Marketing a Forum - Forum Posting.

I just wondered what peoples experiences were. I've had no problems with any of my other sites, but I'm developing a forum. Obviously I'll be posting on "competitor" sites, so is it likely they will have a problem with this?

 

They shouldn't have a problem with that, they probably did the same thing to promote their forum before it took off. The only thing they could do besides banning you is to clear all your posts from archives which is very unlikely.

 

Check out big-boards.com for a very long list of forums you can use, there is a bunch of international forums there as well. Also look for international .gov forums -- links from those can be quite precious, can post replies in english regarding of the language they use or simply translate using google translate service.

 

They shouldnt have a problem with that. You should also be careful what kind of posts you make.

 

I'd recommend doing signature advertising. That's the method that I use. I post on a lot of various communities in my niche - and make quality threads that people will want to respond back, so it benefits me in the long run.

 

Don't spam, just use proper forum etiquette and use your link signature to promote your new website and you should have no proplems

 

i too recommend forum signatures and also active in forums so you get more members to your site.

 

From my own experience I can say forums are really really hard to develop, mostly because it's not enough just to post quality content, you have to use some tricks so your visitors will actually register and post. You also have to make serious investments in posts. But once your board grew big, it will be a very good source of revenue.

 

Yes, most will definitely have a problem with it - you're essentially visiting your site purely to steal their posters. Some places might not mind but you'll find that the majority of them will.

 

Other forum makers did and will do the same thing.

 

Just provide enough quality information in the forums and they will appreciate it. Don't ever spam or try to advertise your site except in the advertising section of the forum. By the way here is a forum marketing article which have enough quality information for you to do proper forum marketing.

 

Most forum owners don't like when you advertise for competing forums.

 

Also there is a software package that is designed to automate the "fake member" method
http://epicwebsoft.com/activity-traffic-generator-p-1.html

 

You can do that however, do not advertise your forum too blatantly. At least put in some advice and it should be fine.