How to get backlinks from forums and blogs and not be labeled as a spammer

Lately I’ve been seeing more and more people posting links to articles or blogs here in Digital Point that basically say “I wrote an article on _X_, here’s the <link> check it out” well, I recently blogged about _X_ as well, if you’d like to see it, check out my ‘recent blog post’ that’s up by my name….there is no need to post about it for the sake of posting. The administration of the site was kind enough to give us an option that leaves no need for such a mundane thread. When you do post a thread like that it simply smacks of SPAM and a weak attempt at getting a link and maybe some traffic.

What people do not realize is that if they would spend a little time they could get much much more click through to the article or blog post they just made. How? Simple! Just give a little content to the thread. That’ll do two things. First it’ll make people want to read the article, and second it can cause discussion, which in turn helps to keep your thread on the top, and the longer it’s on top, the more traffic it’ll receive.

I am a forum owner, and as such, when I see a thread that starts off with no content and a link, that thread will generally get deleted, and the poster will generally get labeled as spammer, especially if that is their first post. However, if a brand new member comes and gives a few snippets of an article or blog post in hopes of discussion, and discussion happens, I’ll leave the post, and it’s link, as that is falling into the grand scheme of the forum being a Discussion Board.

I’ve also recently seen a thread with the original poster complaining that he was not getting good traffic through his signature. I looked into why and the reasons were pretty obvious, and I’m not just talking about the fact he only had 66 posts at the time. I ran through his posting history and of his 66 posts I counted only a small handful that actually provided any content to the thread he was posting in. If I am reading a thread and see a post that says little more then “I agree” I’ll scroll down to the next post skipping over the sig links in the process. On the other hand, if I see a good post that adds something to the thread, I’ll generally stay there for a moment while absorb what the member was talking about. This has often led me to look at the member’s signature, especially if the anchor text is relevant to the thread they are posting in.

The same concepts also cross over into blog posts. Time and time again I am logging into my comment queue only to find unrelated entries with little more then a link. I don’t care about your cat site if I am blogging about my garden. Though, if you have something to say about cats that relates to gardening somehow, then by all means give me some content and your link, I’ll gladly let it stay, in fact, if your link is really worthy of being read I may even click around a bit and possibly even blog about something else you have to say. Though, just post a link and chances are I’ll not even bother too look, even if it does seem relevant.

Article Directories are nice, and should be the norm. When you submit an article to a directory, they will host it for you, if it has a link to your site, then it’s good for you, and good for them. The Article directory gets free content, and you get that sought after link, it’s WIN/WIN, and posting in a blog, forum, or even guest book, should be no different. Give a reason that your link should stay, and I’m betting that it will!

So unless you are posting to a link directory, give something in return (like good quality content). It’s the least you can do!

 

Excellent info, could not of said it better myself. More people should take note of this and use the advice, its what i do and i rarely get a comment or post removed on a blog or forum.

 

Here's a marketing video that promises automation. While I can't personally recommend anyone follow the concept and use auto-posting to ANY website to promo their offer, nevertheless the software is interesting.

http://www.videodouble.com/video/adbomber-promo-video---auto-post-on-craigslist-634236/

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That was a wonderful post and it says exactly whats on my mind most of the time. Sometimes I wonder why people even bother signing up on my forum, going through the email verification and then just drop some links that I delete right away. It should be obvious to anyone reading that providing some content will get their links to stick.
So I keep wondering, if it is easier to post on 5 forums and get one vacant forum to keep the spam links or to take some time and make a useful post on one forum, that generates interest and visitors.

In that case I just block the user. There is very little chance that they are going to come back and all of a sudden start posting useful stuff.

Yup. Couldn't agree more.

Unless of course you are a bot and posting for the sake of Search Engines.
On my forum I don't get bots, but manual human spammers and I keep wondering why they go through the effort just to be deleted.

 

Thanks for the Info and Advice..

 

Hey Qryztufre ... thanks for the lovely information... very well drafted... I was just wondering if you can help me understand how bookmarking work and how effective it could be for building some targeted traffic for mysite...

 

Thanks, helped a bit

 

dude..if everyone followed those guide lines then there would be alot more relevent information on the internet rather than just a bnuch of spamm..ive been on the net for years and just now found this forum..you wouldnt belive how much of a blessing this is..i already found someone to write articles for me..i love this place and i hope it never dies

 

you really open our eyes how to use forum effectively. forum is for discussion. the longer the discussion the better.

 

Bookmarking actually goes beyond the scope of this thread, however, the use of such services can be a real godsend to those that do understand it. Stay tuned, I'll likely write an article about it eventually...

Till then, search (A Guide to Searching Digital Point ) as there are several threads on the subject.

I look forward to getting flooded with links I can actually use Sadly, all I see now are sales links complete with every Nokia phone ever made...like I care

Good luck with your articles!

I could not agree more...and if you'd like to know more about how I feel about link building and online communities read this: Step by step resources to link building with internet communities

 

Take a look at socialblogtrust(dot)net. This allows you to own a blog and have people post to it and if you are marketing your site you can post to blogs

 

Very good information in this thread....keep it up.

 

I like the first post in this thread, and I wish Digital Pointers would follow it. From the two or three spam responses already, it seems this may sadly be a wasted effort. Still, what you described is the only long term way to survive on the web.

 

Qryztufre, thanks for the thread. should be a MUST read for all the starters that come to the forum and hope to make a post just for the sake of posting. most of the new newbies don't realize that SEO is no "get rich quick" game and there are some rules to follow. that not only serves well in the long run, but also maintains the quality of the forum itself.

 

Hey there Mr. Great, I've seen a few of your other posts and it does seem we see eye to eye on many things, and this is no different

It would be nice if more people thought about the long run, but as it stands too many are simply too short sighted, or out right blind.

Long before I owned a web page I was a member of several communities. Now that I am a webmaster AND a member of communities, it was rather easy for me to see that many of my fellow webmasters had no clue what a community was, even the ones with forums themselves were often clueless. They would delete spam as soon as they saw it, but seemingly had no problems spamming themselves. It is a vicious circle that really needs to end, and I for one am getting sick of deleting blog comments that are not only unrelated to the blog, but just contain a link.

I'd say that what I've said here is a huge secret in order to gain traffic, but honestly it's not, in fact it should be common knowledge. So feel free to spread the good word

Put the community first, and you'll get ahead.

 

thank you, it is very useful infor

 

i see some people get crazy on any web page where they can drop a link thinking (blog comments) it will boost their ranking without even thinking if it might be a nofollow page or be off topic and worthless.
los angeles seo company

 

You must make quality post, not something like "cool site, check my stuff here". Quality and usefulness is the way to go.

 

Yeah i have seen ppl here about placing link her and quoting i have so an so article written.ppl here are intelligent and i think some of here don't refer link.

 

thanks for the great info..keep it up.