Just wondering, does Google/other search engines recognise signature links in forums? And how do they it treat them?
Google "recognises" all do-follow links, but as will all do-follow links on the web they have different weight and authority assigned to them by Googles algorithms. The amount of link juice you get from the forum signature link will depend on firstly the assumption that it is a do-follow link and secondly the Authority and page rank of that particular forum. Also the relevance of your link to the theme being discussed will have an impact. These tips are howver made from a consensus view of some SEO experts from experience. No one really knows exactly how the Google algorithms determing ranking positions. Hope that helps.
In the past, some says that signature links work great on link juice, But now i think signature link is not too good, usually on a page there are many signature link which mean the quality is too low
Google and other search engine only follow dofollow links. so when you create any signature link make sure you are using dofollow forum to make it seo friendly. Google index them as your backlink and its help you to generate higher return from search engine.
I have found signature links to help, but like petr_ind said they no longer carry real strong weight.
If you can develop a thread within a forum for your specified niche, a thread that is valuable and something that sparks debate and response, then over time this will build and if anything else, will keep a hot doorway open for regular crawling of your website. Plus your signatures will be of more value when at the top of a super large thread thats on fire. A bit like in those money forums where you see "I made $50 000 in one minute - you can too" and it has around 40 000 views. You see what i mean
From personal experience - the effect of signature links has been going down significantly over the last 2 years.
For all of you talking about "signature links" being weak - just remember that PR is distributed evenly through all links on a page. So a "signature" doesn't have anything to do with a different PR flow.
Yes There're many signature links on a page, but on a profile ? Example: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/member.php?u=101562 <-- here's only 2 my links so it's really good?
Google counts all do follow link it dosent matter it is signature blog or article forum. Google only see where the link is placed and accordingly gives power to link.
Yes forum signatures are still useful for SEO... but don't rely on them entirely. And many sites with few links are better than hndreds of links from one site
I'm not too sure if they can notice if they're signature links. They lose a lot of value since many other members with signatures will post. They are still worth having though.