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Forum commenting - to get actually traffic rather then just backlinks?

by Charlotte8
28 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi I really want to start get qualified, interested traffic from other sources then G (due to the recent updates) However I am worried about using signature links in forums - in case G hits me for it. Please let me explain...


I was watching a training video that suggested if you want to get some quick traffic to a new site then commenting on a related forum would be good for getting actual traffic. But not actually promoting your site in your post - but writing thoughtful comments and then people begin to trust you and like you and then click on the link in your sig. (Btw I am talking about forum marketing - not blog commenting - I know there's no way the comment would get approved on a blog).

However - am I right in saying now that putting an anchor text keyword link in my signature could lead to an seo penalty?
But would it be all right if I make my sig something like "Is it possible to get rid of acne by taking magnesium pills?" THEN having a link to http://www.mysitehomepage.com underneath it (so the link is just next to it - there is no anchor text.

Would this method mean that G wouldn't penalize me - because they can see that I am not trying to abuse anchor text links?

Or would they still see this as me trying to get a free backlink - (even if it is just a 'raw' homepage url).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
#backlinks #commenting #forum #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author gilbert90
    In my own words i don't think Google will penalize you for the link that appear in your signature. This has been there, people have been commenting on forums with their signatures for a very long time.
    If you get backlinks from the signatures it is generated naturally. I am not in any fear of the penalties. If there will be such penalties even with the latest changes or upcoming ones then it means everyone with signatures will have to remove or disable them.
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  • Profile picture of the author MatthewWoodward
    Hi,

    As someone that has used forum promotion heavily the past few months I can tell you how effective this is.

    If you have a read of The Google Webmaster Guidelines Experiment - Matthew Woodward that outlines my entire traffic strategy and I have posted a series of monthly updates since then.

    Last month for example forums sent me a total of 3,929 unique visitors and I had to make a total of 456 posts across 4 forums to get that traffic so thats nearly 9 unique visitors per post ish.

    Forum marketing has being the main part of my traffic strategy above and beyond anything else, last month earnings increased to $4006.88 from $1819.22 the month before.

    Don't worry about what Google thinks or how they will treat that - who cares when you have a constant flow of traffic that doesn't rely on algo updates?

    Ask me any questions you want about it all
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      100% spot-on. I LOVE forum marketing for traffic. It's a tried-and-true method of generating really, really targeted traffic.

      Originally Posted by MatthewWoodward View Post

      Hi,

      As someone that has used forum promotion heavily the past few months I can tell you how effective this is.

      If you have a read of The Google Webmaster Guidelines Experiment - Matthew Woodward that outlines my entire traffic strategy and I have posted a series of monthly updates since then.

      Last month for example forums sent me a total of 3,929 unique visitors and I had to make a total of 456 posts across 4 forums to get that traffic so thats nearly 9 unique visitors per post ish.

      Forum marketing has being the main part of my traffic strategy above and beyond anything else, last month earnings increased to $4006.88 from $1819.22 the month before.

      Don't worry about what Google thinks or how they will treat that - who cares when you have a constant flow of traffic that doesn't rely on algo updates?

      Ask me any questions you want about it all
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  • Profile picture of the author fiverrfreak
    You won't get penalized for putting up anchor text in your signature, its just another way of getting backlink and traffic.Forum marketing has always been a great and effective off page seo method.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nelapsi
    For me and my niches I have found 2 things to be most effective as far as forum traffic goes.

    1. If I am doing, the trick is to establish myself as a member of the community first. Once I get that going then it is easy to slide a few links in with related conversations. This pays off very good based on experience and gives me something I can track too.

    2. Users posting your links, for some reason I cannot repeat this myself but sure wish I could. I generally get 500 UV's a day just from forum posts made by users.
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    • Profile picture of the author mrsvirtualassistant
      In addition to providing and receiving information, getting traffic and backlinks are some of the main benefits of forum posting. Offer useful replies, get involved in the community, and include your link in your signature. If your contribution is valuable, other users will follow your link and visit your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Karan Rawat
    Yes it is very important to get traffic from forum posting sites as well as backlinks.
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    1800CS
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by Karan Rawat View Post

      Yes it is very important to get traffic from forum posting sites as well as backlinks.
      Forum backlinks are pretty weak, actually.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bonita T Josephson
        Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

        Forum backlinks are pretty weak, actually.
        Why do you think so?

        I mean, I am not saying that one should participate a forum only for backlink. For sure it won't last for long as @Yukon already stated. Being a regular percipient of a lead towards trust and value which helps to get traffic too. But I don't think backlinks from forums are weak. If forum backlinks are weak then blog comment backlinks are worthless.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Kyle
    Hi Charlotte,

    As MattW indicated above, Forum Marketing is one of the best bang-for-buck marketing vehicles online today.

    Forget about SEO penalties from Google - not an issue unless you only have forum sig links with exactly the same Anchors as your only backlinks.

    But don't just comment on other people's threads in relevant forums, post your own great threads in the form of:

    Case studies
    How To guides
    Top 10 lists
    Live experiments e.g. http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...xperiment.html (100,000 views+)
    Infographics
    Video trainings

    Also, most forum platforms allow you to toggle threads by Most Viewed or Most Replied (including WF) and that will instantly show you what the hot topics are for that community:



    In short, don't be a follower on a forum, be a leader. See where that community could and should go and lead that change.

