Forum posts as a link building tactic does not get much love these days. Most SEO professionals would tell you that making link posts in forums is pretty much committing “SEO suicide” in the form of a manual Google penalty. We think this reputation is well deserved.
When you look at forum posting through the lens of the Google “Penguin update”, forum links have definitely been de-valued. In addition, the rise of social media hasn’t helped make forums more popular. Quite the contrary. Social media platforms continue to make it easier for people to associate with others of similar interests using social groups like Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups.
Nonetheless, when used correctly, forums can still be a very effective way of promoting your brand and generating traffic. Yes, the key idea is promoting your website, not building links. Look at forums as a promotion tactic, rather than link building tactic.
Forums are a great way of not just building links, but can be also beneficial for:
- Brand Building
- Community Engagement
- Content Research
Seems like the community in Moz agrees with us, too!
Here are some of articles that talk more about forum link building in a post-Penguin era:
- 19 Link Building and Outreach Strategies that WORK in 2018 by Ryan Stewart
- The Ultimate Guide to Getting Do-follow Forum Backlinks by Ty Hammock
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