undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Link Building
  4. Forum Signature Links

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Forum Signature Links

Link Building
5
5
4.8k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • Agger
    Agger last edited by Nov 26, 2012, 10:12 PM

    After the new update from google, are Forum Signature Links still very good to use linkbuliding or?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Marcus_Miller
      Marcus_Miller @CoreyNorthcutt last edited by Nov 27, 2012, 9:35 AM Nov 27, 2012, 9:35 AM

      **Hey, this is exactly right: **chase the marketing, not the algorithm

      If you search around your topic and find frequent forum listings in the search results then get in on those pages and help out and that link back to your site is some good solid branding that will drive referral traffic.

      On the flipside, if someone stumbles across that post and you have chipped in with:

      "Yes, very good information, I am thanking you muchley"

      And have a signature like

      Keyword Spam | more Keyword Links | Blarghh SEO Puke

      Then all you are doing is indicating to Google that you are trying to manipulate the results for those keywords so you will likely do more harm than good.

      The spammy link algorithm aspects like Penguin are only going to get more aggressive so as Corey said above: chase the marketing, not the algorithm!

      Marcus

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Debdulal
        Debdulal last edited by Nov 27, 2012, 4:50 AM Nov 27, 2012, 4:50 AM

        And of course, you should not join all the forums that come along the way. I have seen people skipping reputed forums because they do not give instant back link from the signature section. This is a sickening mentality. Participating in forum is about helping others and not just getting a link back from them. So, if you wish you can add a link back to your website with Branded Keyword, avoid exact matched anchor texts like plague and you will be just fine.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • CoreyNorthcutt
          CoreyNorthcutt last edited by Nov 27, 2012, 2:31 PM Nov 27, 2012, 1:32 AM

          They do get indexed and they can help as much as any other link.  And, like everything, you're best off doing it without embarrassing your brand.  So,

          YES:  If you want to plop a PR rep on a forum to make a good 15 or so useful contributions to the conversation, with a real signature, like you might attach to an email, compliant with that particular forum's signature guidelines.

          NO:  If you want to buy 100,000 forum signature links blasted using a piece of software.

          As with everything, chase the marketing, not the algorithm.  That will get you a lot further than worrying about what Google will be doing in 2013, because even if you dodge a bullet in the short-term, Google's end goals are always the same.

          Built some companies, sold some companies. Currently building https://roi.fyi.

          Marcus_Miller 1 Reply Last reply Nov 27, 2012, 9:35 AM Reply Quote 1
          • Klarke
            Klarke last edited by Nov 26, 2012, 10:29 PM Nov 26, 2012, 10:29 PM

            If your idea is to slap on your signature with anchor text heavy links on every forum possible, then no they are not a very good thing to be doing post-2012.

            There's a place for them though.  If you're participating on a forum that's relevant to your website then I don't see why you can't place a link or two to your website in the signature.  But I would avoid trying to put manipulative anchor text in there.  Just use the plain URL or a branded term like your business or domain name.

            Also, google recently updated their webmaster guidelines with a forum signature example of what you should not be doing:

            Forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature, for example:
            _Thanks, that’s great info!

            • Paul
              paul’s pizza san diego pizza best pizza san diego_
            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • 1 / 1
            1 out of 5
            • First post
              1/5
              Last post

            Got a burning SEO question?

            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


            Start my free trial


            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.

            • See all categories

            Related Questions

            • Cocoonfxmedia

              Partner links - is this bad?

              I have been looking at whys to get natural links, another SEO company said that instead of doing Guest Blog Posts there now adding single links to partner pages on websites which have a follow link.  To me this sounds like basically a links page rebadged as a partners page.  Is this a dangerous practice? or does this carry some weight with the search engines?

              Link Building | Jun 5, 2014, 12:45 PM | Cocoonfxmedia
              0
            • T-J-I

              Nasty links

              Hi My first q on here (hoorah!), and it's about links (boo!). I've got what appears to be a handful (but worryingly, increasing in number) of links pointing to my site like this: http://condos.mrgulffront.com/florida-condos-for-sale/320-scenic-gulf-drive-miramar-beach-fl-32550-mls-567591/ I've made contact with the sites concerned, and had only one positive response who flatly denied all knowledge of it. The issue (as far as I can see) is that as in the above example the links (on the bottom right in the grey box) are forever changing so not always visible. Can anyone offer any guidance as to these kinds of nasty links.... I'm right at the v beginning on this "path of seo understanding" so please don't assume prior knowledge! Thanks in advance.... tom

              Link Building | Apr 22, 2014, 11:46 AM | T-J-I
              0
            • Theskimonster

              Do footer links pass less link juice?

              One of my best inbound links for PA and DA happens to be a footer link, curious if it's less valuable or has any value at all.

              Link Building | Jun 26, 2013, 2:50 PM | Theskimonster
              0
            • babski

              What is Hub Linking

              What is Hub Linking - an seo company mentioned it to me? Is it any good?

              Link Building | Oct 11, 2012, 3:13 PM | babski
              0
            • SamCUK

              Text Link vs image link?

              Which passes most link juice a text link or an image with the correct 'alt' attribute? Do the pass the same amount or is one more valuable than the other?

              Link Building | Mar 28, 2012, 10:27 PM | SamCUK
              0
            • JesseCWalker

              Do links within imbeddable widgets carry link juice?

              I'm dipping my toes into infographic design. On of my desired outcomes is to gain links by having other sites embed my graphic. I'm considering using Tableau's interactive data visualization software to do so; thus creating a widget, embedding it on my blog, and including the embed code for others to post. Is it possible to include a juice passing link in such an infographic?  I know its possible to include links inside the tableau graphic but not sure if they have straight SEO value. If these links are not juice passing would it be better to go with a simple image link that passes value?

              Link Building | Nov 16, 2011, 8:10 AM | JesseCWalker
              1
            • aaran

              How many links per week is too fast in link building?

              For a new website/blog how many links per week looks suspicious or hurt the rankings?

              Link Building | Aug 29, 2011, 7:37 PM | aaran
              1
            • pricefutures

              Link Frequency

              I understand that good link building is all about the quality of the link / the anchor text attached to it. But, what about frequency? Should I build until I can't build anymore? or create a plan to submit links to a certain # of sites per week/month?

              Link Building | Nov 13, 2011, 3:25 PM | pricefutures
              0

            Get started with Moz Pro!

            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

            Start my free trial
            Products
            • Moz Pro
            • Moz Local
            • Moz API
            • Moz Data
            • STAT
            • Product Updates
            Moz Solutions
            • SMB Solutions
            • Agency Solutions
            • Enterprise Solutions
            Free SEO Tools
            • Domain Authority Checker
            • Link Explorer
            • Keyword Explorer
            • Competitive Research
            • Brand Authority Checker
            • Local Citation Checker
            • MozBar Extension
            • MozCast
            Resources
            • Blog
            • SEO Learning Center
            • Help Hub
            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
            • How-to Guides
            • Moz Academy
            • API Docs
            About Moz
            • About
            • Team
            • Careers
            • Contact
            Why Moz
            • Case Studies
            • Testimonials
            Get Involved
            • Become an Affiliate
            • MozCon
            • Webinars
            • Practical Marketer Series
            • MozPod
            Connect with us

            Contact the Help team

            Join our newsletter
            Moz logo
            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
            • Accessibility
            • Terms of Use
            • Privacy

            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.