Starting a New Forum w/ PPC Traffic Alone

Status
Not open for further replies.

toolohen

Banned
May 30, 2007
367
4
0
I've just purchased my vBulletin license and I want to turn ppc traffic into forum members.

Should I use keywords with the term "forum" in them? (eg. acne forum, acne zeno forum, acne proactiv forum, etc.) or should I use regular keywords like (eg. acne, acne zeno, acne proactiv etc.) WITHOUT the term "forum"

I will of course put "forum" in my ad text, but in the case of keywords should I target people who are specifically using the term "forum" in their search (eg. acne forum, acne zeno forum, acne proactiv forum, etc.) or should I target people who just type regular search terms (eg. acne, acne zeno, acne proactiv etc.)

Does anyone have any experience with this which one converts to visitors becoming registered members and which one just wasted money.
 


well, logically, someone searching for "acne proactive forum" is going to convert 100 times better than someone searching for "acne proactive treatment"

So should you only promote "acne proactive forum" ...I think the answer is no, you should promote using both keywords, but closely track the conversion rates on each, and bid accordingly.

Lets say you calculate your lifetime value of each new forum member @ $5 ...so you would bid according to what you value each new forum member at and just make sure you are keen on your tracking for which keywords are converting at what rate.

So in a nutshell, bid high on "acne forum" and bid low on "acne"

Got it?
 
I would assume there is very low search volume for "keyword forum" (only the most web-savvy people actually search with that phrase) and there's likely also low natural competition for that phrase. You could probably get top ranking pretty easily for that with little effort, so you'll probably find that you don't need to bid on those phrases.

That said, we have played with PPC forum traffic in the past. My best advice is to stick with research words and stay far away from 'buying' keywords. You'll end up wasting a ton of cash. Avoid buy, discount, cheap, free, etc.

I wouldn't start a forum via PPC traffic, but it's your money. :D Make sure to let us know how it goes!
 
I would assume there is very low search volume for "keyword forum" (only the most web-savvy people actually search with that phrase) and there's likely also low natural competition for that phrase. You could probably get top ranking pretty easily for that with little effort, so you'll probably find that you don't need to bid on those phrases.

That said, we have played with PPC forum traffic in the past. My best advice is to stick with research words and stay far away from 'buying' keywords. You'll end up wasting a ton of cash. Avoid buy, discount, cheap, free, etc.

I wouldn't start a forum via PPC traffic, but it's your money. :D Make sure to let us know how it goes!

i wouldn't either. GL!
 
I guess it boils down on the quality of the OP's forum. If the traffic he gets from PPC would see reasons to join in his forum, then the campaign would really pay off. Just make sure you have a lively and active forum to offer.

It is also best you post on other similar niche forum to promote your site. You could do a contest and offer a prize to make it more enticing for your visiors to register. A contest like "2000th poster wins blah blah blah" - ofcourse you need to mention that majority of the contestant posts should be relevant to the discussions. Best of luck! ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.