2005 10:49:21 AM
Mark,
Not only are you right on the money with your advice, you also are going to inspire people to comment on your blog more than ever.
I wonder why more people don't comment. Do you think it's because they've seen other people get crucified upon doing so ?
Posted by: Mike | Jul 26, 2005 6:53:01 PM
Hi Lewis and Mike,
Thank you for offering your thoughts on the topic. This is what blogging is suppose to be about, people sharing their ideas for the betterment of the community.
Low participation in venues like this are very common. Callers to talk radio repersent something like 2% (I'm not sure about that number) of the listening audience. Mike, you're right, people don't participate out of fear. Fear of looking foolish, fear of being crucified, fear of being noticed, and I'm sure the list goes on.
Hopefully we'll be able to entice more people to contribute their thoughts.
Take care.
Posted by: Mark Beck | Jul 27, 2005 8:13:24 AM
"Your link popularity will increase with the signature links pointing back to your website."
This is wrong more than 75% of the time. Not only does Google discount any link coming from a forum, but also, most forums don't even allow Google into their database.
If Google counted a link from a forum like it did a normal link, then I could start my own forum, take an hour to post 1,000 links back to my site, and watch my pagerank rise by the day.
On top of that, many forums require registration to view posts, and Google's spiders can't register at a forum.
If you can find a forum that actually shows up on Google and is about your topic, then it's a great idea. I just don't want people wasting any time posting on forums without getting any benefit from it. Take the time to research before you do anything.
Posted by: Fenton | Jul 27, 2005 10:49:34 AM
Fenton, you make some excellent points, thank you. And you're right, the increase to your link popularity will be minimal.
However, there are plenty of times when I am researching a problem via a search engine and inevitably will come across a forum thread discussing my problem. If a solution isn't posted, I at least may have found some people or websites to contact.
But I want everyone to understand the main point of the post: offer good advice and/or information to people in your target market and you can be rewarded with increased traffic back to your website.
Posted by: Mark Beck | Jul 28, 2005 7:07:38 AM
Excellent advice Mark! Thanks and I really enjoy your blog.
Posted by: Evans | Jul 31, 2005 12:24:45 PM
This is a reaaly good oppurtunity to drive free traffic to my sight.. I really appreciate the help..
Posted by: Nicholl | Aug 16, 2005 6:55:04 PM
l want to increase traffic to my website
Posted by: FERNANDO | Sep 17, 2005 4:47:55 AM
Thanks for the advise!
Posted by: John Lewis | Oct 18, 2005 9:35:05 PM
Great idea and thanks, Ill add my link here aswell to see if it actually works....
http://www.invisionboardforfree.com/forums/index.php?mforum=peacegarden&act=idx
Posted by: 13thOne | Dec 13, 2005 6:21:30 PM
This is an awesome article. I learned a lot of great tips and pointers. Thanks for the information!!
Posted by: WebtrafficJunkie | Jan 16, 2006 2:44:31 PM
The Giveaway has been designed to give marketers that upgrade and promote the most, the maximum exposure during the first few days after launch. This system rewards proactive members while still allowing smaller list members an opportunity to participate.
Posted by: What's PPC Classroom? | Mar 6, 2009 7:22:56 PM
