Do Forum Posts count as backlinks?

Quick Question: Are the forum posts I make on DP, or any other forum counted as backlinks in search engines?

I know a lot of people use article submission or press release submission to build backlinks. Does being involved in a forum have the same effect?

Thanks in advance,

Dan

*edit* I'm referring to Signature links.

 

Forum links are devalued imho

 

They count as backlinks unless the linking page has rel="nofollow" (except Yahoo! ignores this attribute). I agree with dcristo in that I think they don't carry as much weight as other links might.

 

Would they ever have a negative effect on SERPs? (Treated as spam?)

 

I think this highly unlikely because if it were so, you could saboutage a rival's rankings by linking to their site.

 

if that was the case then forums would have been too busy, the big ones for sure
sig links dont help much with seo

 

Good point. Thanks.

 

Do they count as backlinks? Yes
Do they carry weight? Yes
Do they help you serps? Yes

Do they carry as much weight as a normal link? This is debatable but they are much easier to obtain so a very useful SEO tool.

 

That's good news

 

I've just started this thread which may be of use to you, and indeed everyone else who is interested in sig links.

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=121667

 

I don't think signature links are worth anything on SERPs or for backlinking, but they make a bit of traffic.

 

Sig links can't hurt you, IMO then certainly don't count for as much as a normal link, simply because Google know they can be easily spammed.

 

Try it then!

For a quick test, change the anchor text in your DP sig to one of an obscure term that your site does'nt currently rank for.

Then check the results on MSN in a couple of days (or Google - you might have to wait a month or so!) and where does your site show up then?

 

ya they will count.only few forums like SP block them or else link will count same for forum sig also.

 

I think DP sig for backlinks is a big factor for the SE.

 

It helps if the site is in the same niche - website/marketing, not so much for other niches I noticed.

 

Google shows those backlinks of your sites that means its count to a degree as search engines can see what pages on your site other ppl feel are important through those links.

 

Yes!
Worthless backlinks.

 

Thanks for all the input.

 

Sig links help but don't carry much weight at all.

The best you can really hope for from them is some traffic; so it is better to have sig links on a site similar to your own.