Internet forums used to be considered a thing of the past, with all the new social media sites being the latest buzz and craze since the early 2000′s.  Most people thought those old BBCode ugly, square looking forums were dead, and they may be right.

But new forums are back and taking control of almost 20% of the social media market today.

The difference is in that the internet forums of today often take new shapes and designs, but truly they are still the same old post and answer setup forums.  Yahoo answers has grown exponentially, now being a major force in Google search results as well.  People are starting to return to forum use and are loving the old style of quick navigation. Which has offered a lot of opportunity for new social media websites to capitalize and develop new, better optimized message forum sites. Many experts are claiming that the return of the “bulletin board”, is only back because users are becoming more technically inclined and are probing deeper into conversations and communities through the web.

Google has improved their search results for message forums:

• Higher click through rates from Google into message forums since update
• Better integration of multiple topics with dates
• TIME SENSITIVE – keywords that are affected by the ‘freshness update’ have forum results ranking high

Google's new forum search results

Message Boards, “Forums” and Google’s Current Algorithm:

• Many older forums carry strong page rank with Google
• Look for higher quality forums and new message style social media boards to participate in
• Signature and profile links show that you are engaging with the community
• Frequent updates on forums show consistency and good for freshness update

Signature Links:

• Can give SEO benefits toward your rankings
• Use smart anchor text keywords, mix them up often
• Don’t spam posts, it’s better to post regularly overtime
• Add up to 2 signatures
• Stay in forums that are relevant to your links

SEO Tips for Forums:

• Still worth some weight toward rankings
• Don’t spam forums, post regularly and add quality contributions
• Visit and post in forums that are relevant to your niche, market and keywords

Forums are still a great way to build your authority and reputation online, contribute at a consistent basis to see your influence grow steadily.  If you already have a blog running, time to step it up and make sure your expertise is becoming known. Just answering questions and truly helping people online, will gain you some followers and credibility as well.