URL in signature of discussion forum post
-
I used to see URL's in the signature part of discussion forum posts covering various topics but it does not seem popular anymore. It seems like a good way to build links and I am wondering why it is not used.
Suppose I ask a question about proper tooth brushing technique on the forum at "toothbrushingforum.com" and user "ToothBrushWizard" is nice enough to answer my question. I used to see signatures like this:
Good luck,
ToothBrushWizard
www.ToothBrushWizard.comIs this considered poor taste or are these links discounted by the search engines? Is it best to keep an updated profile with your URL and hope that forum users click through to it?
-
I think most of the responses addressed the question as if it concerned signatures on the SEOmoz forums. I believe Daniel was asking about signatures on forums in general.
I can share two observations regarding links in signatures:
-
some sites disable the links completely. If that is the case, you will know right away and there is your answer.
-
some sites allow the link, but add a "no follow" tag. It depends on the site preference and the software they use. You can always view the page source code and see if the no follow tag has been added, then you will know the answer for that site.
The topic is a double-edged sword. You want quality contributors to receive credit for their work. Then again, by allowing these links you will attract some poor quality responses.
-
-
Have no fear, EGOL. I am not a spammer. I was planning to offer meaningful contributions and build links at the same time. (Not here, I dont know much SEO yet.)
thanks to everyone for your replies!
-
LOL careful Steve - it took me just a couple months of answering questions here to skyrocket from a couple hundred points to "authority" level. Of course, I did have to provide a lot of answers that were given "good answer" status. But if that's all it took to get a sig link here...
Then again - if people really did stick around long enough (even a couple months) and really gave good enough answers to rise that way, I suppose everybody would win. Even if most bailed out after they got their link.
Then again - if they did it for the link, they could then possibly revert to crappy answers, knowing that the sig would be there even with crappy answers.
Yeah - before my head explodes, I'll just stick with the "hope they don't offer it" answer you guys gave.
-
There is also some discussion within the industry that links of that nature have been so seriously abused by spammers that Google now recognizes such link patterns and either devalues them (doesn't give them the link value to pass along) or may even ding the site where all those signature files are.
-
And that's not to mention the automated software that creates profiles and then spams signature links in forums everywhere with generic posts.
I'm with EGOL, no need to add an inventive for that stuff in here.
Having said that, I think it would be cool if Authority ranks, or Guru ranks or something were given the ability to have sig links. It's not like any spammer would stick around that long to get there.
-
It seems like a good way to build links and I am wondering why it is not used.
Lots of people enjoy getting that type of link.
However, a lot of those same people will participate in forums for no reason other than dropping those links.
The result is a lot of low-quality posts that really are nothing more than spam.
I hope that signature links are not planned for this forum.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Blog post back link
Hi, I am new to SEO and I am planning to hire someone in Fiverr regularly to submit different guest posts on the different related topic on the website with a good domain authority (>60) as a result to have some quality inbound links. As I am writing the guest post myself, May I know how many backlinks should I have per post are best for SEO? and should I only focus on anchor text backlinks? Also, here is my understanding of what I should be careful when hiring someone on Fiverr to do a blog post, please let me know if I am wrong and if there is another thing I need to be careful. It needs to be dofollow link It is permanent I check the website domain authority and spam sore that the person provides before using it. Please let me know if I missed out something. Appreciated Kind regards Chris
Link Building | | KINSHUN0 -
Site URL called out but not clickable.
Hi - I'm after a bit of clarity; if my site URL is referenced in an article, but doesn't actually link through, does this still 'add value' to my seo efforts? Thanks, David
Link Building | | newstd1000 -
How to promote my guest blog posts?
I have been using mybloguest.com and the articles were published by its blogs/websites. So far the traffics/share/likes from those blog posts they published are very few/small. I believe the blog post are very useful and unique. How can I promote them so that I get more social likes/share? Any idea? Thanks Stephen
Link Building | | LauraHT0 -
Recovery from Penguin removing internal urls permanently replace with new
Since I was hit with Penguin back in April, but with this last update Oct. 5th I did see a very slight recovery, I was thinking about dumping some of my old URL's which contain backlinks which I can't get removed that seem spammy. I was thinking of keeping the page intact but replace with an entirely new URL and NOT 301 redirect. So basically starting over with that URL that way the backlinks points to a dead url. Any thoughts?
Link Building | | cbielich0 -
Link Building Services Post Penguin
Hi Can anyone suggest a link building service that is of higher quality and still works nowadays? All the private networks were deindexed and it looks like we're left only with blasting software, which i don't really like. I am doing research on link building now and i can't seem to find any service that meets the quality of BMR or other deindexed Homepage Networks. Thanks!
Link Building | | comancsm0 -
Set a desination url to text that did not have it previously
I have the following question. Is it OK to set a desination url to text that did not have it previously? Can it cause SEO (SERP) issues? For example, I have this sentence: The tool you're using is great, but this template will help you. Say, the "this template" text has been just plain text for like a year. And now I want to add a certain destination url to the "this template" phrase. So, can it cause some SEO issues to me or not?
Link Building | | VinceWicks0 -
Is posting our original articles on competitor websites with a linkback beneficial?
We are receiving requests to repost our articles in full on competitor websites. Our competitors have expressed they are fine with linking back to our homepage, and the original source page. Would this benefit us, or do more harm than good?
Link Building | | uderic0 -
Linkbuilding URL Problem
Hi, I work for Perfectly Engraved. A lot of our links point to http://www.perfectlyengraved.co.uk/. However that address forwards to - http://www.perfectlyengraved.co.uk/ecommerce/scripts/default.htm. Should we ensure our links point to http://www.perfectlyengraved.co.uk/ecommerce/scripts/default.htm or does it not make difference? I've put our forwarding code below. <%@ Language=VBScript %> <% Option explicit Response.Buffer = true Response.Redirect "http://www.perfectlyengraved.co.uk/ecommerce/scripts/default.htm" %> Also, would it help if we did a 301 redirect from http://perfectlyengraved.co.uk/ecommerce/scripts/default.htm to http://www.perfectlyengraved.co.uk/ecommerce/scripts/default.htm? As both addresses for every page on our site return the page with or without www Thanks
Link Building | | Aardvark0