Are there NoFollow in Forum Signature Links

[JunkDawgs]

I've been trying to supplement my SEO campaign by contributing to a variety of forums and I just want to make sure that the content, signature links are actually holding water? Anybody have a perspective on this topic? Also, what is the significance of a trackback?

[AccountantSalary]

I'm not quite sure of your first question. Are you asking if the Forum Signature links are DoFollow? They are.

[JunkDawgs]

Perhaps I worded the question poorly, but yes, that is essentiall what I was asking and thank you for clarifying. The second question was about the "trackback" on the forum. I'm not sure what that is. If you can't tell, I'm still learning these things.

[melanie]

The links on this forum appear to be 'doFollow' - a tip would be to install a plug in such as SEOBOOK or Quirk which highlights any no follow links on a page, you can then tell if it is no follow or not.

[JunkDawgs]

That's good advice. Do those plugin's just brink up the links code as your scroll over them?

[Elabusiness]

It seems like the links are do follow here. If you are using either chrome or firefox you can install the seomoz plugins and they will tell you if it is dofollow or no follow.

[dianecoleen]

As I see it, the signatures in this forum is a do follow one. You can try searching on Quirk SearchStatus addon on your FireFox browser and enable the option 'highlight nofollow links'. That way you can easily see what is do follow and no follow one.

With regards to trackback, I guess this is just a way for authors to keep track of people whose linking in their article. Just like reference sites.
I think I need to share this, in case you don't understand [http ://www .cruftbox. com/ cruft/ docs/ trackback. html] Just erased the extra space so you can land on the right page. I think I still don't have the right to post links here [I just don't want to break any rules of the community :) ]

[JunkDawgs]

As I see it, the signatures in this forum is a do follow one. You can try searching on Quirk SearchStatus addon on your FireFox browser and enable the option 'highlight nofollow links'. That way you can easily see what is do follow and no follow one.

With regards to trackback, I guess this is just a way for authors to keep track of people whose linking in their article. Just like reference sites.
I think I need to share this, in case you don't understand [http ://www .cruftbox. com/ cruft/ docs/ trackback. html] Just erased the extra space so you can land on the right page. I think I still don't have the right to post links here [I just don't want to break any rules of the community :) ]

Thank you for the helpful response. I'm still familiarizing myself with a lot of this information so appreciate the patience as I'm sure that question gets asked a lot!

[JunkDawgs]

It seems like the links are do follow here. If you are using either chrome or firefox you can install the seomoz plugins and they will tell you if it is dofollow or no follow.

Would you recommend Firefox of Google Chrome?

[dianecoleen]

Your welcome JunkDawgs. I am glad to share this kind of information with you. Anyways, you can always find helpful answer in Google. Just search on the right keyword. :)

[synconlinemedia]

I use Firefox and I use a plugin called "RDS Bar". Its very rich in options and very easy to understand. One word of advise, Google likes natural link profiles. So not only do you need do-follow links from multiple types of sites, you also need no-follow. If all your links are do-follow it will look odd to Google. When we build links to our client sites we ensure we have both form all types of sites, Web 2.0, Bookmarking sites, Wiki, PAD, Image, video, social, etc....and it work!

[JunkDawgs]

Another question on the signature links; if you change your signature, are all those links with your previous posts gone if you change the anchor text?

[RyanSmith]

Chrome all the way!

[vangogh]

if you change your signature, are all those links with your previous posts gone if you change the anchor text?

All your posts will still show a signature. If you change links in the new signature then the links will change, but your new signature will still show on all your older posts. It's safe to change. :)

[JunkDawgs]

All your posts will still show a signature. If you change links in the new signature then the links will change, but your new signature will still show on all your older posts. It's safe to change. :)

Thank you for the follow up! So, I'll still keep all the old links, but they will be with the new anchor text? So the old anchor text will no longer be applicable?

[vangogh]

Right. Your old posts will still show signatures, but the signature will be the new one.

[cobase]

Hi JunkDawgs, if you are using Chrome, you can simply right-click on the link and select "Inspect Element". Then look at the highlighted area and see if it says 'rel="nofollow"'

If it says that, then it is nofollow; if it does not say that, then most search engines will follow it.

[vangogh]

I just realized I never answered your initial question.

