As any online marketing guru will tell you, article writing is a great way of attracting visitors to your Web site. A small little backlink at the end of a powerful article can do wonders to your incoming traffic. But with so much to do just to maintain your Web site, where is the time to write articles every day or at least every week? Don’t worry. That’s a problem that most Web site owners face, and there is a simple solution. Instead of writing 500 to 1000 word articles, you can simply write short 50 to 100 responses to posts on forums and slip-in your backlink with your signature!

The backlinks in your forum responses serve the same purpose as the backlinks in the articles you write but require so much less effort. However, you need to take care of few things when using forums to attract traffic. The most important of these is to make your post as interesting and meaningful as your articles. Many people make the fatal mistake of simply posting links to their blogs or Web sites with messages such as “I recently wrote a blog on XYZ. Check it out at .” Such posts do not really serve any purpose because no reader will be interested enough to click the backlink and reach your Web site or blog. In fact, the forum administrator may decide to delete your post. Worse, such posts put you in danger of being labeled as a SPAMMER.

However, you can avoid such a situation with a simple remedy. Just put a little more thought into your posts and you will get a lot more click through to your Web site or blog. Add a little content to your post. Instead of a cryptic “I disagree” or “I agree” post, add a little more meat to the discussion thread. Explain why you do or do not agree with what is being said. If your post is meaningful, most readers will linger over your post trying to absorb what you are talking about. They may then look at your signature and if your backlink promises something more that is interesting as well as relevant to the thread, chances are that they will click through to your Web site.

A great way of increasing visibility of your backlinks is to write a post that is designed to provoke a response. This doesn’t mean that you post inflammatory or derogatory messages that might get you blocked. It simply means that you choose your side in the ongoing discussion and then write a strong and forceful post explaining your views. For instance, if the discussion is on “Career versus Family” for women, you can choose to take the side of homemakers and write how and why you think a woman should focus on nurturing the family first. Alternatively, you can take the side of the career woman and explain why a woman who cannot live her own dreams can never hope to be a role model for her children. Whichever side you take, forum members who agree with you are likely to scroll down to your signature and then click your backlink to find what you have to say on related subjects on your Web site.

Even if people don’t see eye to eye with you, you have nothing to lose. If your post is interesting enough to merit a response (even a negative one), it may start off a chain of discussions. This in turn helps to keep your thread on the top. The longer your post is on top of the forum, the more visibility your backlink will receive. Most forum owners also let such posts remain on top as they serve as proof of their forum being a true discussion board. The key point here is to take a side and stick to it. The middle path, though practical in real life, is not very rewarding online. Thus, if you extol the virtues of a homemaker and then go on to admire a career woman in the same post, chances are that you will not charge either side enough to want them to click your backlink or post a response.

So, get ready to write witty and barbed posts on a forum. By being creative you can only help your marketing efforts by getting more backlinks and traffic to your website.

Take advantage of the Website Design Network Forum by creating a new thread or posting your comments now.