    For instance, in my SEO community, I am trying to push them towards conversions optimization as I view that as having a much better ROI than raw SEO.

    You'll be amazed at the results if you commit to leadership.
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    • Profile picture of the author Backlinko
      Originally Posted by Terry Kyle View Post

      Hi Charlotte,

      As MattW indicated above, Forum Marketing is one of the best bang-for-buck marketing vehicles online today.

      Forget about SEO penalties from Google - not an issue unless you only have forum sig links with exactly the same Anchors as your only backlinks.

      But don't just comment on other people's threads in relevant forums, post your own great threads in the form of:

      Case studies
      How To guides
      Top 10 lists
      Live experiments e.g. http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...xperiment.html (100,000 views+)
      Infographics
      Video trainings

      Also, most forum platforms allow you to toggle threads by Most Viewed or Most Replied (including WF) and that will instantly show you what the hot topics are for that community:



      In short, don't be a follower on a forum, be a leader. See where that community could and should go and lead that change.

      For instance, in my SEO community, I am trying to push them towards conversions optimization as I view that as having a much better ROI than raw SEO.

      You'll be amazed at the results if you commit to leadership.
      This is great advice from someone that has built not one, but TWO popular IM forums. Thanks for taking the time to share this Terry.
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  • Profile picture of the author mrswagset
    Just use forums for traffic. If you want backlinks then hit the blogs..
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  • Profile picture of the author kazim
    You can get some direct traffice by forum posting.
    You'll also be able to get good backlink and new seo tips.
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    Increase Profit From Your Website Up to 107%
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  • Profile picture of the author Karan Rawat
    Build Backlink Not reltonshionship
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    1800CS
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Karan Rawat View Post

      Build Backlink Not reltonshionship

      That's some of the worst advice ever.

      I have niche forum traffic building links for my sites (without asking), on the forums & outside of the forums because they know I have something useful that's related to the same niche that the forums are in. I participate in the niche forums.

      Ten years from now I'll still have same niche forum traffic building links for me all over the net.

      If you want direct forum traffic (golden) it's smarter to build trust than build spammy links that probably won't stick. Here's the reason trust trumps spammy links, If the forum traffic trust you on the same niche forums they'll trust you when they land on the sales page (on your own site) which makes selling a lot easier.

      Half the work of selling is based on trust, anyone doesn't believe that take a look around at the thousands of sales pages with mile long testimonials. Buyers want to know they can trust the seller based on peer reviews, even If the peer reviews are bogus (sad but true).
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by Karan Rawat View Post

      Build Backlink Not reltonshionship
      As Yukon has already stated, this is pretty TERRIBLE advice. Completely the opposite of what you should actually do.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProSence
    I also use forums for traffic purposes and I don't get penalized..

    But if you use several forums in a day for backlink purposes, creating profile and making one post per forum in low quality forums, it would penalize you for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author strategic seo services
    It is perfectly fine to use your anchor text link in your forum profile.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by strategic seo services View Post

      It is perfectly fine to use your anchor text link in your forum profile.
      Not always. Plus, if you're commenting for traffic it doesn't really matter. What does matter is a catchy sig that will get people's attention.
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    • Profile picture of the author jackwebson
      Originally Posted by strategic seo services View Post

      It is perfectly fine to use your anchor text link in your forum profile.
      Forums are great for traffic though it is beneficial in terms of backlink juice i would rather come up with a title that could grab an attention and generate targeted traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanLB
    Look at forums as a promotional opportunity instead of a backlink building opportunity. The backlinks is just a bonus that you get for offering a legitimate product or service to people that are interested in it.

    Terry Kyle's advice is solid as well. You can sometimes see which threads are ranking well in Google by filtering by views. The thread title should give you some indication as to what the thread might be ranking for as well. Then, if you contribute to the thread and drop a link, you can get a nice chunk of traffic. Keep in mind that dropping a link on page 4, when page 1 is ranking, probably isn't going to be worth your time as I doubt a lot of google users are going to sift through a multi-page thread when they don't belong to the forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author agapril07
    Great Post by Terry. He speaks from experience as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Solarstone
    It really depends on how/where you use it. I currently have a link in my signature on a forum I have over 10,000 posts on yet I'm not getting that many UV per day. However, I would say that's because my website doesn't necessarily have much relevance to the niche of the forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author OnTheRun
    Having your link in forums' signatures is not a problem. usually, all forums are no follow anyway So, if anything, you'll only gain some traffic from it. Which is good Traffic is good.
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  • Profile picture of the author larrypaul
    If the post is knowledgeable, informative without having any spammy comment google wont delete or penalize the site. With the help of this forum posting services traffic as well as backlinks to the website get increased.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hudson White
    It's quiet an outdated technique to promote yourself via putting your signatures in the forum account. Instead you should really contribute to make your profile look relevant and authentic. Help others by giving them some solutions and resolving their queries. And where necessary give the link related to the topic.

    By doing all this, it will help in branding and exposure. Don't make it a spam practice just to get a link back.
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  • Profile picture of the author fxstay
    its good just to gain traffic not help you ranking in search engines
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