It’s a social world now a-days, with people spending more time in forum’s, discussion groups and in their email program. Did you know that each of these places can send free traffic to your web site ?

If you read any posts in a forum or joined in a conversation in a discussion group, I know you have seen them, those small blurbs at the bottom of each post. Perhaps you just didn’t know how to create them. In this article, I will show you exactly how to build them. From now on, every time you post or reply on a forum, a mini ad will display, directing web visitors to your site.

I guess I don’t have to tell you that *good copy* is important, however, discussion of what good copy techniques are — is a little outside the scope of this post.

Just the mechanics first.

HTML Version

A signature line can look like anything you want, but a Heading, Description and Link are pretty standard. I will use those for these examples. And before you send in comments about my *good copy*, please know that I am just using simple phrases to demonstrate my point.

Some forum’s or bulletin boards allow HTML, and some require BBCode. Don’t panic. It’s really not hard and they are pretty similar.

<strong>Stop Buying Leads And Start Attracting Prospects</strong>
My free videos will show you how to become the <strong>Hunted</strong>,
rather than the <strong>Hunter</strong>.<br/>
<a href="http://Recommended.byCenay.com/stop-buying-leads">Help me stop buying leads</a>

This is what the ad looks like *in real life*.

Stop Buying Leads And Start Attracting Prospects
My free videos will show you how to become the Hunted , rather than the Hunter .
Help me stop buying leads

I guess I forgot to put my name in it, as would be proper in any signature line, but I did that on purpose. (I tend to *sign my name* without even thinking about it, so I didn’t want my name shown twice, which would look down right silly, or perhaps even worse, a bit egotistical).

BBCode Version

The BBCode is slightly different. Basically, there are only three major differences.

  • BBCode uses square brackets ( [ ] ), instead of angle brackets { < > )
  • BBCode doesn’t require the quotes around the web addresses
  • BBCode uses “b” for bold, not “strong”

Otherwise, they are almost identical. Here is that exact same ad, written in BBCode.


[b]Stop Buying Leads And Start Attracting Prospects[/b]
My free videos will show you how to become the [b]Hunted[/b], rather than the [b]Hunter[/b].
[url=http://Recommended.byCenay.com/stop-buying-leads]Help me stop buying leads[/url]

Standard Practices

I probably don’t have to say this, but I will. It’s generally acceptable to have 1 or 2 links in your *sig line*, but frowned upon to have more. Obviously, there are acceptions, but it’s a good rule of thumb.

It’s also acceptable (and might be preferable) to actually display the URL as the final line. If you are in a forum where the members might be printing out the content and sharing it with others, you should show the URL. Clickable links are great, but the address doesn’t print if they send it to the printer.

Yep, you lose a little *link love* when your anchor text doesn’t contain your keywords, but if the content is *likely* to be printed more often than not, show your links.

To do this, just replace the link text with the actual address.

Hope this helps. Drop me a note if you have any other questions.

About The Author

Cenay Nailor offers Online Marketing and Personal Branding Tips and Insights

Cenay Nailor is an Online Marketing and Blogging coach with mad technical skills she loves sharing with Videos. Visit her video tutorial blog and get some technical help. You should also snag the weekly injection of Tech-Based Marketing Newsletter, and have it sent right to your inbox. (Upper right corner)


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