Category: content marketing

Forum Link Building Case Study: Do Forum Signature Backlinks Help SEO Rankings?

This case study focuses on forum link building. If you are interested in a similar case study on Forum Marketing (free and paid methods) check this article:

This is not a spammy technique as associated with Xrumer, known as “forum profiles” (which many use for tier 2 backlinks) but manual registration, and posting / interacting within a community that is heavily moderated. It’s one of the most time consuming white hat tasks because it involves content marketing (your reply), branding (your name if you wish), and one link per reponse/thread. The first method tricks forum moderators, the other engages with the community, gives back and in return, links out to a website – a reciprocal relationship.

Good examples in the Internet Marketing space are WarriorForum and DigitalPoint. Both allow signatures, but it’s understood that you must contribute something of value (in your response) in order to reap the rewards of your marketing efforts. Same is true with nearly every quality forum in existence.

Why Forum Signatures?

There are thousands of people each day participating in forums. The benefit of becoming an authority and trusted figure is great (as seen with previous study with brand marketing) but what about direct search results from forum signature links?

The Setup:

If you are tracking the “how to rank an adsense / amazon affiliate website” niche test you will know the website was beginning to rank for the term “robot vacuum”. The content is great, landing pages are relevant, and the offpage strategies are built for long term success. Before we began the big push using Forum Signature Links, the links were a bit stagnant, as well as rankings:

increase backlinks with forum seo

Notice the huge surge in backlinks once the forum link building began. This was accomplished by manually registering to 500 forums and posting on them using four-hundred different anchor text terms (roughly a new anchor text keyword per forum/signature). The end result is nothing short of amazing. Not only did rankings improve from the #10 spot for the main term robot vacuum to the top 5, but hundreds of related long tail phrases are now being rank for by robotvacuumhut.com. The main keyword phrase is diluted to avoid any algorithm penalties, and long-tail searchers are finding what they are seeking – win/win situation.

keyword ranking increases anchor text diversity

long tail seo with forum link signatures

Each forum was posted to around 10 times. 500 x 10 = 5000 forum posts. 5000 potential backlinks. We are also receiving referral traffic as well (better explained in first case study). Forums are amazing places to learn, market yourself, help others, and talk amongst like-minded individuals. This advanced technique was used from our internal service: Manual Forum Posting

Google Authorship – How I became the #1 Most Published Rel=Author

That’s right. My face appears on more websites than any other Google+ author (pardon the glare from my head!)…

Robert Scoble eat your heart out newb!
Before we begin it’s important to note the difference between Influence and Publication. Of course people such as Matt Cutts, Danny Sulivan, Rand Fishkin etc have way more influence/followers in the industry, but in terms of sheer website authorship distribution, I’m dominating, with the help of Google Authorship.

This is the chance we’ve been waiting for; the ability to have a voice against a sea of “authority” websites. The button has been reset, and now you can grasp this opportunity, create great content, attach your authorship and build a name/brand for yourself vs sitting on the side lines.

Google Plus, more specifically Google Authorship has allowed people to two-way-verify their identity in a central location. People have linked to their Twitter, or Facebook, or other social media profiles in the past (and present) but the ability to verify ownership or contribution to content online is the holy grail of marketing, proper accreditation, and building a brand.

I’m featured on over 200 websites across multiple niches. How was I able to do this? Like most things in my life, it wouldn’t be possible without a woman’s touch, and in this case, two brilliant ones:

Ann Smarty and Cathy Stucker

Ann Smarty and Cathy Stucker

That’s right, Guest posting! through Myblogguest and Bloggerlinkup. These platforms help bring together bloggers and blog owners in a symphony of colloboration. Google has cracked down on “spammy guest blogs” that merely exist to charge bloggers to post their content. These 2 platforms rise above the fray, and have internal systems and a community to help ensure the process works for all parties involved, including the Search Engines. Below image (blacked out sensitive info – I’m not going to dime him out!) is what some people think Guest Posting, Article Marketing, or Content Syndication is…this is why communities such as those 2 above are critical to the health of the blogosphere, and dare I say the InterWebs!

guest posting vs sponsored posts

But how did you get so many live guest posts with your authorship?

We’ll let George Takei…ghostwriter answer this one. I’ve personally written dozens and probably close to 100+ before G+ became relevant, but of course you can hire someone to write for you. You either need to put time (writing yourself) or money (paying someone) to do this, so it weeds out the businesses not willing to commit to excellence. Now if you contribute to a website or business and don’t link to your G+ profile you are cheating yourself. Here is one awesome example of guest posting before verified authorship (I predicted the Super Bowl!)

Example Author Bio before Google Authorship

Notice my name is not a hyperlink? I’m just some faceless, unknown person that has managed to write and get a link back to my business. Even if I linked out to my youtube, or another social website, there is no way to “verify” ownership. With G+ now you aren’t as random or plain as plain text….you are now alive with a hyperlink!

how to verify Google Authorship

Free your mind. You don’t have to use the Authorship verification for just guest posts. It can be added to numerous websites such as Web2.0s with Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, etc, and contributor profiles on major websites.

google authorship works with 3rd party websites

Featuring the epic Contributor section:

guest posting contributor section google authorship

And of course, all the searches where my authorship appears.

guest posts verified authorship in search results

The Results?

Guest blogging has been the best networking I’ve done. Before Myblogguest, I use to look at guest blogging as only a way to get links, but it’s much more than that. It’s a chance to build your personal brand, network / connect with others and establish trust. People are adding me everyday on Google+ and emailing me about business ventures/ideas.

google plus networking followers adding circles

Our brand based keywords have increased tremendously since we started guest blogging. Tracking provided by Piwik

marketing with guest blogging

What do the Experts Say About Guest Posting?

Rand Fishkin – CEO of Moz.com

Matt Cutts – Distinguised Engineer of Google (here is link if you don’t know what Google is http://google.com haha , I have bad SEO humor…sorry

Brian Dean – Backlinko (expert Link Builder)

Using the Upside Guest Post strategy to attract links and readers to your blog

Be sure not to post on “fake” guest post sites that are content farms, pay per posts, MFA type sites. Which is why platforms such as Myblogguest and Bloggerlinkup help bring credibility to this marketing tactic and allow you to do it on a large scale without the worry of spammy links. Guest posting is the most expensive online marketing and time consuming (writing content, contacting bloggers, emailing, etc) but also has extremely high ROI.

Google+ isn’t just a social network. It’s a true hub for your entire internet “existence”; it’s the Matrix that connects all things on the Internet in an ingenius way. It’s never been easier to build a personal brand or receive credit for your work. If Facebook or Linkedin were smart they would immediately follow suit and allow some form of 2 way verification on web content. Want to build your business with guest posts? Real Guest Posts is a premiere content marketing service that adheres to quality standards – no spun content, private blog networks, or spammy pay per posts. This is a guest post presented by Viagra…j/k! Do you guest post? Why or why not!