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Message Boards and Forums

One of the quickest ways to get targeted traffic to your website is to post in forums. Done correctly, you'll attract the people most interested in and passionate about your niche. Done incorrectly, you'll waste your time and be perceived as a spammer.

First, make a list of forums and discussion boards in your niche. Use a bookmark folder to save them and keep them organized. After you have a large list, evaluate the sites to see which ones you should post on.

First, look at how active the message board is. Unfortunately, there are many dead forums and some of them still rank high in the search engines. Are the posts current? If there are not daily posts, move on. You need to find communities where members participate every day.

Next, look at the quality of the posts. Are the posts from people interested in the niche, or has the board been taken over by spammers? If the board is low quality, move on.

If you find an active board with members passionate about your niche, your next step is to discover if you are allowed to promote yourself. Many forums will allow users to put a link in their signature file, but not all do. Read the rules before you post. If they do not allow links, move on.

Some message boards won't have rules posted. Look at popular threads to see if other members have links in their sig files. If no one else does, it might not be the place for you. If you feel the message board is worth posting on, try and see. If you are asked to remove the link, comply and don't argue. You can find more suitable message boards.

When you find a message board that meets your criteria, it's time to start posting. Although you are there to self-promote, don't be blatant about it. Never refer to your website in the body of your post. People will see your sig file and click on the link if they are interested.

Don't start out by posting new threads, unless there is a forum for introductions. It's common message board etiquette to observe the forum before posting. Since you want to get your message out as soon as possible, you do want to start posting right away. Find a popular and recent post, see how other people have responded, and add your input. Don't write lengthy replies. Try to keep the length of your replies similar to what others use.

To maximize your traffic generation from message boards, follow these rules. First, limit your time to posting online. You can spend all day reading with few replies and feel that you have spent the day working. You haven't. Spend one to two hours a day posting on message boards. Be sure you are spending your time posting, and not reading all the replies. Post in the more popular topics.

Post on more than one, but no more than twenty. You want people to get to know you, so you don't want to spread yourself out too thin. On the other hand, the less forums you post on the less people you have the potential to reach. Although your writing doesn't have to be perfect, use correct grammar and spelling so that others can understand you. Be polite and helpful. If someone asks a question, answer them even if you need to do a quick online search.

If the message board allows avatars, upload a picture of yourself. People are more likely to click on your link if they see a picture. You do not need to be a model. If you are uncomfortable using your picture, you use a photo that fits in with your niche. If you are in the pet niche, use a photo of your dog. If you are in the car niche, use a photo of a car.

Make readers want to click on your link. Think of a short phrase that describes what your website offers. Use this phrase as your link instead of simply displaying the url. "Discover how to make money with your baseball cards." "Search through Hundreds of Recipes."

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