Companies posting on forums

[CableGuy]

A lot of our traffic comes from web forums in our sector, and we also have some deals etc with a number.

I know the most popular forums linking to our site, in the form of recommended products etc, can add benefit to our search engine performance.

Thankfully a lot of customers post links to our site on these forums, but if I wanted to reach some customers on other similar forums, what's the best way to do this?

Is it effective, and ethical for that matter, to post anonymously and try and genuinely assist members who may benefit from our products?

Or would it be better to take a different approach, perhaps being open that we are a company, and although we won't 'plug' our products, we're here to help if members have any genuine questions?

 

[fisicx]

Don't do anonymous posts or even register as as new member and hope to get away with it. The moderators of all quality forums are well aware of this tactic and will soon be able check who you are.

Best bet is to post regularly on the forums and if your advice is generally good people will follow your signature links.

Whatever you do, don't promote your products. Even if your advice/products are good, people don't like to have their posts answered with a 'my stuff is what you need click on this link'.

 

[AndyBlack]

Very true. Answer questions well and people will follow your signature link. Just ensure that your signature link is descriptive, as that will be tagged with every 'helpfull' post you make.

Andy

 

[NMHancock]

I echo what fisicx says, don't pretend to be someone your not, people will find out and it could have a negative effect on your brand.
If your advice is useful they will not mind having your branding on the post or a link to your website. They can then choose to just listen to your advice, or browse deeper to see your products/services via your branding.

If you are hiding your connection to the brand and people find out they will start to wonder why you are hiding it and also what else your might be hiding.

Hope this helps,

Neil M Hancock

 

[CableGuy]

Thanks for your replies.

I agree with all your comments - to be honest, we run our company well and we provide great products, so thankfully lots of people do already say good things about us on forums

I may signup to a few forums and contribute, with the link in the signature. This can only help traffic and it'll also hopefully help others as well.

 

[CableGuy]

Quick Q - is it best to register on forums with my normal email, or perhaps set up a webmail one (just to prevent the risk of SPAM etc)?

EDIT: Sorry, silly question! I'll use the email address I use for this forum!

 

[andrevandenburg]

Don't use your personal email because what I've experienced when promoting my site I received a lot of spam even though I hide my email contact.It is better to do a webmail for spam purposes

 

[24x7 Exchange]

It's good practice to have a dedicated webmail account for signing up to stuff like forums, blog comments, to receive free online industry articles etc. Especially when you think that a lot of these forums and social media sites can generate hundreds of emails a day to your account, and that's before the spam! Keep that stuff separate from your professional mailbox.

 

[CableGuy]

It's good practice to have a dedicated webmail account for signing up to stuff like forums, blog comments, to receive free online industry articles etc. Especially when you think that a lot of these forums and social media sites can generate hundreds of emails a day to your account, and that's before the spam! Keep that stuff separate from your professional mailbox.

Will do - thanks

 

[stanneon]

always use anonymous names on forums, there are a lot of bad people around...

 

[Paula Barrett]

The moderators of all quality forums are well aware of this tactic and will soon be able check who you are.

Yes as a moderator, I'd agree - don't do it! We usually always sniff these things out - if anything looks slightly dodgy I'll look into it. And I also try to publicly expose what they've done on the forum to prevent it happening, this can be potentially very embarrassing for your company name.

Doing this is just spamming in my opinion - it's best to sign up and be honest, respond to others questions and talk naturally about your business.

 

[fisicx]

Yes as a moderator, I'd agree - don't do it! We usually always sniff these things out - if anything looks slightly dodgy I'll look into it. And I also try to publicly expose what they've done on the forum to prevent it happening, this can be potentially very embarrassing for your company name.

Off topic (a bit). I moderate on another forum and there are any number of new members to ask a seemingly inncocent question. And guess what, a day later another new member replies with a website that answers the question. And they are both posting from .... the same IP in India. Even better, on some days you have the same question posted by three new members. Needless to say, 99% of these posts never see the light of day - we just let a few through to expose the spammers.

 

[Birmingham]

if I wanted to reach some customers on other similar forums, what's the best way to do this?

get some members of staff to spend a lot of time posting on forums, and building up trusted reputations.

Is it effective, and ethical for that matter, to post anonymously and try and genuinely assist members who may benefit from our products?

it's effective, yes, to some extent. it's also typically somewhat unethical to be deceive or mislead, especially when in the interest of competing for profit, but these are business forums and competitive profit-seeking is typically accepted, as is secrecey, so we can expect ethics to be regularly thrown out of the window.

 

[DarrenC]

Have you thought about leaving comments on blogs within your niche?

Okay, alot of blogs 'no-follow' links in comments, but they can be a great way of attracting new visitors to your website. Give replies to questions and ask your own questions to start a discussion.

 

[JustOneUK]

Is it effective, and ethical for that matter, to post anonymously and try and genuinely assist members who may benefit from our products?

Or would it be better to take a different approach, perhaps being open that we are a company, and although we won't 'plug' our products, we're here to help if members have any genuine questions?

This will interest you CableGuy......

regards
James.

 

[CableGuy]

Thanks for the replies. It all confirms what I initially thought really but good to know that I'm thinking the same way as others