Since Penguin update came out, many people have been saying that forum signatures are no longer relevant for SEO. Though i can't say for sure, I've heard that forum signature lines (links) were targeted as they are replicated from one post to the next and usually from one forum to the next. So in some ways, forum signatures could be viewed as link spam. I have read that these forum signature links are being discounted in relevance in search engine results. Though I believe there are some ways to get around this, maybe by varying up the content of the signature line from one forum to the next and not using the same anchor text in every forum signature line. So for example if you're promoting a kitchen cabinet site (or blog) and your anchor text on Forum A is 'buy kitchen cabinets', then the forum signature on Forum B could be ' kitchen cabinets reviews'. The point is to keep things changed up, not the same for all forums. Or, simply not attaching a forum signature in every forum post. And, most forums give you that option. Perhaps, just attaching a forum signature on the first post only for a forum would be enough to gain a reliable and relevant backlink. Rather than attaching the signature over hundreds of posts and then having them all discounted (as in not counted) for purpose of backlinking. What are your thoughts on signature lines for SEO? Are they still relevant for SEO? Do you still use them since Penguin update?
I don't think Google sees signature links as spam, this will never happen. But I do think signature link had lost some of it power even though they are still relevant and can get you a nice boost if used correctly.
But there is some indication (on Google webmaster blog) that anchor links that don't pertain to the material on the page they are linking from are dismissed by Penguin update as being irrelevant or spam links. They gave the example of a fitness article that had anchor links to do with pay day loans. Couldn't forum signatures be interpreted in the same way as often times, they are linking from pages not related to what the link is about? Was just thinking that getting links back from forums relating to your site's niche (or at least posting only on subforums with related content) might be one way around this.
It depends on how developed forum is. I have signature links on local webmaster forum, homepage PR5 and many subfolders with PR3 and PR2, so I always get few PR2 backlinks on every update. Forum signatures can't hurt your site, Google knows better.
Forum posting can work really well, but it’s really time consuming although at the same time, it can give you some great insight into your market.
Different from forum to forum, although I'm very sure Google knows what forum signature links are and that their primary mission isn't developing site's SEO, but direct marketing to other forum members.
And signature lines still work for you, even since the Penguin update when most spam backlinks were discounted? You didn't lose all your backlinks from forum signatures?
Yea. Make sure you post quality topics about what your signature links are about and the link juice is still great.
I have read that even though forum signatures still work, its importance gets lessen after the recent Panda and Penguin update. Is that true?
Maybe it depends on whether or not you are linking from a related forum back to your site in the signature line.
