Newsgroups and discussion groups can present a great opportunity to increase traffic to your website through participation and advertising. The problem is, people rarely appreciate advertising on their favorite newsgroups or pay attention to signatures at the end of participants' messages. Being perceived as a spammer can really hurt your website's reputation, so how can you get the most out of this popular medium?
The most acceptable solution is to participate in newsgroups and discussion lists which deal with the subject of your website. By including your signature file (with a one-line message advertising your website), you can accumulate a reputation for knowledge, and people will visit your website. It's a great way to attract traffic interested in your site's content. These visitors will be more likely to buy your products or services or click on your banner advertisements than visitors responding to an advertisement.
The "most acceptable" method of attracting traffic through newsgroups also takes an incredible amount of time and effort to start working. It also limits your audience, since few people have time to keep up with more than one newsgroup or discussion list. But in newsgroups and discussion lists, small organizations have the advantage - the most knowledgeable people in the organization can participate in discussion lists, allowing individually prepared marketing messages to appear as signatures on their postings.
Participating in newsgroups and discussion lists is great, but you probably still want to advertise in the lists you don't have time to participate in. The good news is that you can advertise in many discussion lists and newsgroups. The bad news is you have to take the time to discover what each newsgroup will allow:
Read the FAQ. It should be listed regularly on the newsgroup and
archived somewhere. Check Dejanews if you don't see it after a week or so.
Check what sort of messages are posted to the newsgroup, and how
many there are. Don't advertise on newsgroups which consist entirely of
advertisements, or newsgroups with no postings.
Be sure to tailor your marketing message to the list it will appear
on. People will be less angry if your message speaks directly to them,
answering their needs. (Not to mention more likely to respond!)
Don't list a message simultaneously on multiple newsgroups. Yes,
it's faster, but the more newsgroups you send copies to, the more you look
like a spammer.
Don't ignore a discussion list or newsgroup because it is
moderated. Check the rules for submission, and email the moderator with your
marketing message, including the reasons you think her audience will benefit
from the message and how it pertains to her topic. If your message is
posted, it will receive a better response than on unmoderated groups.
Only post advertisements to newsgroups and discussion lists which have a topic related to your website, or are of significant interest to your target audience. For example, if you have a National Park Trail Guide, post it to newsgroups and discussion lists on camping, hiking, and wildlife likely to be found in the parks you cover. Don't send a message to the Wolves newsgroup unless you have a trail guide to parks near Canada.
Make sure your marketing messages include your website address and a reason for people to visit. Tell people what you want them to do: visit your website, bookmark it, and/or tell their friends about it. Just make sure you type the full URL (http://www.yourdomain.com) without punctuation. Punctuation usually breaks your link.
Some marketers suggest posting regularly. What they don't say is that if you do, you need to post a different message. People will get annoyed if they repeatedly see the same message. If they didn't respond the first time, they certainly won't when they see it again.
If you can come up with new reasons for people to visit your website, post one every few weeks, or once a month. Preferably include announcements of new content, new subjects, new ezines or discussion lists you are starting, or significant changes in the presentation of your website.
Choose the newsgroups and discussion lists you participate in carefully. They should be interesting and informative to you, and give you the opportunity to show off your expertise. For other lists relevant to your website audience, advertise responsibly and you may get an extraordinary response.
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