i’ve been out of the SEO \ IM loop since Google’s updates, so i’m not really sure what some SEO standards are. I know some blackhat SEO IMers were using programs like xrumer to go through lists of forums, create topics, an drop their backlinks, and i’m fairly sure that was “fixed” in Google’s SE updates. But forums are a large portion of the internet, so I’d like to utilize them to get backlinks.
But what’s the best way for the backlinks to appear natural? Yes, I know. They should actually be natural, but I’d like to attempt to influence that. SoOoOO. How would I go about doing it? Posting the backlink in a reply, and not the opening post? Or what?
Best way to get backlinks to look natural…Well that is simple. Do not spam a forum with your links. Done! Here at Sitepoint, we don’t tolerate it. An no a signature here will do you no good.
When joining a forum, just to spam it with your link is the quickest way to get banned. When you join a forum you should be joining it to part take in the community and for the discussion.
If you’re expecting anything other than logic_earth’s reply here, you’re in the wrong forum.
Trust me, Moderators here have seen all the “tricks”.
Yet, despite the fact that all external links are no-follow, SEO kiddies keep trying and keep incurring violations.
Not a clever bunch.
So my advice to you is instead of trying to figure out how to game the system. learn from the professionals here that take things seriously and aren’t afraid of doing a little work and having patience to wait for the fruits of their labor.
At first, I think you should choose the right forum, I mean where the moderation is not very hard like here in sitepoint :),
and also, you should be honest in your posting, and remember that the price for your backlink will be your additional value to the forum.
[font=verdana]The thing about that is … if you post on a forum that doesn’t have strict moderation and allows people to post whatever links they like, the odds are that it will be overrun with spam. And if that’s the case then Google will drive straight past without even looking out of the window to see what links there are there.
In a nutshell, you’re not going to beat Google with quick and easy tricks like dropping links in forum posts, or anything else that’s easy. The only way to win is to play by Google’s rules, and that means getting to the top spot by hard work and by making the best website.[/font]
The fact is, forums have practically no value at all as far as backlinks go. Neither do blogs. The latest algorithm filters have made it so that you actually need to work to get rankings and business. Gone are the days of the automated link building machines. They are gimmicks; they were gimmicks; they will always be gimmicks.
Forums are places to interact with people of like mind and to gain mutual respect. If it is a forum related to a product that you sell, after you have an established and trusted presence, a signature link is all you should be providing. Those who trust you and are interested in your service/products will click your link from the signature line.
There are, indeed, times when a link should be in a forum post. In those cases, they should be provided as a very specific reference to a question that has been asked. If it is something you have written or are affiliated with, you should disclose your relationship with that link for all to see and judge (and moderate, if necessary).
Nowadays, if you want links, you should be getting them either via quality guest blogging on highly related websites or letting them happen naturally from interactions in social media. Every day, manipulating the search engines gets harder and harder. To survive now and forever in the future, start treating you website like a real business and market it accordingly. That never gets penalized!
Spammers have had a free meal for far too long, which is why most forums today put ALL user-generated links as nofollow, a move that I fully support because users have shown themselves to not be trustworthy.
Regardless, forum posting does nothing at all. If you’re lucky to get a link on some crappy forum it’ll probably be followed by fifty other third-party links, meaning any gain you would have got before is split by around fifty, probably less because you’re reverting to poor SEO tactics. Hitting your head against a wall is a better SEO tactic than forum posting, but sadly people never learn or follow advice from stupid people.
As a moderator AND someone that knows a thing or two about SEO the best tactic is to completely avoid forum posting. That may not be the answer you’re looking for, but it’s the right answer and going against it would be dumb.
Just to be completely clear, Ultimate, I take it you mean that the best tactic is to completely avoid forum posting as means of getting backlinks. I’m sure you agree that forum postings are a great way to exchange information, request help and generally play a part in the community.
Why would one want to make the forum posts look natural? Does that mean that you post it unnaturally? Or is that you post any crap which you want to be looking natural. I guess you could do us some help here in answering the queries and that would go the natural way.
Trying to find some questions that you can reply with links in your answers is, I think, the best way. It can help others solve their issues while promot your website. For instance, you can post your reply with links to a post with some questions whose answer can be found in a webpage of your website.
But before you trying doing that on SitePoint, (a) read this and (b) remember that all external links are nofollow, so as a method for obtaining backlinks, it’s a dead loss. And, of course, if you read the rest of this thread, you’ll see why it’s pretty much a waste of time on any forum.
Spot on. Forum links aren’t worth anything these days. Forums are still valuable for the community interaction and knowledge you can get from them but if you are joining just to spam a link or two you are going to be very disappointed with the lack of results.
