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Is posting niche links in sig a good idea or not?

by MurphSmurf
7 replies
Hey all.

I'm considering putting a few links to my niche sites in my sig so I can build some backlinks. I've heard a lot of people say that Google loves this forum and that it's a good idea.

However, I also hear that it's a bad idea exposing your websites and niche ideas to everyone. Someone might click on a link, think "wow there's a good idea, I think I'm gonna do this too" and bam! Now I have another competitor.

What is your take on this?

It's not like I'd be exposing some amazing secrets by posting my links... it's all pretty general stuff that I'm sure a lot of people here are already doing.

But say for instance that I'm optimizing for a really good, high traffic, low competition keyword phrase... someone else sees it and they turn out to be more knowledgeable than I am and they're able to quickly outrank my site with their own stuff.

Am I just being paranoid?
#good #idea #links #niche #posting #sig
  • Profile picture of the author artsub
    I think you are just being paranoid. Whatever the niche, you can be certain there are already hundreds of people in it, and more coming all the time from all over the place... without meaning to sound rude, I don't think your signature is going to make a big impact on a market.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kazooli
    Originally Posted by MurphSmurf View Post

    Hey all.

    I'm considering putting a few links to my niche sites in my sig so I can build some backlinks. I've heard a lot of people say that Google loves this forum and that it's a good idea.

    However, I also hear that it's a bad idea exposing your websites and niche ideas to everyone. Someone might click on a link, think "wow there's a good idea, I think I'm gonna do this too" and bam! Now I have another competitor.

    What is your take on this?

    It's not like I'd be exposing some amazing secrets by posting my links... it's all pretty general stuff that I'm sure a lot of people here are already doing.

    But say for instance that I'm optimizing for a really good, high traffic, low competition keyword phrase... someone else sees it and they turn out to be more knowledgeable than I am and they're able to quickly outrank my site with their own stuff.

    Am I just being paranoid?
    I sincerely hope that your signature does make a great impact on the market you choose.


    Sincerely,
    Kazooli
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Andy1750
    Hello,

    Great question and one which has often crossed my mind. My decision is not too. Doesn't seem particularly sensible to advertise my niches in a forum full of people looking for niches. Once you've done it it's public domain information and many (including myself) would have no issues with becoming a competitor if it's an opportunity worth exploring.

    Plenty of other places to put a backlink. Why take the risk?

    Cheers,

    Andy
    Signature

    Not trying to sell you anything :-)

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    • Profile picture of the author Jermaine Tabor
      You are not being paranoid.

      I had a niche site and posted the link in a few sigs and voila. Not only did some guy become a competitor but he copied my entire site. All the footer links still pointed back to my site. The domain he registered was exactly as mine except he added a hyphen.

      He only changed the affiliate links on the main page.

      Actually that was the second time but for the same site. First time the guy copied just my lay out and added his own text.

      So it is very possible to get more competition via sig links.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick B
    I avoid giving out specific information at a webmaster board. Several years ago I did that and had a few people steal my content. One actually copied the entire site! Of course, I got all of them to remove the stuff but it did take some time and I even got one nasty email from a guy who thought that I had copied the other guy's site.

    So now (as an example) my policy is to share the general stuff like how to optimize a site or how to target a particular keyword or phrase but I won't give the url of the site I optimized or the exact phrase that I targeted.

    That seems to be pretty much what I see others doing too.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygunn
    I've honestly looked at people signatures to see what they are doing, realized I was doing this, and decided not to post any niches in a my sig. As you can see, I posted something that may help IM'ers, and in exchange I have the possibility of getting people to sign up to my opt in list. It's a win win IMO.
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