I’ve started a few threads at three forums that I involved in regarding the practices of buying forum and blog posts to increase website traffic. You can follow my threads in DigitalPoint.com, SitePoint.com, and Webmaster-Talk.com.
As you may already know, traffic is the life blood of your website – no traffic, no blood, no life.
Some ‘mainstream’ methods of traffic building are:
- Creating worthwhile content that will attract visitors in itself
- Do blog commenting and forum posting
- Whenever possible, offer newsletter
- Do social bookmarking and link exchange (or fave exchange or etc.)
In those mainstream methods themselves, there are some unethical practices along the way – especially in social bookmarking. Trading StumbleUpon (I stumble your blog if you stumbled mine), Technorati (I fave you if you faved me), etc – all are too generic, although they do generate some traffic.
But, it’s not social bookmarking that I want to discuss about.
It’s buying forum posts and blog posts to increase website traffic.
For forum or blog owners
You see, some forum and blog posts you see while you stumbling across the Net are actually a professional work – That is, a forum/blog owner pays a sum of money, usually per post basis, for someone to post about something related to the owner’s forum/blog. The service providers are usually being asked not only to post, but to initiate useful conversation in the forums or blogs they involved in.
The end result expected is to boost forum/blog visitors involvement in the conversation.
For website/blogs owners promoting theirs in forums and blogs
That’s from the owner point of view. Another practice is, in example, for me to promote my blog, Noobpreneur.com, through forums posting and blog commenting – i.e. I pay someone a sum of money for him/her to mention my blog while he/she posts in forums and comments in blogs.
The end result expected is for forums/blogs visitors to join the conversation, and along the way, see your ‘ads’ or site links that are usually placed as signature line.
Are they ethical?
The question is, are those practices ethical? Here are some good answers from the threads I started (edited for length purpose):
“If the posts are relevant to your forum topic, and are of some reasonable quality, then no, there is no ‘ethical’ issue with paying someone to post in your forum.. Just like there is no problem in paying someone to write and article or press release for you… You are paying for content…”
“I think that buying forum posts is absolutely ethical… and if it makes your forum look that much more occupied, then it is a great way to get going. Forums can be tough to start and attract people to. A bubble of content, no matter how you get it, is something that can really help launch it.”
“Of course it’s ethical – it’s a way to get the forum. as nobody likes an empty forum.”
“It is all about the actual traffic to the blog. If the blog has specific traffic that will be interested in your blog, the odds go up that the traffic will actually be worth something. It is for this reason that I don’t buy them.”
“New forums always need a boost, … you may have to pay for your first daily post, it is just as buying traffic from Google or MSN. I consider it ethical as it does not breach any established marketing or SEO rules. There are other such services where people pay writers for their writing – blogs, pay per post, articles, reviews, ratings, press release and news features and stories – just to list a few. It can not be ethical these other services to pay for a writers work, but becomes unethical for forums to do the same.”
“If you’re just starting out i think its OK, but if you already have an established community and you want to boost it i think thats unethical.”
“Technically people are being paid to entertain. The only real difference between the people who are paid to post and the actors which the same people who complain about paid posters watch on TV, is the media used.”
“If the blog you are buying the blog post on is in the same niche and have decent traffic itself, then you will get some traffic… Most people buy blog posts for link building purposes, not for driving traffic.”
The conclusion
The Net is people-driven. Whenever the majority of people said that something is acceptable, then it is acceptable. Yes, the Net is governed, but most websites on the Net is governed loosely (the nature of the Internet).
What I am trying to say is, your websites and online business survive as people still have interest in them. And to enhance the people’s interest in your sites, is to use the common practices acceptable by the community.
So back to the question – Is buying forum and blog posts to increase web traffic ethical? According to most posters in my threads – yes. It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.
What about my opinion? I still think it’s unethical. But again, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.
What about the big guys think? Google think it’s unethical – that’s why Google ‘don’t like’ blogs that join paid-to-blog services like Smorty or Pay Per Post. Most Pro Bloggers (authority and famous bloggers on the Net) think it’s unethical, although not deliberately against it.
The Net is free media. It’s based on democracy – the majority rules.
Ivan Widjaya
Buying forum and blog posts
You can find us on 
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The problem with posting on forums like Sitepoint is that many of the responses you’ll get back are from Blog owners themselves, people who know the hardships of maintaining and promoting their own Blog.
I see it as a beneficial partnership between the owner and the visitor. The average user will visit and comment if there is any benefit to them in doing so, whether it to be to get a question answered, put an opinion towards a good article/thread or just because they’re a fan. The only real difference is that the paid person is just doing it because they’re getting paid to do so.
Despite that, visitors like content, and comments are a part of the content. This is where the unethical reasoning comes into play and this is why I would not comment on a page with paid visitors. It’s almost like those really cheesy movies where someone is paid to be someone else’s friend, and in the movies they always find out somehow.
Hi, Mike,
Thanks for sharing your insight… and a good point you have on your cheese movies example :D
It’s sometimes hard to recognize whether a forum or blog poster or commenter is genuine or just do it because he/she is paid to post.
The good news is, visitors do like content – The returning visitors are those who see a forum or blog is ‘genuine and useful enough’ for them to socialise in.
Cheers!
Thanks. If the forms are relative to the topic it would be an advantage to increase the traffic for the web site. This blog is beneficial relating to the form and blog poster.
Hi davidmaxwel,
Thanks for the comment – this blog, indeed, is being helped by the forum and blog poster.
So, thanks to you too, david! :)
Very interesting article – thanks. I don’t thinks it is hugely unethical – because it creates an economy that wouldnt be there otherwise. I don’t think Google spam team would like it though.
Colin,
Thanks for dropping by!
Google knows, I believe… but as long as it’s no hard evidence, Google, I think, will let such practice go… up until the next PR update… If by that time forums’ PR is penalised, like the recent PR penalty on web directories, we then know that Google don’t like such practice :)
Cheers!
What will you say about the traffic boosters like http://www.increasesiterating.com?
Gruh,
Traffic building services, IMO, are effective for sites that rely on organic traffic heavily. It’s not effective for blogs, though.
Regarding ethical stand point, I see it as ‘black hat’ ethical – basically you play the search engine game that won’t affect the site visitors – site visitors will see your site is important if they think the content is useful, not on what ways you use to attract visitors.
I am here at a forum newcomer. Until I read and deal with the forum.
Let’s learn!
gyncHypegem,
Forums are good to learn about almost everything really. If you join Webmasters forums, you can learn a great deal about Internet business, SEO and Webmaster issues.