Print media is very expensive these days. All small magazine ad in a well published magazing could easily cost you upwards of $500 a month. That could be for an add the size of 2″ x 1″. A full page ad can cost thousands monthly. So, should we disregard major print media as a possible source of advertising? Try this alternative instead.

If you have a forum providing excellend discussions and information that people are in need of, spend some time accumulating a list of print media contacts in your field. So if you have a computer related forum, build a list of contacts from computer related publications. Try to find the email addresses of writers, which is normally quite simple to do. After you compile a decent list of maybe 20-50 email addresses, write a BRIEF yet compelling email that you can send out to these writers. Obviously most attempts will be ignored, but it may only take one for you to get some free advertising. Maybe you can build a relationship with a writers and be used as a future source of information.

I mention this only because I have seen it happen first hand and with several that I work with. I wish you all the best!

As most of you now know Google Analytics is freely available. With more than 243,000 sign ups within the first week, you can really see a value in a true “analytics” program such as this. Urchin already had a real name in the analytics marketplace and their developers, teamed with Google’s people made a truly amazing product here.

So, do you as a forum admin really need this much information? I sure think so! Google analytics will share bits of information, such as Geo tracking, that good ole webalizer and awstats only dreamed of doing. If you have plans of doing a bit of advertising through Google Adwords, I strongly advise you to use the ROI tracking utility with Google Analytics.

From Google.Com:

Integrated with AdWords.
If you have an AdWords account, you can use Google Analytics directly from the AdWords interface. Google Analytics is the only product that can automatically provide AdWords ROI metrics, without you having to import cost data or add tracking information to keywords. Of course, Google Analytics tracks all of your non-AdWords initiatives as well.

Implementation Made Easy.
Simply paste the Google Analytics tracking code into each of your website pages and tracking begins immediately. No purchase process. No need to download anything. If you don’t edit your own site, your webmaster, designer, or hosting provider can probably do it for you in under five minutes.

It is safe.
Google takes the trust people place in us very seriously, and is pledged to safeguard the privacy of your corporate data. We understand that web analytics data is sensitive information, so we accord it the ironclad protection it deserves. Read our industry leading privacy policy.

For the typical forum admin, search engine marketing is a foreign concept. The what-to-do’s and what-not-to-do’s are but a blur. I have found a thread worth checking out and following. It depicts the common SEO (search engine optimization) myths, the things you have heard work but really don’t. I hope this thread is helpful. With insight in to these SEO myths, maybe the blurred vision will be a bit more clear.