Why Is Forum Posting Important for SEO?
If you’re a webmaster for your business, you know that there are many important aspects of SEO. You have to think about keywords, content optimization, backlinks, etc. You shouldn’t forget to look beyond the site mechanics themselves, though, and remember the broader picture.
Things like posting on forums are also critical for proper SEO. Getting your name out in the open, especially on specialist sites, is just as useful as having your company name appear on top of SERPs. In this article, we will explain why it is that forum posting is critical, and what exactly you can do to maximize your presence on them.
Why is forum posting important?
There are a number of reasons that it is critical for you to be active on industry and community forums. For more specific information and professional assistance that you can get with your website, Mellow Promo SEO services can help you.
Among the benefits that you will receive from participating in forums are the following:
- These sites are where people in your industry go for information. This includes both potential customers, as well as potential partners. You will give your business much-needed exposure in the places that it matters most.
- Specialty forums provide a lot of useful information, as well as a place to ask questions and develop ideas. This goes both for your business as a whole, as well as your SEO efforts in particular. You will see what kinds of keywords are coming up in the industry, and you’ll also gain a feeling for the voice that people in your industry are using and whether or not it is changing at all. This plays a role in your SEO, after all.
- Your site will appear more often as a result of common queries conducted online. When someone asks a question that is addressed on one of the forums that you are on, your name will appear when that user goes to find the answer to the query. It’s like an automatic way of gaining traffic.
- You will get more backlinks. If your counterparts in your industry see that you are a solid company that provides useful advice and contributes to industry development, they will be much more likely to want to link to your site. And this will directly increase your SEO.
What should you keep in mind when choosing forums?
Now, you shouldn’t simply run around posting in forums randomly. Some are better than others, of course, and choosing the wrong ones could actually hurt your reputation and your SEO ranking rather than help it. Therefore, you should keep the following points in mind:
- The forum you post in should be relevant both to your industry, and also to the particular query that you are posting about. Be sure that your posts will attract people that are specifically searching for the pages that you choose.
- Be sure to read the forum’s rules and guidelines carefully. People very often get excited about getting involved and fail to follow the rules of the forum. This not only upsets the site owners – and often causes webmasters to remove unwanted posts – it damages the reputations of the people who make these mistakes and sometimes causes them to be banned.
- Don’t use forums as a way to plug your product directly. No one likes this kind of behavior, first of all, as it comes off looking tacky and out of place. And in most cases, it is against the rules. The purpose of participating in forums is to have in-depth discussions with other industry participants on topics that are of mutual interest to everyone involved. No one wants to be hit in the face by a blunt ad; there are other places for this.
- Make sure that your post is truly your own. If you take someone else’s idea, first of all people might find out about it and you will end up looking phony. Also, if the writing style you use doesn’t appear to match your usual one, it will appear odd to the other readers.
- Be sure to include the right company information on your signature. Just as with your website, you want people to be able to reach you as easily and through as many means as possible.
- Use keywords! If people make a query that is relevant to your post, they are more likely to click on a result that will lead to it if you use the right keywords. Do your research in advance to determine which ones you should include.
Keep looking for new sites
Being actively involved in online forums means not just having repeated discussions with the same groups of people. It means constantly keeping your eyes open for new forums, new opportunities, and any additional ways that you can get involved in your industry.
The more active you become in different online forums – both local and industry-specific – the more you will stay up-to-date on any industry changes that can affect both your business, as well as your website. And you will see the results in your SERP rankings.