Forums A One Way Ticket To Easy FREE Traffic
If you are not using forums in your website now may be a good
time to get started. With Google and Yahoo putting the emphasis
on fresh new content, it is important for search engine
optimization purposes to be adding fresh new content to your
site on a daily basis. Forums can help get you that fresh new
content. If done correctly you will have fresh new content added
on a daily basis from your users and visitors with very little
effort on your part.
Recently I have discovered just how easy it is to add a PHP
bulletin board (forum) to my web site. First you need to
download the script from http://www.phpbb.com . It's a free
download so don't worry and they have a support section that
explains how to install the script.
You will also need to make sure your host has PHP support and a
MYSQL database configuration. In most cases this is an upgrade
from your basic hosting package but the cost is minimal compared
to the services that you will receive. PHP is a very powerful
tool for your website.
If you don't know anything about PHP or MYSQL, don't worry
about it. I use 2 different web host providers and in both cases
the support I got was excellent. Both host providers voluntarily
installed my PHP bulletin board script for me. All I had to do
after it was installed was to go to my administration panel and
start adding the subjects for my new forum.
Once you have set up your forum you will need to tell everyone
about it. A forum is no good if there is nobody posting to it.
If you have an e-mail list or e-mail a newsletter periodically,
e-mail your list telling them about your new forum and inviting
them to join.
One of the best ways to get new members to your forum is to use
other forums. Put a link in your signature file inviting members
to your forum. I currently have around 20 forums that I am a
member of and try to post to on a regular basis. My signature
file contains a link to my forum and to my blog. This also
creates free traffic to my web site. I have heard of people who
post to 100's of forums on a regular basis just to get free
traffic to their site. If you do this be very careful not to
spam the forums. Only use affiliate links in your signature
file. And always try to post something useful to the readers or
it may be considered spam.
Once you start getting posts on your new forum from new users
try to respond as much as you can. If it's the person's first
post, be sure to welcome them to the forum and offer any
assistance that they may need. The more posts on your forum the
better. You don't want people going to your forum to find
nothing. It is better to have 30-40 posts all from yourself than
to have no posts at all. When I started my first forum I did
exactly that just to get it started and I continue to add posts
on a regular basis.
Eventually your forum will take on a life of its own, creating
fresh new content on a daily basis, giving you better search
engine rankings, and all the FREE traffic your website can
handle.