Matt Cutts, Google SEO: Remove Link Anchor Text In Forum Signatures

[sparkah]

Guys... it took me a while to remember to post this.

About a month ago, I saw a Google Webmaster video where matt cutts said he would penalize or filter out forum links if they had keyword anchor text.

If anyone else saw that video, I'd love a link to it. I couldn't find it again. Anyways... FYI...

[Joshua Rigley]

I didn't see it myself, but if it's true, my response is "meh". I don't care much about my SEO. I post in forums to attract real people, not search bots.

[sparkah]

yeah... you DO practice what you preach... your anchor text is "click here" =D

[John Collins]

Is this what you're looking for? How do I know which links to remove when I get an "unnatural links" message?

How do I know which links to remove when I get an...

[art72]

[sarcastically paraphrasing Matt Cutts] "Over time, we are trying to 'exhaust' every link that is not beneficial to our mass marketing platform... so, it boils down to this; we can't quite tell you 'which of your links' are bad... but we can tell you; that we are on a mission to eradicate any and or all potential threats to our monopolization and systematical detraction of what is? and what is not? acceptable for you, the webmaster to be privileged to do in our information universe." [...end of paraphrasing sarcasm]

I gave up on trying to please 'G' in terms of SEO, for it's almost like dealing with a bi-polar drunk on a Saturday night at the Irish Pub! - Makes me a wee bit angry, it does, it does, lol.

However, the video basically confirms; they want webmasters to 'earn' relative backlinks, as opposed to purchasing or manipulating the SERP's... and at times it makes sense... let the best, most relevant content rank higher than those who fudge a bunch of backlinks, like was so with article directories.

*Not sure that video fits the description of 'signature links' (?) - either way, I had fun with it.

And with that I bid thee Goodnight!

[johnben1444]

This thread is only going to get more views than replies.

Stop worrying about Matt and focus on building a sustainable business model.

I'm sure this dude also own an Internet business that relies on SEO since he knows the ins and outs. Scaring you away leaves him with virtually no rival.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by jacksarlo

He will check every forum post one by one for all forums on the web?? or new algorithm will ignore backlinks from forums?

You should provide link to video so this is clear.

It wouldn't be too difficult to figure out a forum web page, a large percentage of forums use either vBulletin or phpBB, both leave a huge footprint. Personally I could care less what they do with forums/SEO, I use niche forums for direct niche traffic.

[gearmonkey]

Meh, I don't use forum Sigs for SEO, I use them to drive traffic to my offers.

Google should change their tampon

[cleptoiii]

Originally Posted by singerdg1

Those are very good tips! I placed your video on my SEO site.

rebember that this is a forum so, it's for real people not for search robots

@Joshua Rigley : true man

[TrustedSEO]

Great post topic.. I don't think Google is really focusing on this right now.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by TrustedSEO

Great post topic.. I don't think Google is really focusing on this right now.

Then how on earth is it a great post topic?

People mix up what cutts says, and what official google statements say, then
put it in a bowl, mix, and a new revelation from some seo guru comes
out that has people on their knees praying. Why not just ignore
the stuff and do some research for the REAL thing? No, that would
be too hard.

Paul

[sparkah]

yeah... i'll look for that specific quote... he DIRECTLY mentioned forum signature links with anchor keyword text

[Jashandeepmax]

To have link With Money Keywords in Bulk and are irrelevant , Whether From Forums or Any other Resources are bad practices to do so .

Also Huge links by targeting same key-phrases is looks unnatural .

As Per Forum Signatures number of back-links marked from a single post that indirectly reveals a unnatural linking by targeting a keyword And purpose is to make that keyword more relevant to web page it linked so that it get top visibility .

So better Option is to target non-money keyword and general phrases .
Also From a thread with forum I read about a conference .

All Quarries that Going here may be Asked in Conference held in USA in MARCH 2103 So why not one Interesting to join and found what actually the things , Matt cutts , Duane Forrester (Sr. Product Manager at Bing) join conference as speakers , may event up to some extent or fully benefits you plan for new marketing strategies.

