Using forums for SEO?

[atlanta404]

Hello - thanks in advance for your help!

I work on the websites for a small engineering instrumentation distributor - we sell flow meters, temperature controllers, and other instrumentation that is used in process control applications.

How can I use forums for SEO and/or building inbound links?

What kind of forums should I be posting in? And am I supposed to include my website in my signature when I post?

Thanks for your help.

[webkidsan]

Lots of forum now a days have "no follow" so even if you post your URL its not goign to help ... and it seems you are trying to inflate your linking artificially for the sole purpose of SEO ... there are other ways of getting links.

[atlanta404]

Thanks for your suggestions - I don't want to try to scam anyone!

[AnthonyCea]

You are not scamming anyone if you make relevant posts, as long as the contribution is of value you will have no problems!

The issue you raise is valid for sure, some forums do not offer signatures like the one we are on now, others do and the links are followed, some have put no follow tags on signatures also!

Search engines discount signature links in forums, but if they are followed that is a good way to get your site spidered.

This does not mean that 11,000 links pointing to your site from 11,000 posts is going to help you rank better!

[phaithful]

I think there is value for adding your URL to your signature when you have a chance. Obviously not for the sake of having the search engines crawl those things.

Instead, once you've become a true contributing member to the community and you've written something interesting in a post, some members or readers of that community who have their own sites, visit the url in your sig, and then decide to place a link to your site from theirs.

That's where you'll get your quality inbound links, which will be much more valuable than 11,000 links from the 11,000 posts

[AnthonyCea]

I agree with that and posted the same thought last week in response to a thread, you are right

But they do crawl those signature links for sure, and it is a good way for a new site to introduce itself to Mr. Spider.

[jimbeetle]

How can I use forums for SEO and/or building inbound links?

Why not look at this from the other side? If it's at all possible, why not consider a forum on your company's site? For anything technical this is a great way to add good, keyword rich content. For example, you might always refer to a product as the "Model 822 Dual Overhead Cam Electromagnetic Flowmeter" while your customers simply call it the "Mod 822 DOC Electromag".

You can capture a heck of a lot of slang and industry-specific jargon that might not otherwise appear on your product pages. And, if you really sell this inside your company and get the support that's needed, it can gain "authority" status. Then just sit back and watch the links flow in.

[AnthonyCea]

jimbeetle that is a great idea and fantastic post

Everyone is starting forums today, so why not

[atlanta404]

We've talked about posting a forum on our site, but it doesn't appear to be an option at this point...

[shoaib1956]

Originally Posted by atlanta404

We've talked about posting a forum on our site, but it doesn't appear to be an option at this point...

I need PHP Developer help in respect of PHPBB forum! please pm me

[carair]

there are all the usual tricks of mod rewriting and the like to make forums more <snip> attractive to spiders but as more and more search engines are handling dynamic urls (ones with ?s in them) quite happily that's becoming less and less of a consideration.
What is important to making forums useful in SEO terms is syndication. This means displaying all that information <snip> from your forums in a way that will not only attract the search engines, but give them information to digest that they'll like.

[briche]

related to your site. and you can also join SEO forums, but for me. Forums helps for SERP for that i dont think for type of forum. as long as it interesting. i join the forum

[Dan01]

We created a special advertising section on our forum. I don't mind it, as long as it is in that section.

You might want to consider writing articles and posting them on the article sites. They allow links back to your site. There are tons of sites - Google Free website content.

Also write original articles for your site.

[comcorp]

Instead of posting in forums, why don't you try to post your links in business directories? They will provide the link building that we believe you are looking for.

[BuckfastMonk]

Or you could try getting links where the trafiic is it. Business directories can be useful but how many times do you actually visit them?

[comcorp]

Originally Posted by BuckfastMonk

Or you could try getting links where the trafiic is it. Business directories can be useful but how many times do you actually visit them?

Business directories are great for increase pagerank, thus indirectly increasing traffic in the long run as your search results will be higher in results. We think it is great for a long-term strategy.