forums: embedded link or links in signature?
I recently participated to a thread on a SEO forum (http://www.webproworld.com/google-discussion-forum/68650-can-inbound-links-really-hurt-you-2.html), which spreads over 5 pages. I initially picked up the thread because it was featured on the newsletter sent by the site - a good bet that this thread would be read by a fair amount of visitors.
It is certainly not what people say in there which would justify spending more than a few minutes on there. So, is it useful to stick on there for links?
I targeted my blog, and checked the stats after a few days.
1) One page is outperforming the others: page 2 has been bringing 50% of the traffic so far. Why?
2) The only difference in page 2 is the actual links to the blog I have embedded in the post. the other pages have got a link to this blog, but only in signatures.
=> traffic wise, it is therefore more important to get an opportunity to stick a link to a site in the post itself, rather than relying on the actual link in the signature to bring traffic.
Note: we are talking about ~5/10 visits/day for 1 thread, not a wide scale experiment. But figures are relevant enough though and I think that a larger scale experiment would lead to the same results.
posted by Emmanuel Idé @ 4:57 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Yes, and that is the main reason why some forum owners, including me, don't allow links posted as some people, like you, only use forums for some link benefit. It's what those of us in the discussion forums arena call forum spam....or forum spammers.
I understand what you are saying, and I am aware of how painful it can be to have to clean up a forum a daily basis because of spammers!
But I don't agree that the solution is to prevent people from posting links.
- On a business forum (such as the one I mention in my post),
preventing people from posting links would be similar to organising a business networking event, and preventing people from handing over business cards.
- On a forum with social focus, preventing people from posting would be similar to organising a speed dating event, and prevent people from writing telephone number or email addresses down...
Doesn't make sense.
Also, links give an indication about who you are talking to: if you had left a link to your site in your signature in your post for instance, I could have checked it out, and at least know who I was talking too.
And I believe that seeking credits (through links) for your actions doesn't make you a spammer.
Now, stating that I only use forums for spamming is false. I use forums extensively to share technical knowledge for instance, in regards to web design or SEO.
And I am sure you will also appreciate the fact that my business partner could actually be counted as "one of you" , since he is running www.chinese-tools.com website during his spared time, with a forum attracting 40 000 unique visitors a day.
In short, I think you are trying to use a hammer to crack a nut here :-), taking the risk at the end to prevent your forum from taking off. There are many other ways to fight SPAM on a forum, preventing people from linking on one is definitely not a good one, in my opinion.
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