Blog Tipz

The signature is an extremely powerful thing that says a lot about you as a person and your blog as a part of your business or company, if you are working towards larger goals. Despite the fact that blogs are largely taking over forums as the premier way to communicate with other people – not that there still aren’t popular, successful forums – the signature remains as one of the best ways to communicate with people.

Much like a business card, a signature, travels with you, whether in a forum, an email message, or blog post can say the following:

• What type of person you are by what you have included in the message, if anything.
• Where you are located and the best methods of communicating with you other than the site/location the person found you at, such as a Twitter profile, social networking site, other personal site, or directly through email.
• It tells readers that you are open to communicate. When you don’t include a message in your signature area, you are much less likely to ever receive contact from someone who may be interested in working with you, advertising on your site, or simply getting in contact with you for any other purpose.

Why You Shouldn’t Avoid Forum/Email Signatures

Social networks and personal blogs have largely become the forums of five years ago. Now, we mainly communicate with others through our personal profiles and chatting, without as much email, per se. Most commonly, not taking advantage of the signature area will be a major loss for both you and the person or company you are trying to contact.

Different details, whether sending from an incorrect email address, using a company name versus a personal name, or other small factor can show up when sending an email or contacting people. For this reason, it is better to have an email signature that tells the people you send emails to and contact who you are, where you can be found, and the best method for contacting you. Someone who sees these details won’t have to hesitate if they think a reply won’t be addressed to the right person or email address.

Another major purpose of signatures is to help promote yourself and your brand. The more times you can get your brand in front of people, the more times people see your site’s address, and the more often people associate your brand or your offerings with your name, the easier it will be for them to find you on the web and on profiles that you might not have directly linked to your site. While this may appear a bit extensive (especially for someone that not many people “follow”), the more references to your name on the web, the more likely someone will be able to find you should they also have a profile on that particular site.

Tips for Creating a Signature

Forum signatures, traditionally, should be as simple as possible. You don’t really want to include details about all the sites you write at or details about your entire life. People will be able to find them without much work if you have a good navigation structure on your websites or through a linked social networking site.

Some of the following have been referenced earlier but are explained in further detail:

• Your Name – The name that you want to be addressed by in your emails or replies.
• Your Main Site, Personal Site, Company, or Social Networking Profile – Provide a location where people can see “updates” from you or some of your work, much like a resume for yourself that others can see when trying to find more information about yourself.
• Your Email Address – There is no better communication method than through email. Everyone is able to email, and you don’t really have to worry about being on a different “network” as the other person. Plus, email is generally regarded as private.
• (Optional) – A little phrase or tagline that represents you – This is optional, as you are supposed to keep the signature as simple as possible, but can add a bit of personalization (keep it general) to posts or messages.

Conclusion

Traffic through your signature might not be the highest quality of traffic nor warrant a huge influx of new visitors or subscribers due to the fact that many people ignore the signature area unless it stands out or you interest the other person. Keep in mind the rules of the forum, as different members could have different restrictions as to what they can post in this area, if they can attach a signature at all. In email messages, make sure that the signature is clearly separated from the message/content portion.

Whatever happens, make sure that you keep in contact with the people who have found you through your signature. These are the people who may create the best relationship, next commenter, or subscriber of your blog. Every person matters when you are starting out developing a network of people you can rely on for sticking with you/your blog as you continue expanding.