Is Traffic from Forums enough?

**armenh** · 08-12-2008 10:57 PM

I am sure that most of the forums we all are part of are a vital part to the traffic you get onto your site. Maybe more for some than others. But I was wondering if I was to develop a blog and have the url featured in some major forums as a signiture and be fairly active in those forums, would the traffic be enough to make me some good money through adsense and get decent traffic onto my site?

**shaboo** · 08-13-2008 02:44 AM

you have good point

forums are one way of advertising.

for what business?

**armenh** · 08-13-2008 02:48 AM

An online blog...or generally a directory, content site, pretty much any sort of website, was wondering if some people who own sites could tell me how many percent of their organic traffic comes from clicks through their signature on a forum...

**shaboo** · 08-13-2008 02:57 AM

It depends on the forum

this forum doesnt generate what you believe it would, but other industry specific forums do and its all about what you say in the specific topic or post

arts, music, cars, sports, sneakers, games, hardware etc...

it will basically burst

**gregdavidson** · 08-13-2008 02:57 AM

Forum marketing is an excellent FREE way to get people to your blog. If you're active in enough relevant forums then you might be able to get a good amount of traffic to your blog. However, there are other free marketing technique you should consider as well such as submitting your best postings to sites like Digg and answering questions on Yahoo Answers.

**armenh** · 08-13-2008 03:01 AM

I wouldnt find yahoo answers as a great way to increase traffic I would see that traffic more as spam, but sumbitting to directories is also a good way, but I want to keep this question focused I am asking about what percentage of traffic comes from forums and places where you are generally active in and promote your site. Do not include SEO just from forums.

Thanks

**gregdavidson** · 08-13-2008 03:05 AM

If you answer questions that are related to your website and in the proper manner then "No" it's not spam. Add your website address in the "What's your source?" box and don't make it look like an advertisement. Only add your link and that's it. Also, when you respond to a question make it detailed and never cut-and-paste the same response over and over again. Follow these guidelines and you won't get flagged for spam. I usually receive about 15 unique visitors per posting which is pretty darn good considering it takes me less than a minute to respond to a question.

**armenh** · 08-13-2008 03:13 AM

Greg, thanks for the response, I appreciate the information, I see what you are saying now, how are the conversion rates?

**gregdavidson** · 08-13-2008 03:51 AM

You mean as far as sales go? Most of the marketing I do is free so I really don't track to see where some of my customers are coming from. However, if somebody is asking a question about something your website provides then that's probably about as targeted as you can get for free marketing.

**Aletheides** · 08-13-2008 04:08 AM

No, it wouldn't be enough.

You need Google traffic.

**armenh** · 08-13-2008 04:14 AM

Aletheides elaborate maybe... I am asking how many percent do you have any idea...for your specific case..

**Aletheides** · 08-13-2008 04:42 AM

My sites recieve no traffic from forums, it's not a good vehicle for marketing since your visitors aren't laser targeted like they are with natural search traffic. Also, since how many visitors you receive is dependant on how many recent posts you make, you'll have to do it everyday unless you want your traffic to die.

If I was going to try to go for links on forums, drop your links on do-follow forums so you can get linkjuice. Many forums (including YE) are nofollow so your site won't get any benefit other than a trickle of direct traffic. There are lists of dofollow forums out there, I don't have any off hand but just run a Google search.

Content + Links + A little onpage Search Engine Optimization = Free Google Traffic

**operaentre** · 08-13-2008 07:02 AM

In my opinion from forums we can get some interesting topics to study and get enough knowledge on each and every thing which ever the field is but it is not much effective in getting traffic to our niche sites.

**memosend.com** · 08-14-2008 09:22 PM

You need to think about getting relevant, targeted traffic to your site. Forums are good to increase traffic but this should only be a small part of your marketing mix.