Here is thread where i read about today

SEO, PPC conversions and more in a Conference on March 2013

[Lanx]

you know in a non seo world, a link in a sig is the most natural way to "get the word out" on your site, just look at it.
you read a post
1 post catches your eye,
you agree with the poster,
if the forum is really interactive
you can give thanks or points to the poster
and then you see his/her sig and go hmm what other interests does this person that i agree with has.

why would anyone want to kill this sort of natural linking? cutts is who, an idiot.

[SEMaster]

Who cares Matt about forum "sig." backlinks after alot of google updates? Forum signature backlinks always count as low quality links. I just use it to get direct traffic.

[neha12]

May be it's go to be true, because Matt said in the last statement about anchor text rich links.

[rosiebrown0]

I too agree..as Google is in full form now..it can update this new algorithm soon...But it will be for Google to take care of every forum.

[shubh]

If you use anchor link for a particular text or keywords, it would definitely attract the penultimate action. Matt from google team always says that there is no need to be in panic because of updates until you are doing good SEO.

[kaytav]

Originally Posted by paulgl

Then how on earth is it a great post topic?

People mix up what cutts says, and what official google statements say, then
put it in a bowl, mix, and a new revelation from some seo guru comes
out that has people on their knees praying. Why not just ignore
the stuff and do some research for the REAL thing? No, that would
be too hard.

Paul

Great one Paul......
This happens a lot of time. Until the news reaches such forums or users, it is totally mixed up and most people think they could be in trouble, even if they don't know what the real news is. Neither do they try to find out about it.

[samual james]

You can use niche forums to generate traffic, btw i am not seeing of any side effect of doing forum commenting.

[ronrule]

So the "biggest scraper site in the world", Google - who's entire business model is based on selling links and scraping other people's content and showing ads next to it - gets their panties in a bind when you do the same thing.

I stopped listening to Google's Minister of Propaganda a long time ago.

[rgb]

this is not really new information... it has always been like this, just try to tweak the perfect anchor text percentage.

[linkbuildr]

It's obvious...you're NOT SUPPOSED to pick your own anchor text or really build links as it's unnatural and against Google's TOS. It has been this way for many many years. Le sigh.

[AlphaWarrior]

Originally Posted by art72

I gave up on trying to please 'G' in terms of SEO, for it's almost like dealing with a bi-polar drunk on a Saturday night at the Irish Pub! - Makes me a wee bit angry, it does, it does, lol.

Lots & lots of LOL! But it is really true.

[SamanthaB]

Originally Posted by AlphaWarrior

Lots & lots of LOL! But it is really true.

That guy really knows how to make a clear image

[seobro]

Hi Art:
It is like having a girlfriend that is super crazy. She is full of paranoia. Thinks you are part of a giant conspiracy. Yeah, as in hearing some voices. However, just when you think you finally can figure her out, she goes even more insane.

[jxam69]

Originally Posted by superman1231

LOL google dumb dumbs.... and this is why seo with google is so easy.... RUN BY MORONS. Good to know they waste time on stupid videos than actually doing work.

Last I heard, those "morons" were making billions of dollars.

How's your business going?

[PaulBaker]

I love these threads.

Google is not out to wreck your business (unless it's crap), their objective is to improve their own by providing high quality search results and remain the number 1 search provider. One of the ways they are trying to do this is by getting rid of spam, thin and no-value sites from the serps. Sites that only got there by using blackhat methods such as spamming forums in the first place.

Like anything modern SEO, you need to take care with the sites that you associate with. There will be forums that Google trusts and sees as an authority in their niche, like this one, and there are unmoderated forums full of spam that will be red flagged by Google.

Build quality sites that belong high in the SERPS and Google will be happy to play ball.

[seobuzz]

Originally Posted by PaulBaker

Google is not out to wreck your business (unless it's crap), their objective is to improve their own by providing high quality search results and remain the number 1 search provider. One of the ways they are trying to do this is by getting rid of spam..

Many people don't get that. They always think Google updates its algorithm to burst their business. On the contrary it is not true.

If Google were not providing quality search results, people would move to other search engines which would provide them the quality. Just like people moved from Lycos to Yahoo, then Yahoo to Google.

[KevL]

Originally Posted by jxam69

Last I heard, those "morons" were making billions of dollars.

How's your business going?

Haha, good point. I don't think we can accuse Google of being Morons, even though admittedly the big G is a real pain in the rear at times - but then, if it were easy everyone would be doing it...