But is it wise to add forums to your website?

On pro side, large, active forums generate content for your website. They add a "sticky" element as most people come back, at least to monitor developments on their threads. Some forum software allows members to opt to receive an email whenever someone replies to their thread. Most people use it and that automated email sends them right back to forum and therefore, your web site.

However, forums can take a long time to pick up and an empty forum can actually drive new visitors away. You need to constantly monitor your forums to make sure that they are clean of spam, troll posts, and just keep everything in order. In addition, forums are database-type applications that generate web pages on fly. Every time a user views a page, it's being created from scratch. As forums become more active, this can take a heavy load on web server's resources and ultimately increase your hosting costs.

A forum is an incredible tool for building content and a community but it's not a task to be undertaken lightly; it requires a lot of time and energy and some technical knowledge (or a tech budget!)

If your industry has a need, or your product has a loyal following, a forum is a great tool to build content while drawing like-minded individuals together. A forum is great for market research, technical support, building a fan base, trading ideas and knowledge, and many, many other benefits. Try to get a base of people from similar business or industry experts to post at your forum. It's exposure for them and helps to build a solid foundation for your information.

If you decide to start a forum, be sure to use one that is search-friendly, such as www.InvisionBoard.com or www.phpbb.com, and set aside a good chunk of time to promote it and administer it.

For more information about how to establish and maintain online relationships with your viewers and customers, get a copy of our guide “Building Online Relationships” available here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_4.html

Feedback Unsolicited feedback is a powerful and convincing tool! Let your customers tell other customers why they love you. It's much more compelling than your own claims. Unfortunately, customers normally need to be asked for their opinion. You can ask for feedback on any area of your business, your web site, your ordering process, your levels of customer service, your delivery service, etc.

The easiest way is to simply set up a form to allow customers to submit their feedback. Keep it fairly brief and allow a space for comments. You can then use information provided to improve your customer experience, and with permission, publish ones you choose.

Often other web site owners that are also customers of users of your web site can be enticed to write a review or testimonial for your site in return for a link back to theirs. This helps them with link popularity but it helps your site as well it shows a real person wrote that review.

Ask The Expert This is a great way of not only interacting with potential customers but also establishing your business as an expert in its field. Using a simple question form or forum software, users submit questions and someone at your company answers them. The Q&A are both published on site for users to read once they are answered in a "knowledge database" or “FAQ” section. This is less time-intensive than a full-blown forum but a great way to keep a finger on pulse of what customers want to know while still adding content on a regular basis.

Summary If you are interested in building loyalty and interest in your company as well as repeat business and you want to get increased traffic from editorial or free listings in search engines, you have to offer more than just sales information to your users. If you create a plan for content that offers value and interest to your customers, you can have a site that is built to sell AND drive repeat business.

For more information about how to establish and maintain online relationships with your viewers and customers, download a copy of our guide “Building Online Relationships” available here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_4.html

Do present issues right away Your visitor wants to know immediately what she/he can find on your site. Keep that in mind when designing your site. Present important issue(s) of your site on first page.

Do use a descriptive title The text for tag "TITLE" should be descriptive. The title shows up in results of search engines. A descriptive title makes clear what people can expect on your site. The title is also shown in history list of browsers.

Do use small pages The World Wide Web is not a book. People don't read it sequentially. They want to select a small piece of info and decide what info they want to read next. So you should provide small pages. Cut long pages in pieces and connect them through hyperlinks.

Do use implicit text for your links Phrases like Click here or Check this link distract from content and are to be avoided. Try to write your text in such a way that a link is a natural part of sentence. Instead of Cyber Logic Host™ :: Cheap Web Hosting, domain registration Click here to visit it; try to write something like Cyber Logic Host™ :: Cheap Web Hosting, domain registration.

Do update your pages Be sure to check your pages on a regular base and to update them if necessary.

Do show date of update You update your pages on a regular basis. Don't you? Make clear to your visitors how recent or (out-)dated your information is. Provide date of last update. And don't forget to change date if you change a page...

Do ask for feedback You can learn from your visitors. Ask for their feedback and give them an e-mail address to reach you.

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