I wouldn't put a lot of effort into forum posting for signature links. Regardless of whether they're nofollow or not, they aren't high quality links. They aren't going to help much in improving where your site ranks. They are links and they likely contribute something, but that something probably isn't worth the effort. What sig links can do is help get a site indexed, since forums are typically updated frequently and search engines naturally crawl them relatively often. If you have a new site with no links pointing in to it, then signature links can help your site get noticed by search engines.

The really value in signature links is that they're another avenue into your site. If you post good information people will click your link and check out your site and you then have a chance to do business with them. That's really the best way to think about links. Look to them for their intrinsic value. Think about the audience of the site where you might be getting a link and whether or not that audience would likely be interested in you. Think about the site. Is it a good site? Is it likely to be trusted? Is it an authority on its subject? When you get links from great sites the links have great value regardless of what search engines think of them. It also turns out those tend to be the links search engines like best anyway.

[JunkDawgs]

I appreciate the detailed response. I like coming to the Forums for good information and hoped that the links made at least a small impact on the campaign. My company and I are in our first year and our SEO has been a crawling process; what would be the one thing you'd recommend I do consistently for Off Page? I spend a lot of time fine tuning the content and working on our Blog.

[vangogh]

Will it make a small impact? Sure. They are links. They do count for something. Think of them as an added bonus for coming here, but nothing you should specifically come her for. Imagine you're trying to save $10,000. A forum link might be like finding a penny or a nickel. It still counts, but there are better ways to get the money.
The best thing you could do for the off page stuff is make connections with real people. The long term goal is to get other people to share your content and link to it. Spending the time to fine tune your blog and content is definitely the primary thing to do. Ideally you want to attract regular readers to it. In time they'll want to share it and hopefully it reaches other bloggers who'll link to it. You're business isn't the easiest to thing of content, but I have some ideas.

I see most of your posts are "how to" types. I'm not sure how many people are going to subscribe to a blog that's only about how to dispose of trash. I think those can be and should be part of the blog, but how about some other topics. How about.

1. Some of the odd, interesting, funny things you find when removing junk - This kind of post, especially if funny, will appeal to more people. I do think people would subscribe to see what crazy thing you find next. This kind of post also lends itself well to pictures.

2. Any stories about finding something valuable?

3. Maybe some posts of turning some of the junk into something useful? Know anyone who could turn some things into art? Something useful?

4. Down the road if and when you have people reading you could have them submit pictures of things they've found in the trash, whether their own or someone else's

5. Every go dumpster diving? Probably some good stories there if you have or know people who have. Maybe some posts offering advice for businesses of what not to throw in the dumpster for security reasons.

6. How about when people leave old TVs or couches out by the curb? Any tips for knowing when that stuff is worth grabbing and when it's best left for pickup?

Mix things like that in with the "how to" posts. You'll probably do better picking up readers and getting links. Also not specifically blog post, but what can be considered cornerstone content that could draw links. Here in Boulder I want to recycle, but I never know what can and can't be recycled. I have a chart that's about 10 years old. Something I and I'm sure many people might find useful would be a list of all recycling plants in your area along with a list of what each plant will take. Think of it as a big project. Get a list of all the plants. Then start collecting information about what each collects, etc. Something like that can become an entire section on your site and end up being a big reason why people visit and it can generate a lot of links.

One last thought. Why not place the blog link at the top of the page instead of hiding it at the bottom.

One last, last thought. For links you can try joining local Chamber of Commerce. It'll likely cost to join, but most usually give you a profile that links to your site and often the value of the link is greater than the annual cost. There might be a few Chambers you can join in the area. You could also offer to clean up after an event for some charities if they'll mention your services on their site via a link. It's not only about getting the most links. It's really about getting the right links. Think of businesses in your area who have sites related to yours and customers who'd probably hire you. Often it's worth the extra time getting one link from that site than all the forum links you can get.

[JunkDawgs]

Thank you for the great ideas and for taking a look at my Blog. I've already reached out to some recycling companies to get started on building that page you referenced, that's a great idea. It's nice to get a different perspective on the site. We're also going to move the "Blog" link to the top menu. Appreciate the insight!

[vangogh]

I'm glad I could help. I've been blogging and reading blogs long enough that I can usually come up with ideas for most any site. Hopefully the ideas help. The biggest thing is to rethink your blog. A lot of people think they're supposed to blog about their products or services, but what you really want to do is blog around them. You want to think about the kind of person likely to buy from you and then think what kind of information that person might be interested that's somehow related to what you sell.