Is it Better to have a Signature or Create Your Own on Every Post?
With Google's new Penguin update using your keywords over and over forever building up your back links is getting a little bit of a slap on the hand for some. While you will probably have to have thousands of back links all with the same keyword, some of you might be getting there with your blogs on ActiveRain. 
Having a signature is fun and and an easy way to put in a few back links and some basic bio info about you (here's a good step by step how to do that) and the sidebar is excellent for back links directly to your site or internal pages, the more you blog, the more back links go out and each one will be the same. So after several hundred blogs, all your back link anchor texts will be the same and Google may start to see this as fishy.
So should we be putting on new back links and anchor tags on every post or still utilize the signature that AR gives us?
It might not be a bad idea to shuffle up your signature once in a while. Check the recent searches and keywords that people are searching for as they do change over time. Switch them up and add new ones here or there. Also, link to some internal pages if you have a specific page on a community or niche like this: "Golf properties in Flagstaff" Or get even more specific with your phrases for added deep linking such as: "What's there to do in Las Cruces New Mexico?" You can add a short signature at the bottom of every post, but most importantly make sure there is a link back to your website somewhere in each post. Use a variety of keywords and phrases so Google sees a natural linking style throughout all your back links.
If you're writing specifically about foreclosures or even showcase a listing as such, make sure at the end of the post you write something like: "For more foreclosure listings in San Angelo, give us a call or see our website." It may be a simple sentence but offer a powerful back link to a page that you may not have had any links to in the past.
So should you change your signature?
It depends on how long you have had it. Check with Backlinkwatch.com to see where the majority of your links are coming from. If they are all from ActiveRain and all are the same, it may be time for a change up. Google will pick up the new ones as you continue to write and slowly change the old ones as the older posts are found and shared.
Utilize the features that AR gives you in your side bar links and in the signature, just remember to keep it fresh and revolving.
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