Whether you are an insurance agency, a retail store, or an automotive repair shop, having help forums attached to your web site does not only add refreshable content that will redirect people to your website, it adds functionality to your site that most people in small business do not have or think they can’t afford. If you develop enough momentum, it will also generate leads or customers organically.

Let’s say you are a 4X4 business that specializes in Jeep restoration. If you had help forums that addressed topics that people were interested in, you would not only get name and brand recognition from your current customer base, your site will attract non-customers (potential customers) that would find these forums useful because they either found it by doing a search or your own customers were spreading the word about it to people they know. I can’t tell you how many times I have actually used these to work on my boat or other hobbies I have. I searched a help forum about 2 months ago that actually helped me with a bilge pump problem I was having on my boat, and now I go back to these forums all the time, and have even bought items from the web site of that company. Also, there is virtually no cost to this type of advertising, and when tied to your blog, website and other social media accounts, can be a very powerful viral marketing tool!