Read the following excerpt from my book ‘The NZ Small Business Superhero’s Marketing Handbook’ to find out how having a Q&A forum on your site can help your business...
Once a business has established an active community around their website it might be possible to establish an active forum, but in the meantime there are more manageable options.
So, what is a forum and how does it differ from a blog? A forum differs from a blog in that anyone (usually restricted to members) can make a post on a forum, whereas only the blogger can make a post on a blog. In most blogs and forums, commenting is open to all with access.
Posts are divided into categories so after a while an active forum can develop into a multi-faceted discussion within a particular area.
A more realistic option for a small business is what is known as a question and answer forum, or Q&A forum. In many ways, this is an interactive version of the traditional FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.
In other words, you set up on a page a number of frequently asked questions, with their answers, divided into categories. You then add the capability for users to complete a form asking their own question.
When you receive these questions, you not only send a personal reply with the answer, thereby providing a valuable service, but you add the question and answer to an ever growing archive of content on your website.
This is a very useful way of engaging your readers to continually add content to your site. It also provides a useful service to your website visitors, as well as increasing your presence in the search engines for more and more keyworded content.
To read more, you can purchase my book ‘The NZ Small Business Superhero’s Internet Marketing Handbook’ by clicking here.
