What do you think of the idea of allowing members to sell links in their signature line? Maybe you could make it so that only premium (paid) members could have links and then at least you would earn if they chose to sell link space. What do you think?
Allowing members to sell links in the signature line
- Thread starter Beverly
- Start date
krishatnet
Up-and-Coming Sensation
I think it is a good idea. Some forums allows and some don't allow. Members will get some benefit from signature links.
Joshua Farrell
FP's Housekeeper
I think that if any forum allows signatures to have links in them, so long as the url follows general guidelines on what is allowed in a signature (or on the forum itself), then I would let them have paid links in their signatures.
It really depends on serveral things, really.
1. You have to look at your forum. If I were to require my admin forum members to upgrade their account to a paid account before they can have signature links, I doubt they would do it or even continue to be active after that.
2. A lot of people are joining forums to get their links and sites some traffic through signature usage. They are not always spammers, either. Some of them can become very contributing members because they are also trying to show a good online reputation as well.
By doing this, you risk losing members and potential new members. If you are fine with this, then by all means give it a shot. 🙂
1. You have to look at your forum. If I were to require my admin forum members to upgrade their account to a paid account before they can have signature links, I doubt they would do it or even continue to be active after that.
2. A lot of people are joining forums to get their links and sites some traffic through signature usage. They are not always spammers, either. Some of them can become very contributing members because they are also trying to show a good online reputation as well.
By doing this, you risk losing members and potential new members. If you are fine with this, then by all means give it a shot. 🙂
It really depends on the site. If this was an admin / webmaster forum then, I would consider letting users sell links in their signatures, otherwise probably not. I've seen an admin try to turn signatures (not just paid signature links) into a premium feature before and it didn't really work.
I usually don't mind regular signature links on a non-admin forum, but selling links in the signatures should be a purely admin forum thing.
Normally, I like to keep the marketplace to the marketplace and not spilling out all over the place on a non-admin forum.
Think about it this way. You're scrolling through a page and there are loads of links in someone's signature. While it has visibility, it doesn't really represent a site which that particular user owns or admins. What incentive do you have to click on that link? It's just another advert to you and like most adverts.. It may be interesting or it might not. Is it clickbait or not?
Not to mention, that if this is overdone too much then, AdBlockers may start blocking that out. What I've noticed is that some Adblockers have policies as to what adverts are acceptable and what is not. I would rather not throw users into that delicate balance.
Sure, there is Anti-Adblock, but that would just turn it into an arms race. One which is unpleasant for just about everyone.
The general idea is that I don't want to give Adblockers an excuse to block the signatures on my forums, as they may recognise them as adverts. That would be a headache in itself.
I usually don't mind regular signature links on a non-admin forum, but selling links in the signatures should be a purely admin forum thing.
Normally, I like to keep the marketplace to the marketplace and not spilling out all over the place on a non-admin forum.
Think about it this way. You're scrolling through a page and there are loads of links in someone's signature. While it has visibility, it doesn't really represent a site which that particular user owns or admins. What incentive do you have to click on that link? It's just another advert to you and like most adverts.. It may be interesting or it might not. Is it clickbait or not?
Not to mention, that if this is overdone too much then, AdBlockers may start blocking that out. What I've noticed is that some Adblockers have policies as to what adverts are acceptable and what is not. I would rather not throw users into that delicate balance.
Sure, there is Anti-Adblock, but that would just turn it into an arms race. One which is unpleasant for just about everyone.
The general idea is that I don't want to give Adblockers an excuse to block the signatures on my forums, as they may recognise them as adverts. That would be a headache in itself.
As long as its not for real money and only for virtual currency, I honestly see nothing wrong with it. It gives sites more exposure, gives a use for virtual currency and overall gets the members trusting each other. ^.^ For promotion sites I think this is a vital part of the community apart from official advertising, so I say go for it. 😀
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