I was sent a Private message asking what I felt one should do to be beneficial in getting the most out of this forum. So, I figured I might as well post it here seeing that it was a good question that others may have too. Bellow is a copy of the Original message I received & the response I sent back. I'm not much of a teacher, more of a doer myself. However, If I was to suggest something simple & very beneficial about forums, it would be: 1.) Make sure to think through each reply before posting. 2.) When you do post, Make sure it's not just a 1-2 liner & provide viable information to the readers. 3.) The post should be on topic & relate directly to the thread & or post you are replying to, Thus aiding in shedding light on a topic & providing knowledge so that others don't make the same mistakes you made when you learned. 4.) Utilize The signature link area & make sure that your link is anchored with a relevant key word phrase to the page it points to. What does 1-4 accomplish? A.) Credibility throughout the forum as someone that speaks truth, rather than gibberish. B.) The meeting & networking of other professionals. C.) The ability to help others on the forum in situations you, yourself have encountered in the past. D.) Inbound Link Juice, as well as Key word phrase targeting. Aiding in your over all SEO campaign. E.) Organic referrals visiting your site Via your sig link because they found your posts to be Viable & informative. That's just a few reasons. Welcome to the Forums & Good Luck Hopefully this will help others as well
Utilizing the search feature here can help one make the most out of ANY forum! Sadly though, most do not, which results in dozens of threads all about the exact same thing with the same questions and same answers for the most part. However, in many cases there are times when true insight will come from any given member, and when the thread is buried under other threads of the exact same nature no one is to see that insight ever again. A Guide to Searching Digital Point Reading the rules (all of them) can also help to make the most out of this, or any forum. While most of the rules fall under common sense, some simply do not, so it's best to know where they are, and what they are, and most importantly to follow them! (read the FAQ/Rules link, the infractions thread in Site Suggestions, and the stickies in which ever forum you are posting in. It's also sound advice to check in on them now and again to see any changes that may have taken place) Something that relates to your first three points, it can work wonders if you understand how the community works. Who is good to make friends with, who is not. Who the mods are, and what their preferences are as far as the rules are concerned. Immerse yourself into the community and become a part of it's inner circles. By being a member of the "family" you will find that your experience here is three fold what it would have been by not doing so. For point number four, it can be real helpful to understand the best way to make the most of your signature! I wrote two articles on just such a thing... (one & two)
This is useful for everyone. If you post a new topic and you may wait days and not get the info you are looking for. A good search can can give you an instant overview of your subject.
I put my hands up and say I never use the search feature. When I was new here I probably asked dozens of questions that are spammed here every day. Now it annoys me to see thread after thread of "What's the best way to build backlinks" when not only do they not use the search feature, but they don't even look down 3 or 4 threads to see their question answered!! But if noone ever repeated the same old questions then DP forums woudn't grow. Almost every internet marketing question has been answered here already and it's not often that something totally new comes out into the world of IM. So I guess it's just as well people repeat questions, otherwise we would have nothing to talk about.
That is only partially true. Different takes on the same question/theme can be a great way for discussions to thrive... though it's a huge turn off when there are four threads asking the exact same question on every page here at DP. The trick is to find that happy medium
Ok, I was sent another PM asking how to create the hyperlinked signatures. I sometimes forget that not everyone knows how yet. So below is the message & my reply. You can also change the color of the links by highlighting the test again with your mouse & selecting a color from the drop down menu with the "A" on it