It's not about articles, nor forums or anything like that.
Google has it right after all. It's all about links.
Everything else that you do, needs and relies on these
Links.
Web traffic runs on links, so it stands to reason, that the more links to your site the more traffic you will have.

Google Alogrithm for Page Rank relies mostly on the number and quality of your incoming links.
This is the probably a very simplistic and fundamental look at of the whole scenario, but the attempt is to implement the KISS principle.
The acronym, in case you may not be aware stands for KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.
There certainly are other pieces to the puzzle, but they all return to the same foundational principle, that all traffic runs on links.

The problem lies in placing the links where they will be seen.
Everthing else is ancillary.

Informative articles that contain your resource box can be used to drive website traffic
Links from high traffic sites can also bring website traffic.

There are some very heavily trafficked sites with low PR, so cautioned should be exercised when relying solely on Google PR.

Google webmaster tools shows how many sites are linking to your site

Web 2.0 refers to new generation of sites where the content is generated by the users. They consist mostly of social networking sites, blogs, wikis and folksonomies,.
They all share the same platform and have become extremely popular, probably because of the ease and immediacy of the interactivity.

The Group or Network concept that allows for the easy capacity to share information has contributed immensly to this growing phenomena
Traditional sites are slowly adopting the Web 2.0 concept and linking to these sites can be an essential source of traffic.

It is not yet clear how and exactly where the technology is headed, but it is apparent that it can soon become essential.

Because of the ease of interoperabilty, small businesses should be ideally suited to benefit from the Web 2.0 environment.
The phenomenon of networking multiplies into various areas, not only socially,but professionally and it easy to envision businnesses combining to form similiar networks.
The existing competitive environment,that keeps industries from sharing should be appreciated and should under go some transformation.

The world waits for what could be a beneficial transformation as the future unfolds.