Are Forums Good for SEO? – Everything You Need to Know
Forums can be an excellent way for websites in your industry to interact with customers and potential clients.
In the past, forum comments have been used as a link building technique and there are still debates as to how they can be used within SEO and whether it’s a strategy worth investing in.
In this post, we will explore forums in detail and provide some insights as to whether forums are a good or bad thing when it comes to your SEO strategy.
What is forum posting in SEO?
- What is forum posting in SEO?
- What is the use of forums in SEO?
- How does forum posting in SEO work?
- What are the benefits of forum posting in SEO?
- How to use forums effectively?
- What are forum links?
- Are forums good for SEO?
Forum posting is the process of generating inbound links by participating in online discussion forums.
Source: Big SEO Reddit
One of the most popular types of forums is message boards. You can sign up for these websites and submit topics that others may discuss in order to get feedback on your idea or comment about something happening within their field.
So long as the topic of discussion is relevant to what it is you are offering from your website, forums can be a great way to increase traffic to your website, whether that be via posts or comments on topically relevant discussion boards.
What is the use of forums in SEO?
The use of links in forums was once an effective way to rank well on search engines like Google and Bing. However, forum links also became a way to spam sites and as time has gone on, the value of forum links has reduced as a direct ranking signal.
Although the direct impact of forum links is not what it once was, it can still definitely be used as an effective strategy if executed well enough. They can still be used to drive referral traffic to your website and this is going to have an indirect impact on your search engine ranking performance.
How does forum posting in SEO work?
When it comes to forum posting, there are a number of platforms you can look into to get started.
You will need to sign up in order to begin submitting topics for requests and then you will be able to start creating topics for discussion.
Some of the popular forum discussion sites include:
Yahoo Answers
A question and answer forum owned by Yahoo, allowing users to pose questions and get feedback from its users.
Source: Yahoo Answers
Quora
Quora is a question and answer website where people go to find information. Every piece of content on the site is generated by users, meaning it is created, edited, and organized by the same people that use the website.
Source: Quora
Reddit is a news and web content rating discussion website. Members submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down by other members.
Source: Reddit
Some other popular forums include
- Stackoverflow
- Digital Point Forums
- WarriorForum
- Mylot
- Web hosting talk
- Google Product Forum
Depending on your industry, you may be able to find more niche specific forums where you will be able to make comments to a community of people more likely to be directly interested in what you are offering.
What are the benefits of forum posting in SEO?
There are certainly benefits to being involved with forums. Searching on the Internet will help you find any that relate specifically to your business or topics where expertise can be useful.
By posting regularly and trying to provide as much value as you can to readers interested in your topic will help establish your authority within a particular niche.
You want to avoid spammy links completely and any links that you do build should be relevant and should help answer questions posed by your audience.
How to use forums effectively
- Choose relevant forums – If you want to get the most out of your posts, it is important that you post on related forums. For example, if someone’s post dealt with computer technology and they were posted in a forum about this subject matter then they could make use of other people who are interested in it, providing them with helpful suggestions.
- Choose relevant titles – Your title should be informative and reflect the content of your post. A wrong or irrelevant one could take a reader away from your site.
- Forum guidelines – Every forum has its own registration process and guidelines which you should follow. It helps you gain respect and attract serious and focused readers.
- Add useful links to resources on your website – Although you may not get direct SEO impact from links, it is important to send potential visitors to your website to the right places.
- Avoid duplicate content – Do not copy content and ensure the information you are sharing is unique.
What are forum links?
A forum link is where a backlink is added within a forum post or comment. In the past, forum links had some SEO benefits and website owners could get away with spamming in comments in order to enhance their website ranking. Nowadays, forum links do not hold the same weight.
Most notable forums are managed by moderators and they can quickly identify whether a link is useful or not. If linking back to a website via a forum comment or link, the chances are that the link will be nofollow. This means that no direct SEO value is passed through the link.
However, you can still provide value by adding forum links. If you were to link for instance to a useful resource on your website and the information you provide is genuine, you will help not only your own website by driving users to it but you will also be helping potential customers.
Are forums good for SEO?
When it comes to forums, it is important to understand that although their direct SEO impact may not be what it once was, you can still use this as a way to drive relevant traffic to your website.
If you are able to really understand the kinds of questions and demands your audience have, you can really use online communities as a way to deliver value and enhance your reputation within an industry.
If you have any questions regarding forums, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will answer any questions you have.