Forums and communities are an untapped area for link building. When you use these platforms for link building effectively, you can develop a healthy and diversified link profile.
However, to find success in these areas, you must approach it the right way. But no worries. We’ve provided some tips to help you obtain positive results.
Find Forums Relevant to Your Niche
It is always crucial to market to the right audience. When you’re not able to determine your target market, you may end up wasting your time and efforts.
When using online communities and forums for link building, you must only use those relevant to your niche. If the forum or discussion is completely unrelated to what your company offers, you won’t be likely to sway the people included in the discussion.
It’s best to stick with forums that are relevant to your niche. For example, if your company provides IT-related services, joining forums devoted to IT concerns and problems may be beneficial for you. There, you can find people needing your services. And in turn, these people searching for an answer can hopefully get it from you.
Prioritize Online Communities With Solid Metrics
Not all online communities have solid metrics. So, it’s best to prioritize those that do. Consider the referring domains, organic traffic, domain rating, and domain authority.
Consider the Moderation of the Communities
Some forums may have zero moderation. And you don’t want to be part of those platforms. This is because Google may associate your website with bots and low-quality and spammy sites. Instead, look for a forum or online community with good company and where you are able to comment.
Add Value to the Discussion
You don’t want to end up looking like a spammy website. Forum users won’t appreciate it if you spam them with links. Forum moderators may even delete your comments or flag you as spam if you continue this behavior.
Instead, go about it in a more authentic way. Contribute to the discussion and offer up something valuable to the forum.
Going back to the IT example, let’s say you’ve stumbled across a user question that your own blog already has an answer to. It won’t be wise to simply paste the link there. That won’t get people to click on it. Instead, you can provide a summarized answer to their question and leave the link as additional information.
For example, a user is asking the forum what to do when their computer is failing to start. As an answer to their question, you can explain the reasons their computer might be doing this. Then, attach the link and tell them it contains the specific steps they can follow to address the issue. This way, they know you can provide valuable information. And this can entice them to click on the link and further explore your website.
Other users may also reply to your answer if they have follow-up questions. This allows you to interact with other users and help them using some of your website’s resources. And because you’re taking time to engage with them, they can see the quality of customer support you provide and this may encourage them to take advantage of your services.
In Summary
For effective link building using online communities and forums, you must first identify your target audience and only use forums relevant to your niche. You should also prioritize forums and communities with solid metrics and proper moderation. And once you’ve found these forums, it’s best to add value to the discussion instead of just leaving a link.
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