Promotion?

Right Side Forum has been in development for over a year. It has had more revamps than you would ever believe. However throughout this process, we always knew in the back of our minds the biggest test would be promoting the site. We've been going now for two weeks, and we have 126 members at the time of writing to show for it. This isn't a bad start.

None of us have any experience with promoting websites and it is proving time consuming and difficult to say the least. We know who our target audience is, which of course is a must. Here is a list of what we have been doing to promote the site:

- Link exchanges. The Internet is full of blogs and we have made contact with hundreds of conservative bloggers to exchange links. You will note the result in terms of our growing 'Blog Roll' on the home page. In terms of our Google ranking, this really hasn't improved at all, although we perhaps don't expect it to for some time. But we have no problem with exchanging links with like minded sites. They are specifically targeted and was something we planned to do either way so it turn out we are killing two birds with the same stone!

- Facebook. Social networking sites are new to us but is something that is proving to be an invaluable resource. We have set up a profile although in retrospect it probably should have been a group, but we'll live on learn! Facebook allows users to set up 'groups' for all sorts of causes. This again has allowed us to reach our target audience. We have over 100 'friends' on Facebook. A fair few of them have been over to the site since.

- Google. Google is your friend. Well, perhaps not currently, but it is the best resource out there for tips. We have found sites like the Open Directory Project which does exactly what it says on the tin. The Internet is full of places to advertise your site without the need for spam.

- Other Forums/Blogs. This method has been surprisingly effective. The RSF team have naturally always had an interest in blogs and forums of a political nature. So commenting on other forums and blogs also can help us kill two birds with the same stone. Our admin team can go about their normal Internet business in commenting on other forums and blogs, whilst at the same time promoting our site with user names that match the site name and in the case of forums, providing a link in the profile and profile signature.

- Bookmarking sites. Everybody has heard of Digg. Digg is just of one of many of these types of site. For example, we have accounts on Newsvine and Digg amongst others. Again the trick for us is to not just link to articles, but where given even the hint of an opportunity - PROMOTE your site. We like to talk about what we offer that is unique, because the 'just another forum' feeling will get us nowhere.

- Persistence. We have had the pleasure of talking to numerous other 'experts' and owners of other successful websites. The key theme has been being persistent. We have a team that ensures we can be 'active' pretty much everyday. We are also determined having devoted probably hundreds of hours and a lot of money into the site. This is an added incentive. For that reason alone, we are going nowhere and intend on sticking it out. By believing we have something unique to offer, we are confident eventually we will get to the stage promotion will take care of itself. This is probably a long way off however.

- New ideas. Finally, it is no good to get into a 'routine' habit. You can't rely on reaching the quantity of people you need to each day if you're only targeting the same web sites and using the same tactics. We are constantly looking for new ideas to get the message out. We can't rely on search engines, so our only option is to look for ways to get the RSF name out there!

None of those things are difficult. Anybody with a website and a keyboard can do them. We have done all that and have 126 members in two weeks to show for it. We're not quite sure if that is 'good' but it is a start. It is that time of year, not everybody is particularly interested in this sort of thing at the moment, next year is a big political year for the world in the US presidential elections and of course in the UK local elections. There will be an enormous membership drive next year, but laying the foundations early is a sensible idea nevertheless.

If anybody has any other suggestions, feel free to share them....

Best wishes

RSF admin team.