Generate Traffic to Your Site by Posting in Forums - Do-Follow vs. No-Follow

In 2005, in an attempt to ensure the highest quality of search engine results, Google popularized an HTML attribute called “no-follow.” The idea is that webmasters can indicate links that are not to their own content by tagging them as no-follow. This feature is often used by websites to indicate to search engines that links generated by users are not to be followed and indexed. Although the theory behind this idea is fairly sound and it is probably true that “no-follow” has reduced the amount of random page results in search engines, “no-follow” is the forum-marketer’s worst enemy when it comes to upgrading your search engine rankings.

Luckily for you, it is actually very easy to avoid forums which adhere to the “no-follow” attribute. You can find lists of such forums on awebsite such as this one. You can use this list, which seems to be updated frequently, or search for your own using any major search engine.

Once you have found a list of discussion boards that will work for you, you have to choose one or two specific ones that best suit you and your personality. If you would like to make the most of your own knowledge to get the word out there about your business, then you have to choose a discussion board that revolves around a main concept that is in line with your business and/or interests. If you are posting about a topic on which you are knowledgeable and in which you are interested, it is more likely that you will come off as legitimate. The greater the quality of your posts, the more likely people will believe you and follow your links.

Once you have found a forum that supports “do-follow” links and is also related to your area of expertise, you are almost ready to start marketing your own website. I just have one more piece of advice for you: come off well. You can become a respected and well-liked source of information on your topic quite easily if you are respectful and knowledgeable in your posts. However, if you are controversial and rude, it is much more likely that people will come to hate reading your posts. They will not follow your links and your time posting will be completely wasted.

If you have any questions about building links via forum posting, just shoot me a question in the “comments” section below, and I'd be happy to help.