Forum Profile Backlinks... Are they really all that?

Hey Guys,

I've noticed many of the people I've outsourced recently when asked to create forum backlinks (assuming they would be posting in threads) have instead created forum "profile" backlinks instead of actual forum posts that include the link in a sig box. (I've since learned to be more specific in my job posts)

Now my question is what are your opinions of this backlinking strategy? Is it safer/better than forum posting in threads with links? Considering the links are essentially hidden this way and there's less risk of the account being removed due to a subpar post (especially outsourced forum posting where English issues may be very common )

To me it still seems like a subpar strategy and I'm surprised to see it being used as much as it is, as I figure the real juice is in a post on a page that carries the PR, posting a backlink in a hidden forum profile means its never going to really go anywhere in terms of PR. Even if its on a high PR domain in my understanding page PR is everything.

Am I wrong in thinking this way?

I'm very interested to hear what you guys have to say on all of this. Am I still better off continuing to focus on having posts created on forums or is this worth doing/outsourcing?


My apologies as well if this has been discussed to death already, I'm still a little wet behind the ears here and the search function didn't bring up any relevant discussions on this that I could find. If there are any I'd happily accept a link to the thread.