One of the easiest ways to market your website without having to consciously think about it is to add a signature on forums you already participate in. Not only will it appear more natural and less spammy than link dropping, but it also has the potential to continue bringing you traffic long after you leave a forum.
As you post helpful information, your link gets scattered among the forums below each of your posts. Not every person will click your link, of course, but even just one makes it worth putting in a little effort to have a catchy signature attached. What if that one visitor becomes your biggest referrer or sales conversion?
You may have to dig around in the settings a little as each forum is slightly different but most forums will have a very similar way to edit your signature. If it’s too confusing, chances are, there is a sticky or announcement on the board somewhere so look around.
Also, make sure to read any rules regarding signatures before you start loading it up with links or you could get in trouble. The last thing you want to do is join a new forum, add a spammy-looking link, and potentially wind up banned or with a bad reputation. Remember, you are there to represent your site, your brand, and most importantly yourself, so don’t get off on the wrong foot. To get started, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Click “User Control Panel.” This could also be called “User CP” or “Your Settings” on other forums. Sometimes it may be found in a sidebar or at the bottom of the page even, but most admins keep it toward the top so it is easy to find.
Step 2: Click “Profile” on the left-hand side. Sometimes you can skip straight to Step 3, or it may say “Edit your profile.”
Step 3: “Edit Signature” is the option you’re looking for. This is also a good time to “edit avatar” to add a personalized picture that people can relate to and toss in some details about yourself. Again, be honest and sincere. This should be about yourself and not look like a résumé or sales pitch.
Step 4: Add your signature!
To add a text link, you have to use some BBCode. To make it easy, copy/paste this into the box and just switch in your details:
”Any words, quotes, descriptions you want to use that aren't part of the link [url=http://www.yourwebsiteaddress.com]What you want the link to say[/url]”
So for example, here’s what I might have in the text box for mine:
”Do you love playing with your food? I sure do! [i][u][url=http://www.quirkycookery.com]Quirky Cookery[/url][/u][/i]”
And it comes out looking like this:
Do you love playing with your food? I sure do! Quirky Cookery
Once you get the hang of it, you can change the colors or font (like I did by using [u] to signal I wanted it underlined and the [i] for italics). Don’t get too crazy or you’ll annoy your fellow forum buddies instead of enticing them to check out your site.
Occasionally forums will allow picture banners in signatures as well. Make sure your image follows all the size restrictions listed in the rules, upload it to your site or another photo storage site, and then use [img][/img] tags around the banner. Be sure to hit “preview” to see how it looks before saving.
And there you have it. You can usually copy/paste your signature code from one forum to another, so you could easily bump up your marketing skills in a matter of minutes across several sites without any hassle at all. Then, carry on posting like you normally would and see how many people follow you back to your website.
