Reading through various webmaster forums and SEO Blogs I’ve
seen several great tips on how to get traffic to your site, but if you are a
forum or blog owner like myself and you actually care about the community your
forum/blog represents, then you’ll likely agree that it’s not necessarily
traffic that you should be seeking, or rather not just any traffic.
I’ve already discussed one way of getting traffic to your
forum, and that would be to infiltrate other forums and be a contributing
member of them.The key to that
technique is to be a part of the community, be human, and not just some
automation. Though, this takes time, and the more forums you post in, the more
time it takes. This is not why I’m posting this though, so the plug is over…
I’m here not to tell you what NOT to do.
Do NOT create a
myspace account to spam other members on that community. Feel free to make
an account there, give your profile your best sales pitch, and be sure to let
you community members know it exists so they can join in, but don’t use the
account to solicit others. First, you’ll likely end up being banned, and
secondly, have you seen the quality of the members that come from Myspace? No,
you are not trying to get people to click your ads, you are here to increase
your member base…with quality members!
Do not post your site
on link farms or low quality directories. These things take too much
valuable time that could be used on better ventures, like writing a new article
or starting a new thread for your own community. Good directories are fine to
submit too though. As for telling the good from the bad, just use your own
judgment as opinions on this vary greatly.
Do not waste money on
paid links, at least not on paid links outside of your niche. This type of
advertising generally falls upon blind eyes so the only person winning is the
link seller. Handing over a few bucks for a link or banner within your chosen
internet genre will be fine, just make sure you are spending your hard earned
fund one something that will benefit you.
Do not bother pushing
your site if your site is not done yet. Many directories will reject your
submission, many people that click ads or links into your site and find a blank
or dead page will click right out of it. So before you get the word out, make
sure you have enough content to make people want to stick around. If you are
using Wordpress make sure your ABOUT page is about you and your blogroll does
not contain the core WP builders. These types of things only take a few moments
to change, so change them.
Do not use the
default skins/themes. The default themes on anything are only there because
they needed to be shipped with something. There are hundreds of sites out there
that offer FREE alternatives, and dozens of sites out there that offer some
fantastic paid skins with special features. If you have the budget then check
into some paid formats, if you don’t have the budget or are just trying to
pinch pennies, then look at the free ones. Find a nice looking skin that suits
you topically and install it.