Best method(s) of promotion?

[markblair]

So, what are some suggestions for promoting a website? Specifically a forum. I have a site which hasn't really grown too much in the short time it's been online. I'm looking to get more attention to the site. I don't want to go in the direction of popups or popunders but was wondering what methods work the best.

I've been working on the search engines (although no results yet that I can tell :() and have visited other similar sites. There are a few links posted elsewhere but nothing major. I don't mind paying (a small fee) as long as it's a non-spammy method and something that has a good chance at getting results. I know there are no guarantees.

Any and all suggestions are greatly welcome. :)

[Toolz]

Looking at some of the success stories I've seen in the business forums ("sites for sale" related), it seems like paying for targetted hits is the way to go.

Are you talking about the sites in your sig? What are the PRs?

Make sure you always have something fresh on the first page. Not just diving straight into a forum. (I like seochat.com)

Don't flog the SEO thing though. I think people prefer to just stumble on forums in a serendipitous way. How about visitng as many blogs (and forums) as possible and making a few intelligent comments/posts. That should get people clicking through if they see a comment by "Making Life Harder" and it looks potentially topical.

And of course for that type of forum it's easy to get the local paper to interview you... Or you could arrange to give a presentation somewhere local. Something active like that. Stamp your personality on it.

[markblair]

Toolz, thanks for the reply. Funny you mentioned a few things that have some stories behind them. :)

The site I'm most interested in getting the word out is userintervention.com. It does go right to a forum however I will be creating a site with other helpful resources (computer related) using the .net of the same domain. It isn't fully functional yet but that's what eventually will happen. I've been to a few other sites here and there and probably should visit more often. Some have given me visitors but no signups. :( I know in time it will happen and I'm in no immediate rush. Just curious on what I can do to get it moving even a little faster.

As for the targeted hits, I want to stay away from that if at all possible. I don't want anyone to think of my site as "that one in popups" or being sent via forced advertising. I might be wrong about the way that works but at least that's how I am familiar with it.

As for Making Life Harder, you'd be surprised how much I can't even buy attention for that site. I've sent letters to local news agencies and even sent out a "press release" of sorts to about 50 talk radio stations earlier this year. While I can't guarantee that nobody talked about the site, I certainly didn't get extra hits by doing that. It's interesting how little people want to pick up on something like that.

[Chicken]

Originally posted by Toolz:

And of course for that type of forum it's easy to get the local paper to interview you...
I've been waiting for the local paper to interview me, but the L.A. Times is apparently disinterested. :cry:

[Toolz]

You guys are so funny :) If the local paper won't interview you then move...! ;)

[Spencer]

Whatever you do don't try Overture or AdWords. Those are proven time and time again not to work for forums.

[markblair]

Originally posted by Spencer:

Whatever you do don't try Overture or AdWords. Those are proven time and time again not to work for forums. Thanks for the tip. I don't have plans to add any type of ads for other companies yet to the forums. Not sure if I ever will. If anything is added, it would be placed on the userintervention.net site which still isn't running yet so I'm not going in that direction.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still hammering away and trying a few things here and there.