Bj aka Bill Brown   Hosting and Backup Service...
In part one I covered setting up your presence in APSence. The next step is to expand your presence around the Internet and at the same time build your personal network here.

One of the ways you can do this is by the correct use of forums.

Preparation.


I recommend that the first thing to do is create a signature file ready to use when signing up to forums for those that allow it or if you are already a member then you can use the edit profile to add or change your signature file.


By preparing it first all you will have to do is copy and paste it when you need it.

Here again a word of caution.

Make sure that when you join any forum you read the rules, sometimes referred to as AUP (Acceptable User Policy) or more commonly the TOS (Terms Of Service)

Some allow a signature file but do not allow urls to be used in them. Breaking these rules will sooner or later (more often sooner) get you kicked out.

You can prepare a signature file and keep it in a text file or word Document on your PC so that you only have to copy and past it when you are filling in you profile.

Most forums use UBB code and the majority limit the signature file to 255 characters.

Personally I use word as it has the word count tool, which you can find on the menu under tools.

An example of a signature file with UBB code.

Bj

LCW
eRH
P4P
APSence
Free ebook

This signature consists of 253 characters (spaces included) above is what you would see when posted, and below is the coding.

Bj
LCW
[url=href="http://www.eresourceheaven.com]eRH[/url]
P4P
APSence
Free ebook

Once this has been added to your profile in the forums you join then each post you make will have links to your sites, which not only other members of the forum will see but the search engines will pick up when they spider the site.

There is however a right and a wrong way to use forums. As you may have noticed in my opening I used the term "correct use of forums"

Let us first look at the wrong way.

If you dive into a forum and start advertising and posting silly one line answers like "good post" or "thank you for the information" etc just to get your signature file shown then you are not helping yourself, you are in fact doing yourself a great deal of damage.

If you run around like a kid in a free sweet shop posting identical posts in every thread you can find you are not only going to end up in trouble with other members you are also going to get in trouble with the administration. On top of this, search engines frown on duplicate content and again this will do your identity serious damage.

So what is the right way?

When you join a forum read first see what people are talking about find out what you can make posts on to contribute good content to a thread. You should not just read the first post then dive in and post an answer. First read the thread through see what others have said. No one likes a parrot, so if the answer you were going to give is already there, then rethink your answer and if you can add more to the answer(s) already given then by all means do so. If not, but it is a subject you know about, then track the thread, see how it develops and you will find the right opportunity to make constructive and helpful replies.

If you want to ask questions formulate them in a way that is adding content.

Don't post "How do I do that".

Post something like "I am interested in what you have said about "xyz" but I am not sure how to do it. Can you give me some more information and explain "xyz" in more detail.

Or

"I have tried doing "xyz" but it didn't work for me. Can you give me some guidelines so I can figure out why it didn't work and help me to get it to work?

Spend a couple of weeks getting to know others and helping them where you can to establish yourself as an asset to the forum. Then when you make a thread about something you have a greater chance of getting interaction going and so establishing yourself even more.

Also remember that a steady build up is better than a sudden rush of posts promoting yourself and what you are doing. Yes this takes time but it is time well spent when you do it right.

Blogging

Another method of expanding your presence is the use of blogs.

This is something I am still getting my head around so I am not going to go into it in great detail. You can find other groups that are covering Blogs far better than I ever could. I will however recommend one I am experimenting with which is BizzyBlogs. This is free to join and the owners are great people that I have the honor to call my friends.

Search engines love blogs and they are constantly crawling them so you can again use these to your advantage by regularly posting good unique content.

Here again the same warnings apply as for everywhere. Don't go posting irrelevant comments on people’s blogs just to get your signature file on there. It probably wont do any good anyway as most blogs now use the html "NOFOLLOW" command in comment posts.

This tells search engines to ignore the url that has been posted. This was implemented because of the amount of abuse and spamming that was, and still is, being posted in blogs all over the Internet. Many blogs also now require the owner to authorize any comments that are posted as a second safeguard against spamming.

To be continued

Bj

Feed back welcome
Jun 6th 2007 01:22