Information that is posted on Yahoo! Answers is non-exclusive and royalty-free; it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world and published in a variety of formats. Any type of question can be asked and answered, and each posting is indexed appropriately.Users can simply enter questions and answers in a simple text box and use as many resources to link within their responses.
The key to generating traffic through Yahoo! Answers is to understanding how to make Yahoo! Answers work for you. It lies in creating a profitable set of answers for people to review. To build traffic, you'll need to post questions and answers, and make sure every contribution stays within the community guidelines. It's also important that you learn how to work within each niche community that you participate in. It'll be useless, for example, to post in groups and provide feedback on items that are not relevant to your business.
Your objective is to provide a valuable response to people who are asking questions that will not only encourage them to listen to you and possibly visit your site, but also give other users a chance to see what you're promoting.
For the best results, keep in mind the following key steps:
1. Read other responses and prompts carefully; look for details that you can elaborate on
2. Provide supportive arguments and references, not just your opinion. Make sure you are including references and sources as you need them
3. Quote other blogs or websites accurately and appropriately; give credit to the right party!
4. Search for balanced replies
5. Refrain from attacking people, and always provide quality, positive messages and posts
Earning a respectable position on Yahoo! Answers takes time, and you won't get anywhere by posting unrelated items and topics on a random subjects. You'll want to spend a fair amount of time narrowing down your niche, and finding relevant topics to work within. After creating some valuable responses and posting them to the site, just wait for other users to find you. When they see your active and valuable participation, they'll be more likely to review your information themselves. As a Yahoo! Answers participant, you'll start to earn respect from other community members which in turn will give you more freedom to answer questions on an ongoing basis.
All discussion forums have limits and Yahoo! Answers is no different. However, there are different ways to increase your online exposure. The idea is to help others while helping yourself; you must provide valuable information on a consistent basis in order to reap the rewards of your work.
If you are promoting a specific product, make sure you follow all rules and guidelines on how to add affiliate links. Whenever possible, position a special discount or offer to only a select group of visitors. A word-of-mouth recommendation is one of the most powerful tools for any product or service that you might be interested in promoting. If you can encourage users to participate in a forum or discussion forum that promotes your product, you will have a significant advantage over your competitors.
When you are creating a strategy that makes use of online discussion forums and social interaction participation, it can be helpful to look at the larger scope of your internet marketing strategy as well. There are essentially five levels of the sales process involved when selling or promoting your product. Whether it's a product or service, having an online presence will be critical to your long-term success and can help you create a steady stream of customers simply out of referrals. Add the component of Yahoo! Answers as a tool to generate interest, and you'll be helping drive traffic to your site and successfully close that sale!
Okay, that's today's traffic generation idea. Stay tuned for tomorrow's.
Until then,
Terry
