Don't worry. This is a G rated post :-)
In the few days that I have been on Active Rain, I have noticed a few people adding links in the signature of their comments. Obviously, these people understand the importance of backlinking and anchor text. Not only is adding keywords in comments a little spammy, it's also gives you no boost in search engines. Here's why.
NoFollow Means No Credit
Active Rain adds a special tag to all links in comments. People in the SEO world commonly refer to this tag as a link condom. It's official name is the Nofollow tag This tag tells search engines that the website cannot vouch for the credibility of the link so do not give it any "link love".
Why Active Rain Uses the Nofollow Tag
Like many other sites out there, Active Rain knows that some people try to exploit comments by adding comment spam. By adding the Nofollow tag to all comment links, it tells spammers to not even bother because it's not going to help their ranking.
How To Spot The NoFollow Tag
If you use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, you can add a plugin that will highlight all links taged with the nofollow tag. This way, you can quickly see if it's worth your efforts.
Keep The Greater Good In Mind
Active Rain is a great community. Just because you see a place to add your anchor text doesn't mean you should. No one wants Active Rain reduced down to a place just to get Google Juice.
To Your Success,
Brad Carroll
Dakno Marketing - A Real Estate Web Design Company
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